Help to Select a New Router Please

[Pigman]

I've recently moved from 20th to 21st centuries, having just bought a new internet connected Sony Full HD TV (model 32W674) and a Sony Xperia Z Android tablet to join my aging Dell laptop and old, unbranded PC, (both running Windows - 7 & Vista respectively). All (including the PC) are wirelessly connected to my home network.

I'm using the new TV to stream video from the laptop - and in due course will stream from the tablet, but as a non techie, I'm still on an Android learning curve! The streaming is "patchy" and the signal tends to fall over every 5 minutes or so. I'm told that this suggests my router is not man enough for the job - I'm currently using a little single antenna job I bought from 3BB for about B500, so it's hardly "cutting edge"

Like the guys at the Chi Chang branches in Chiang Mai, I am wholly non technical (though actually I may know more than them given that I can actually recognise a computer........), so I'd welcome some suggestions from the experts out there please on upgrading my router. All the devices on my network are near enough in line of sight of the router. There are no thick walls for the signal to get through (modern 2 storey house) and even though we are on a moo baan, only about 4 other wireless networks that I can detect.. Main usage is internet browsing, e-mail, torrents, downloading a few TV programmes from Auntie Beeb in the UK, and the above mentioned streaming to the TV. The odd programme would ideally be streamed in HD, but much of it will be stuff I've "acquired" via torrent or ripped from my DVD collection. No gaming or other heavy duty usage.

I understand that 802.11ac is the latest "thing", but I don't like being an early adopter, thus would feel happier with 802.11n. Dual band is not important in that I don't believe I'm fighting others for bandwidth. To avoid exorbitant import duties, something I can buy off the shelf here is preferred please.

Any suggestions of suitable hardware would be much appreciated.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Pigman

[KittenKong]

I'm told that this suggests my router is not man enough for the job - I'm currently using a little single antenna job I bought from 3BB for about B500, so it's hardly "cutting edge"

A 500B wifi router? I doubt that any decent wifi router could be had for much under 1000B.

You could try running temporary ethernet cables to see it that gets round the problem.

[ETatBKK]

if all these devices are located in the same room, indeed an ethernet cable is the best option best quality for streaming video between a notebook and the TV. find a nice way to hide the cable though.

then a basic wifi router may able to support your tablet, and other devices for just internet purposes. 802.11n is almost the standard specs these days. well, not all devices support 802.11ac yet.

Dlink, TP-link are reliable brands and not so pricey.

[ravip]

As you are about to purchase a WiFi router, I am sure this article would help you decide.

[Chicog]

Funnily enough I've just set up a Belkin 802.11ac router in my office today and it works just great.

Then again I am about 5 feet from it.

If you want to stream video around the house look for the best bandwidth and the strongest signal.

I believe at the moment that's supposed to be 802.11ac.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Chicog

[ravip]

Funnily enough I've just set up a Belkin 802.11ac router in my office today and it works just great.

Then again I am about 5 feet from it.

If you want to stream video around the house look for the best bandwidth and the strongest signal.

I believe at the moment that's supposed to be 802.11ac.

Is it compatible with many devices?

e.g. Brands, models, OS etc ?

[JSixpack]

if all these devices are located in the same room, indeed an ethernet cable is the best option best quality for streaming video between a notebook and the TV. find a nice way to hide the cable though.

+1. Home Pro and the like sell dropover cable covers, trivial to install, just need a small saw for cutting--or you can ask Home Pro to cut the lengths for you.

then a basic wifi router may able to support your tablet, and other devices for just internet purposes. 802.11n is almost the standard specs these days. well, not all devices support 802.11ac yet.

Best just to go w/ the 802.11n. Lots of choices in the market, surely already compatible w/ all the hardware, no need to buy new adapters.

Dlink, TP-link are reliable brands and not so pricey.

I have a low opinion of TP-Link based on my experience w/ one of their switches. It was utter crap. D-Link, Linksys, Netgear are all established and good brands IMO. Never had a problem w/ any of them.

[seajae]

TP-Link have a lifetime warranty, our old one(5 years) was replaced on the spot just the other week when it had a problem, have not seen this happen with anything else in Thailand yet. They are a top brand and as their back up service is fantatstic its hard to go past them, one problem one does not make the rest crap or else no one would buy anything. They are just over a thousand baht for a good one which is what you need to pay if you want anything of quality otherwise you are buying junk.

[muratremix]

AC routers uses 80 mhz bandwidth and can't be used where several wifi signals present in your home. If you use, signal will degrade. Thats why I can't use 40mhz 802.11n in my townhouse, I stick to 20 mhz because it works better, less signal interference.

There are routers from 3000 baht to 6000 baht. I use asus RT-N66U myself, it has RT-N66AC model aswell. However you don't need that expensive router.

If you can find asus RT-N16 for cheap (3000-3500 baht) you can also consider it.

[Sheist]

Do you have any devices with a gigabit ethernet card?

If not, then you won't miss much and the DIR-605L from D-link (Google it...) is only 1190b at Power Buy, and it has an Android app so you can control, monitor and even reboot your router from your Android phone. You can even set it up to receive emails for things like when a new device connects, etc. Desirable feature are IP address reservation, which lets you permanently assign the same IP address to the same device so you always know what local IP address it gets from the router. It is a "300mb router" but I get the same internet speed as I did with my old DIR-600, but the extra features including the phone app are a must for control freaks like me.

4, 100mb ethernet ports, and you plug in your Internet connection source, or modem. Wireless also (of course), with latest WPA2 encryption.

You can set the router to be accessible only from within your network OR/also from the internet, so it isn't always accessible to the internet if you don't want that. (I don't need or use that either)

Edited September 17, 2013 by jryanb

[ledi]

We are using Apple's Airport Extreme with a bridged modem to connect to the internet and handle the wifi traffic to a Boxee, Apple TV, a few iPhones and Samsung phones, a few computers - it also creates a guest network. A bit pricy but it works well for us.

[sniffdog]

As a streaming (of mostly HD content) fan, I gave up on wireless a long time ago. All my devices (PC, WD Live Hub, Sony Home Theater, Buffalo NAS, Xbox360) are connected to my True ZTE router (even got it for free). Do some streaming to my Ipads and HTC phone on Wifi occasionally if I am in another room. Luckily in my living room all devices are located a short distance from each other so I can use a wired setup.

The only problem I face now that the ports of the ZTE router are limited to 100Mbs, so moving things around between devices is (although most of them have Gigibit ports) is kinda slowly. I might solve that by buying a Gigabit switch.

Depending on your budget, you could decide between a cheap 4 port router or a fancy one like this:

http://www.buffalo-asia.com/thailand/products/product_details.php?id=465&name=WZR-HP-G450H

For me, this is the ultimate router (built in torrent client, DD-WRT VPN, high speed wireless output, USB HDD connection).

Edited September 17, 2013 by sniffdog

[Estrada]

if all these devices are located in the same room, indeed an ethernet cable is the best option best quality for streaming video between a notebook and the TV. find a nice way to hide the cable though.

then a basic wifi router may able to support your tablet, and other devices for just internet purposes. 802.11n is almost the standard specs these days. well, not all devices support 802.11ac yet.

Dlink, TP-link are reliable brands and not so pricey.

I have had 5 TP-Link routers die on me in short succession, despite being guaranteed for life! Not to be recommended, as they do not seem to withstand the heat in Thailand. I could get them to work if I stuck them in the fridge for a few hours! I now use a Belkin N600 dual band wireless router, so far no problems.

[drdoom6996]

A friend just built a huge and bought a D-Link DSL275ou and put big antenna's on it. It works great for him.

[JSixpack]

TP-Link have a lifetime warranty, our old one(5 years) was replaced on the spot just the other week when it had a problem, have not seen this happen with anything else in Thailand yet. They are a top brand and as their back up service is fantatstic its hard to go past them, one problem one does not make the rest crap or else no one would buy anything. They are just over a thousand baht for a good one which is what you need to pay if you want anything of quality otherwise you are buying junk.

See post #13 above. Perhaps there's a reason they feel compelled to offer such a guarantee?

A friend of mine did have a TP-Link USB adapter that was pretty good.

I partly agree w/ you, but for me the brand is tainted. I'd only buy it if I couldn't find one of the other big names.

Edited September 17, 2013 by JSixpack

[GBK]

I would speak to the Danish guy at InvadeIT.

http://www.invadeit.co.th

Tell him what your situation is and he will recommend something for you. Very knowledgeable and great service.

HTH

[ETatBKK]

As a streaming (of mostly HD content) fan, I gave up on wireless a long time ago.

streaming is very smooth in just a simple ethernet connection. yeah, old fashioned but wifi 2-way data flow won't do the job. even I have a Linksys EA6500 AC, not much improved.

I have had 5 TP-Link routers die on me in short succession, despite being guaranteed for life! Not to be recommended, as they do not seem to withstand the heat in Thailand. I could get them to work if I stuck them in the fridge for a few hours! I now use a Belkin N600 dual band wireless router, so far no problems.

for non-demanding environment ( not streaming ), D-Link and TP-Link does the job in low budget. more budget, go for Netgear and ASUS; or more, Belkin and Linksys are very reliable, but very expensive.

for the reason of extended coverage, I have a Linksys EA6500 AC. yet the PCI AC adapter is SO EXPENSIVE ( B2,800+ ), at least today :-( now using couple of existing ASUS n adaptors, won't help neither. wrong planning :- (

[CaptainFly]

Check with Sabai Technology and they will give you the best response. The owner lives in Thailand and they build their own OS. I have one and I do streaming etc. and have a daughter that I can block out VPN on her computer so they will help you with any questions about the quality of signal in Thailand.

Good luck

[muratremix]

Check with Sabai Technology and they will give you the best response. The owner lives in Thailand and they build their own OS. I have one and I do streaming etc. and have a daughter that I can block out VPN on her computer so they will help you with any questions about the quality of signal in Thailand.

Good luck

299 usd for rtn66u with sabai os, which is 100 usd extra just for sabai os.

Whats so special about it? For this price one can get mikrotik or pfsense firewall routers.

[ragpicker]

I haven't priced the Asus RTN66U in Thailand. I purchased mine in the US for $150. This is a dual band router and I am very happy with it. It also has two USB ports for connecting had drives, printers, etc. The 500 baht BBB modem/router is junk. I guess you get what you pay for. This thing is not only very slow but also has a short range, though you mention range is not an issue. I have also had good luck with D-link routers.

[ozyjon]

When you said router i thought you were talking about a Makita wood router,, they are great.

[pizzachang]

TP Link works perfectly for me. I've noticed that as more and more software is geared toward touchscreens (I may be wrong) it seems to require more power. I've had to replace my power unit twice in the 5 years I've been here. Good luck with your new system.

[NiwPix]

Before I left the US in March, I bought the Netgear R6300 ( http://www.netgear.com/R6300# ). You mentioned you didn't want to be an early adapter of new devices, but this one I think is worth the investment. It is basically future proof. Most electronic devices from now on will have the AC adapters built in. So if you for example buy a new laptop in a year or so, it will come with the ac adapter...would be nice to have a router that can utilize that feature, no? Even in 3-4 years from now when/if you buy a new TV, cellphone etc.

If you buy an N router now, you would buy yesterdays technology at todays price. Don't get me wrong, N is still good....but its becoming outdated.

[YeaBiGgiEs]

There certainly are many variables to consider with regard to the demand you place on your network, the bandwidth you have and what you expect.

Nowadays, a smarTV, a couple smartphones and a few computers or laptops being used under regular surfing, downloading, streaming should not be a problem with a 10mb ISP plan or better... The router does also impact this. Since you just recently stepped into this century with technology you are probably spending umpteen hours online exploring all the neat things you can do far exceeding regular use. Ok enough of that.

B, G, N is a reference to the generation that the technology uses...

b is slowest/weakest 11Mbps
g is medium speed/range 54Mbps
N is fastest/strongest up to 300Mbps

Every newer generation router being able to support the previous or BACKWARDS. SO an N or BGN router will support all. Routers these days are a dime a dozen with everyone having their favorites, likes/dislikes, experiences. They are all basically made to do what they do and benefits that appeal to most people ie free phone support, lifetime guarantee.

For your case and usage sure go ahead and get an N as that technology has already been out quite a few years as consumers are strung along being lifetime customers they probably already have X Y Z networks already planned and in the making.

Also a money saving tip, NEW might be new to you but some more advanced users used router because they have to keep up with new tech. I have a barely used Belkin G which would support G and B for cheap and would serve you your needs.

Couple other tips..

1) The router is usually located very close to your cable coaxial on your wall. This is usually done when TRUE or whoever wires your home. TAKE advantage of the WIRED ports you have on the router! Since the router is usually located close to your cable then run a wired CAT5 directly to your smartTV. This will make your family entertainment more enjoyable without lag in most cases

2) There are "range extenders" also known as repeaters. What they do is pick up your wireless signal which may be weak in one part of your mansion with obstructed cement walls and "repeat" "extend" or bounce your signal back out stronger again.

[ETatBKK]

Before I left the US in March, I bought the Netgear R6300 ( http://www.netgear.com/R6300# ). You mentioned you didn't want to be an early adapter of new devices, but this one I think is worth the investment. It is basically future proof. Most electronic devices from now on will have the AC adapters built in. So if you for example buy a new laptop in a year or so, it will come with the ac adapter...would be nice to have a router that can utilize that feature, no? Even in 3-4 years from now when/if you buy a new TV, cellphone etc.

If you buy an N router now, you would buy yesterdays technology at todays price. Don't get me wrong, N is still good....but its becoming outdated.

good and bad being an early adaptor. 802.11ac is future proof, right. yet 802.11ac is NOT ratified as a standard yet. it means providers today could challenge the best configuration and also could change their specifications before the standard is being ratified.

being too early I got a Linksys EA6500 ( DRAFT 802.11ac ) in Jan 2013, and the specifications is not quite in line with today's 802.11ac competition. Linksys introduced a variant EA6500 v2 by May, then introduced another EA6700 recently. I guess I have to stick with this expensive EA6500 for next years and so.

having said that, yes go for the idea of future proof, but hold on till the 802.11ac ratified by end of 2013 / early 2014.

p.s. thanks muratremix for reminding the 80MHz interference. this morning I switched off the 5GHz band and the smoothness of the 2.4GHz transmission improved.

[lopburi3]

I was on a very problematic circuit (old True telephone line which likely had the New York Telephone original loopback installed) where every phone call cut off internet and SSN got lower by the minute until lost and resync. Have gone through a number of routers and much prefer current Asus DSL-12U (not expensive but very good/informative software). The TP-Link TD-W8960N before it was good but indeed occasionally had heat issues - but seems fine in current use as remote WiFi point. Before that was Cisco Linksys which was a nightmare as would not resync at loss of connection.

[sniffdog]

I haven't priced the Asus RTN66U in Thailand. I purchased mine in the US for $150. This is a dual band router and I am very happy with it. It also has two USB ports for connecting had drives, printers, etc. The 500 baht BBB modem/router is junk. I guess you get what you pay for. This thing is not only very slow but also has a short range, though you mention range is not an issue. I have also had good luck with D-link routers.

On my hunt for a new router, I came across this router. The price in Pantip ranges from 5,200-5,300 baht.

Possible routers on my list:

Buffalo N300 giga - 2,690 baht

Buffalo N600 giga - 3,690 baht

Several Belkin routers - Around 3 - 4,000 baht

Asus RT-N-66U - 5,200 baht

My main goal is to speed up the communication and transfer between my Gigabit PC and Gigabit devices (WD Live Hub, Buffalo NAS, Sony Home Theater). Actually I don't want to spent upto 5,000 baht to accomplish that, but it seems I simply have to replace my (perfectly working) True ZTE router with its 100Mbs ports.

Edited September 18, 2013 by sniffdog

[Pigman]

Thanks to everybody for the advice here - really helpful.

Although the devices are within reasonable distance of each other, the PC - running off an ethernet card - is in my office, and there are a number of doorways, windows etc which make going back to wired a problem - and that's before my wife gives me earache about mess, cables looking untidy, etc.......

@GBK - I took your advice and asked the guy at Invade IT, thanks. He suggested the ASUS DSL-N55U at around B5000 which is a heck of a lot more than the B500 I paid 3BB! (Okay, in a different league, I know.)

Can I ask all you experts, if I go with this am I buying a BMW 5 series, when I only need a Honda Accord, or is the sort of kit I need to upgrade to? (My old Dad always said "you get what you pay for"......)

Thanks all!

[lopburi3]

Wireless can have a very limited range - in my too story house one wall completely blocks access from another room less than 6 meters from modem (has chicken wire holding cement rendering onto cement blocks so stops signal cold). In my house modem is on outside corner so not much use at far ends on other side. And I only have one or two other sources. I would download Wifi analyzer to your tablet and use that to check coverage and would not count on any unit to be much better - I bought high gain antenna and there was no or marginal visible or throughput improvement. Have resorted to using another WiFi modem in another room with hard wire to main modem (and as do not use WiFi at main modem location have turned it off). WiFi is extremely low power so every wall (and meter distance) has a great effect. That expensive model is said to have good range - but there is only so much you can do with the limited allowed power.

[JSixpack]

Thanks to everybody for the advice here - really helpful.

Although the devices are within reasonable distance of each other, the PC - running off an ethernet card - is in my office, and there are a number of doorways, windows etc which make going back to wired a problem - and that's before my wife gives me earache about mess, cables looking untidy, etc.......

@GBK - I took your advice and asked the guy at Invade IT, thanks. He suggested the ASUS DSL-N55U at around B5000 which is a heck of a lot more than the B500 I paid 3BB! (Okay, in a different league, I know.)

Can I ask all you experts, if I go with this am I buying a BMW 5 series, when I only need a Honda Accord, or is the sort of kit I need to upgrade to? (My old Dad always said "you get what you pay for"......)

Thanks all!

Might work! If not, you're out some extra coin.Read reviews here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B007QTMCHC/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

I think I'd prefer the Buffalo N600 giga. Gets more love from reviewers on amazon.com anyway. Like the DD-WRT in the firmware.

Cables definitely work--with cheap routers, too. Wonder if Thailand has flat cables such as http://www.amazon.co.uk/FLAT-Cat5e-Ethernet-Patch-Cable/dp/B0017YXFHI. Anybody know? Chipping a bit out of the door frame or drilling a hole is a possibility. Me, I drilled some holes to get my cable into the ceiling then to come out and run down a corner between walls. Bought the cover from Home Pro, pre-cut.

Easy to hide cables w/ the dropover cable covers. Run the covered cables in corners, just above baseboards, etc and you'd hardly know they're there. Thais, now, are used to seeing electrical wires stapled in the centers of the walls and painted over .

Anyway, I think you've made the decision to try a faster wireless. Good luck & let us know how it goes.