WiFi routers and other networking gear for televisions

[etios]

If your 2.4 GHz space is not congested and broadband plan is upto 70Mbps then you can use cheap 1000 rs routers. I get 60-65 Mbps across two walls using TP link WR 840N. For low-end 5 GHz router, TP Link C6/A6 is a decent option. 5 GHz range in this router is not great. So, make sure you do not have more than one wall here for good speeds.

One more thing to keep in mind while reading USA based reviews is that they have wooden walls whereas in India we have brick walls. So, the performance is not the same.

Fellow forum member lightgamer has used TP Link C6/A6 and C1200, his views on both:

"You can look at the C1200 if you have a strict budget of ₹3000. It costs just ₹500 more than the C6/A6 and has much better signal retention for 5GHz. I was able to get signal despite there being a cupboard and a full bathroom between me and router + 25 feet distance. For me, the difference between the C1200 and A6 was beyond massive. Where A6 was unusable C1200 had more than 100 Mbps signal remaining.

If you have a slightly higher budget than the C1200, look at the C80. It has 3x3 MiMo so even your 2.4 GHz band will be able to reach ~100 Mbps with a recent phone/laptop. The C80 also has smart band selection option where you can name both SSIDs the same and as you go out of range it will automatically switch your device to 2.4 GHz without disconnection."

 

[shield99]

Specs of the C80 looks very similar to A9. Wonder that the difference is.

 

[OM_2K19]

You can't go wrong with Asus RT-68/86U. It's one of the best routes available for consumer market.

 

[BLASTO]

IMO, the overall quality control of these router models seem to be pathetic reading through user experiences in the internet. You could get a lemon in a jiffy.
There are people who got one brand over another or even one model against another in same brand with similar specs and even then see night and day difference. Few people are not satisfied even compared to existing 2.4ghz only router they are replacing.
All these points to a lot of lemons out there. People swap till they get a good one and assume it's the best brand/model. Can see this trend between any two pair of routers of the same spec, same company or not.
Better to buy through channels having return policy like amazon/flipkart and swapping to a different model until you are satisfied.

 

[moh1t]

You can't go wrong with Asus RT-68/86U. It's one of the best routes available for consumer market.

Yup. I got the RT-AC86U earlier this year at 14k from mdcomputers.in and altough it’s on the expensive side it’ll easily last 4-5 years. My previous router, r7000 which is 5 years old, is still working perfectly and connected to the main router as a wireless repeater over 5ghz

initial spend is high but these things last long and you won’t have constant WiFi drops and coverage issues. Of course this has been the case with me running it on asuswrt merlin firmware with tweaked settings. YMMV.

86U has fairly decent specs and with asuswrt merlin you got a lot of advanced features. I have over 35 WiFi devices in the house including lots of smart lights and plugs and I’ve not had any problems with it up till now. high bandwidth (~100Mbps) is difficult on 2.4ghz even with device is the same room so all high bandwidth devices are connected on 5ghz or directly wired to the main router or connected to the wireless repeater.

if high throughput along with coverage is required I strongly recommending buying secondary 5ghz devices that can either run dd-wrt or merlin or stock if wireless bridging is available.

P.S. before r7000, I’ve had cheaper tplink 2-3k kinda routers ans they always had some or the other isse. Either coverage was a problem or throughput or lack of 3rd party firmware support.

Also everyone should consider buying a raspberry pi and put PiHole on it for network wide ad/malware/etc blocking

 

[OM_2K19]

Yup. I got the RT-AC86U earlier this year at 14k from mdcomputers.in and altough it’s on the expensive side it’ll easily last 4-5 years. My previous router, r7000 which is 5 years old, is still working perfectly and connected to the main router as a wireless repeater over 5ghz

initial spend is high but these things last long and you won’t have constant WiFi drops and coverage issues. Of course this has been the case with me running it on asuswrt merlin firmware with tweaked settings. YMMV.

86U has fairly decent specs and with asuswrt merlin you got a lot of advanced features. I have over 35 WiFi devices in the house including lots of smart lights and plugs and I’ve not had any problems with it up till now. high bandwidth (~100Mbps) is difficult on 2.4ghz even with device is the same room so all high bandwidth devices are connected on 5ghz or directly wired to the main router or connected to the wireless repeater.

if high throughput along with coverage is required I strongly recommending buying secondary 5ghz devices that can either run dd-wrt or merlin or stock if wireless bridging is available.

P.S. before r7000, I’ve had cheaper tplink 2-3k kinda routers ans they always had some or the other isse. Either coverage was a problem or throughput or lack of 3rd party firmware support.

Also everyone should consider buying a raspberry pi and put PiHole on it for network wide ad/malware/etc blocking

Yes, I second you. The Broadcom BCM4906 chipset is the real monster, plus the tweaking done by ASUS really put this router in the elite league. Over the course of time, ASUS has officially incorporated a lot of features/tweaking of Marlin-WRT to their official ASUS-WRT. In addition to that, the regular official Firmware/Security upgrade makes this an ideal candidate for SOHO. For greater coverage, one can easily put two of these in a MESH configuration and reap the benefit of Asus's proprietory AiMesh technology.

 

[Kumar101]

+1 for Asus great routers. Been using my AC68U for 4 years and has worked flawlessly for me.

 

[BLASTO]

Wonder what difference the ASUS brings in ar 14k.
Competing routers are 3k and you can buy 4 of them even if they go bad every year?

 

[OM_2K19]

Asus offers,

1. Stability
2. Range
3. Throughout
4. Security
5. Configuration (adv.)
6. Monitoring
7. Custom ROM

 

[argho]

I would also reccoemnd Asus routers.
They are rock solid and last a long time.

I have a mix of AC86u and AC59u in my house (I have an 86u setup as main router and rest as wired access points).
Strong consistent signal throughout my house.

 

[lightgamer]

Please consider that if you're spending over ₹10k, do not get an AC(WiFi 5) router now. Any AX (WiFi 6) router would be significantly better as WiFi 6 has been built from the ground up and all of the AX series receivers/chipsets are really, really good as well.

 

[Sineman]

Has anyone gotten a mesh system installed and use it for streaming content on TV?

 

[argho]

Has anyone gotten a mesh system installed and use it for streaming content on TV?

I had setup a mesh.

Moved back to manual configuration of my routers because I prefer that.

But my TV I connect via ethernet.

 

[manivas]

Its better to go with ethernet, my experience with Wi-Fi connections are not stable (both 2.4 Ghz & 5 Ghz).

 

[satish 1926]

Ive been using Dlink - DIR 882 for apple tv no issues with speeds upward 150mbps but for yamaha wxc 50 i went for ethernet which seems to be very stable.

 

[shield99]

I've heard great things about A20/AC4000 or its equivalent C4000 from TP-Link.
Anyone used this product?

 

[gilfredpaul]

Has anyone gotten a mesh system installed and use it for streaming content on TV?

Recently moved to Orbi mesh router from AirPort Extreme which served for 9 yrs. now iam getting near to full bandwidth of 200mbps even near satellites, so Plex/Netflix steaming on wifi has no issues.

 

[shield99]

initial spend is high but these things last long and you won’t have constant WiFi drops and coverage issues. Of course this has been the case with me running it on asuswrt merlin firmware with tweaked settings. YMMV.

I just got a AC86U and flashed it with a stable merlin build. What other settings have you tweaked?

 

[OM_2K19]

I just got a AC86U and flashed it with a stable merlin build. What other settings have you tweaked?

Marlin build is already tweaked so the default settings work just fine. You might have to work on the placement of the Router (don't put them very close to the wall) and position the antennae accordingly. Also, use your Modem in the bridge mode and let the Asus take care of the routing thus avoiding a double NAT.

 

[moh1t]

ASUS RT-AC86U selling for ~12k on both flipkart and Amazon after CC discount. I’ve never seen it sell this low before. Grab this if you have the budget. Very feature rich (with merlin fw) and it‘ll easily last for 4-5 years.