New router advice needed

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Mountain Man
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Ok, so the age old question

I'm on the market for a new router, I currently have all TP Link gear on my network consisting of an 8817 modem connected to a WDR4300 router and then I have a WR1043ND set up as an extender using WDS bridge.

The network is dual purpose serving a small home office and general home use. I have 1 microserver, 2 PC's and between 3-6 (sometimes 8) laptop's connected, plus a number of smartphones (usually 2-3) and an ipad.

The weak point in my existing set up is the WDR4300, it has to be rebooted on a regular basis (3 times just yesterday) as devices that connect to the network cannot obtain IP's and therefore can't connect to the internet. The unit has been back to Uniterm and they tested it for about 5 days and said they couldn't find any problems. I plan to install openWRT on this router, but I'm a bit worried about bricking the unit (also no guarantees this will resolve the problem).

I'm therefore on the market for a reliable unit to replace the WDR4300, that has strong signal strength to ensure I can get signal into the office which is about 25m away upstairs above a garage (running cables is not an option).

what would be a good option at a reasonable price?
 
Ol' Mean Bastid said:
that pretty much looks like the WDR4300 except with the modem built in?

given my experience with the 4300 I'm reluctant to stick with TP-Link
Click to expand...


Mmmm, my bad. Thought the 4300 was one of their older products but I see now it's actually one of the newer top of the range routers.

I'm using the 8970 and tbh the range on my older 8960 is significantly better. Poor range and the 5GHz frequency seem to go hand in hand.

Maybe look at those range extenders that make use of a plug point.



http://www.cyberconnect.co.za/wifi-range-extender

Not cheap though and I've never used them so no idea of how effective they are...
 
sand_man said:
Mmmm, my bad. Thought the 4300 was one of their older products but I see now it's actually one of the newer top of the range routers.

I'm using the 8970 and tbh the range on my older 8960 is significantly better. Poor range and the 5GHz frequency seem to go hand in hand.

Maybe look at those range extenders that make use of a plug point.



http://www.cyberconnect.co.za/wifi-range-extender

Not cheap though and I've never used them so no idea of how effective they are...
Click to expand...

I don't even have the 5GHz enabled on my 4300, the main issue is the constant problem with devices not being allowed internet access, hence I want to replace it with something more reliable

my WR1043ND is working great as an extender
 
Ol' Mean Bastid said:
I don't even have the 5GHz enabled on my 4300, the main issue is the constant problem with devices not being allowed internet access, hence I want to replace it with something more reliable

my WR1043ND is working great as an extender
Click to expand...

Mmmm, how do you disable/enable 5GHz? I thought it was on by default without the option of deactivating?

I'm enjoying my 8970 but don't use half the features. Haven't really learnt how to use it properly!!

For me the W8960N is a solid piece of kit. Outstanding range and no connection issues that I've experienced. I even use one in my business where I'm offering a free wifi hot spot and have about 50 different users on the network, for the most part without issues...

http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=1_55_57&products_id=383

Range extender. Quite like the look of this but not sure if it's available locally...

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-WA850RE

http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/94585975/300Mbps_Universal_WiFi_Range_Extender_TL_WA850RE.html
 
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sand_man said:
Mmmm, how do you disable/enable 5GHz? I thought it was on by default without the option of deactivating?

I'm enjoying my 8970 but don't use half the features. Haven't really learnt how to use it properly!!

For me the W8960N is a solid piece of kit. Outstanding range and no connection issues that I've experienced. I even use one in my business where I'm offering a free wifi hot spot and have about 50 different users on the network, for the most part without issues...

http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=1_55_57&products_id=383

Range extender. Quite like the look of this but not sure if it's available locally...

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?model=TL-WA850RE

http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/94585975/300Mbps_Universal_WiFi_Range_Extender_TL_WA850RE.html
Click to expand...

I'm running an 8961 at the moment which I bought as a back up unit a few months ago, no problems the whole day although there does seem to be an issue with it and the 1043 as the extender (but I haven't had much time today to play around with configuration settings so I may have missed something when I tried setting it up this morning

disabling the 5GHz on the 4300 is straightforward, it's just a setting in the browser interface where you can choose to enable or disable the relevant radio under 2.4 or 5 GHz settings
 
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Hi There
I have the W8968 and I am getting pretty good connectivity around the property. I know it is also an inbuilt modem which you don't need.
Now I seem to remember from some physics classes of 40 years ago that if the frequency increases then the range would decrease. This might account for the poorer connectivity with the higher frequency.
Also on extenders if you are using the power versions they need to be on the same phase so if you have 3 phase connectivity then you will need to be careful. I would get an electrician in to verify which outlets are on which phase before investing.

There have been a few posts on here about using these devices as extenders.

Regards

Tim
 
Tim the Techxpert said:
Hi There
I have the W8968 and I am getting pretty good connectivity around the property. I know it is also an inbuilt modem which you don't need.
Now I seem to remember from some physics classes of 40 years ago that if the frequency increases then the range would decrease. This might account for the poorer connectivity with the higher frequency.
Also on extenders if you are using the power versions they need to be on the same phase so if you have 3 phase connectivity then you will need to be careful. I would get an electrician in to verify which outlets are on which phase before investing.

There have been a few posts on here about using these devices as extenders.

Regards

Tim
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, I've done a lot of digging around on the web over the weekend and it looks like the device disconnects are not uncommon, although also not wildly prevalent, on 4300's. So my thinking is it may either be a particular batch of 4300's or else there is a setting somewhere that I am missing. I upgraded to the latest firmware on Saturday, but yesterday afternoon my wife's laptop lost internet connectivity, but was still connected to the network and she was in the same room as the router (all other devices in the room still had internet access, including my laptop, 2 smart phones and an iPad).

I'm not worried about an extender as the 1043 is doing a great job
 
I am running an Asus RT-N66u and I am extremely happy with it. Check it out here. I have yet to see a bad review for this router. You can pump Mike Smit and/or Jola for a review based on their experience if you want to. The router is pricey unfortunately +- R2k, but for me worth every cent!
 
OGroteKoning said:
I am running an Asus RT-N66u and I am extremely happy with it. Check it out here. I have yet to see a bad review for this router. You can pump Mike Smit and/or Jola for a review based on their experience if you want to. The router is pricey unfortunately +- R2k, but for me worth every cent!
Click to expand...

yep, looking at that it's been on my radar since yesterday, just sourcing a good price, Sybaritic seems to be the best so far
 
Ol' Mean Bastid said:
my WR1043ND is working great as an extender
Click to expand...
Are you having any trouble with the WR1043ND dropping connections at all?

I'm also looking for a new router to replace my old SMC Barricade as it keeps dropping clients intermittently and in some cases rebooting entirely. I had looked at getting a WR1043 as they look to be pretty good value but I've heard they tend to suffer from similar problems to those I'm experiencing with my Barricade.
 
porchrat said:
Are you having any trouble with the WR1043ND dropping connections at all?

I'm also looking for a new router to replace my old SMC Barricade as it keeps dropping clients intermittently and in some cases rebooting entirely. I had looked at getting a WR1043 as they look to be pretty good value but I've heard they tend to suffer from similar problems to those I'm experiencing with my Barricade.
Click to expand...

nope the 1043 was solid when I was using it as my primary router, the only reason I'm using it as an extender is that the wan port got fried by lightning
 
Ol' Mean Bastid said:
nope the 1043 was solid when I was using it as my primary router, the only reason I'm using it as an extender is that the wan port got fried by lightning
Click to expand...
Well thanks for that maybe I'll take another look at the 1043 after all.

Why not just get another 1043 if you had such a good experience with it?

I know you said you had a bad experience with the 4300 and wish to avoid TP-link altogether but given the great experience you seem to have had with the 1043 why not just purchase another one?
 
porchrat said:
Well thanks for that maybe I'll take another look at the 1043 after all.

Why not just get another 1043 if you had such a good experience with it?

I know you said you had a bad experience with the 4300 and wish to avoid TP-link altogether but given the great experience you seem to have had with the 1043 why not just purchase another one?
Click to expand...

Wanted something with a bit more grunt. Anyway, I installed dd-wrt on the 4300 a couple of days ago and I haven't had a single disconnect yet, might just have resolved the issue without having to lash out on a new router
 
update for other posters in this thread

I installed dd-wrt on the 4300 on Tuesday evening and the performance has been rock solid since, not a single connection issue since. I also installed it on the 1043 on Thursday night and set up the 1043 in bridge mode, my whole network has been exceptionally stable since.

dd-wrt has made the world of difference and saved me a bunch of R's on a new router
 
Ol' Mean Bastid said:
update for other posters in this thread

I installed dd-wrt on the 4300 on Tuesday evening and the performance has been rock solid since, not a single connection issue since. I also installed it on the 1043 on Thursday night and set up the 1043 in bridge mode, my whole network has been exceptionally stable since.

dd-wrt has made the world of difference and saved me a bunch of R's on a new router
Click to expand...
Ah very interesting thank you. I'm off to check if dd-wrt is compatible with my Barricade. May just solve my problem too :)


xera said:
It used to, but after the newer firmware updates, and setting the channel to 6, I don't have any, dont think it ever freezes or needs a reboot either, love it. :)
Click to expand...
Do you mean TP-Link firmware or are you using dd-wrt?
 
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