r/Network • u/Detsulas • 17d ago
Text Looking for a new router
My wife and I game fairly regularly and I've recently noticed that my router from 2018 is bottlenecking us and showing its age at this point.
We live in an apartment that's about 1300 sq feet and we keep the router in the living room while our desks are in the spare room which is separated by a thick wall.
Currently our 5ghz band makes it through the wall just fine. That being said wired is not an option. There are no ethernet jacks in the walls of the spare room and we can't get the only place we can have the router setup is the living room.
As previously mentioned we need a new router, something future proof, budget wise we'd like to stay under $500.
Appreciate any recs!
3
u/jacle2210 Enthusiast 16d ago
What is the exact brand name and exact model number of your current Wifi Router?
And sorry to say this, but Ethernet wired is always an option; you would just have to be creative in how you run it between the two area's.
To start an Ethernet cable can be upto 100Meters/328ft in length, which should be plenty of length to allow you to run a cable in a way so that it's not out in the middle of floor.
2
u/Detsulas 16d ago
Does the signal start to diminish after 230ft? I just did cable runs at work and I was informed this was a barrier for the cables we could get. Granted this was POE equipment so for sure a different story, but just curious about this I guess.
1
u/jacle2210 Enthusiast 16d ago
Sorry, I don't know about your work requirements, I'm simply reciting the Ethernet standard for Cat5e & Cat6 cables (being 100Meters/328ft).
2
u/Detsulas 15d ago
No worries the 2 situations were unrelated, except for me assuming signal loss starts at 230~
1
u/Wiley_Coyote_2024 16d ago
To go further, you just need another device (bridge or router) that will repeat the signal to go further down the next cable run.
Btw- I believe the limit is 300 meters on CAT 6a. So if you need longer runs, just go to CAT6a instead of your CAT5e, if that is what you are using.
2
1
u/closeenoughbutmehh 17d ago
You might not need to replace the router itself. Get wifi access points and wire them to your current router, then disable its wifi functionalty.
1
1
u/TwistedTrooper989 16d ago
Honestly, almost any router released in the last year or so would be a nice improvement. As it is I doubt you're receiving any firmware updates on your current router which is kind of a security nightmare. But in the past 8 years there have been really significant updates in speed as well as signal reliability.
I've used Asus routers in the past and had good experiences. I know they make several "gaming" routers that supposedly help limit latency.
I've been using TP-Link for years because they are cheap and I've had good experiences with their performance. But I also mostly use a wired connection
1
u/MemeLordAscendant 16d ago
https://www.wiisfi.com/#recommendation
For your budget, get a 4x4 802.11be (wifi7) router with 6ghz band. Spend the rest on new 6ghz client adapters. The 6ghz will help more than anything in an apartment complex. The MLO feature on wifi7 is not useful currently. Router marketing is terrible, use the linked guide above to navigate it. Don't buy a "gaming" router, the chipsets are all the same.
They also make flat Ethernet cables and covers you can just stick along the floor, under the door and into a cheap switch. Then you'd get to go enjoy the remaining $450!
1
u/nlflint 15d ago
Wired could still be an option. This invisible fiber kit is built for running it under floor/door trim so it's hidden. It's uses a single, very thing, but still strong, bi-directional fiber: https://a.co/d/02AohMc4
1
u/Detsulas 15d ago
And this is why I post to reddit! Didn't even realize such a thing existed. I didn't want to run obvious ethernet cable throughout our apartment, plus something this low profile will likely make the wife happy as well.
Love this suggestion!
1
u/anwoke8204 17d ago
Go with Unifi gear. Get a cloud gateway and an access point. You can get the cloud gateway fiber and an access point or two for under 500 bucks depending on the access point you choose.
1
u/AdditionalBelt9719 16d ago
IMO, Ubiquity is garbage budget gear...works marginally ok and is relatively cheap. There are much better choices.
1
u/366df 16d ago
I don't think Ubiquiti is that cheap. And I don't think it's right to call it garbage either. Compared to the routers people usually buy (just look at the most popular ones at your local electronics store), it has a lot of bells and whistles.
1
u/AdditionalBelt9719 16d ago
Ubiquity is pretty much the cheapest brand name you can buy...even among the no-name brands. They don't perform great at low density (1-5 users), they fail horribly in high density (20+ users)...The only thing they really have going for them is price and longevity. Eero or TPlink is a far better option for the same'ish money. If you want the best, use Meraki or Aruba
1
u/366df 15d ago
we're talking about a persons home here, not a business setup. as for meraki and aruba, you're paying for the ecosysystem and support, not just the hardware. also, your claim is categorically not true. the cheapest unifi router is like 100$, you can get tplink, asus, huawei and bunch of lesser known manufacturers devices for half of that.
6
u/martianwombat 17d ago
its not so much the router as the protocol, find one that supports 802.11ax and upgrace the wireless network cards on your PC's. this asssumes that the bottle neck is truely on the wifi side and not on the wan side.