Wireless router advice needed

[mojo84]

I need to change out my Netgear WNDR 3700 v1 N600 wireless router.

I am looking at Netgear or Asus N900 models. I think the throughput of N900 is fine as I do not have clients that use the higher speeds afforded by ac. Range is important as my office is in the corner of the detached garage. QoS is nice and so is dual band. Would like to spend less than $150.

Would appreciate recommendations or feedback.

[uthornsfan]

Can I ask why you need QoS? Also what are your internet speeds at?

[mojo84]

Speeds - 12 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up
We office at home. We are both on the network and sometimes have to upload or download large files to our agency management system or via email. Sometimes we stress the bandwidth when working on computers, kids on Netflix or YouTube and using VoIP. I use the QoS to prioritize VoIP and work over recreational uses. This helps us maintain better call quality so we don't have to pay for higher bandwidth.

For some reason, within the past week, our router has started dropping the internet connection to the ISP. Sometimes the connection reestablishes after a few minutes and sometimes it takes an hour or two. Very erratic.

[WhiteLightning]

I was having the same problem with my old Linksys. Bought a new Netgear 3700 v4. It has been flawless.

[mojo84]

Thanks WL. I was also thinking buying the same router but later version since the one I've had for several years has served me so well. Then I start thinking maybe I can use the opportunity to move up in performance a bit. I'm sure I'm putting too much thought into.

[bmwrdr]

My best experience is a CISCO/ Linksys EA4500 with the latest Firmware. QoS and link recovery works with those models. For the issue yiu have with your uplink you may also want to look at eventual problems with in-house cables and or provider issues. Logging features of whatever device you use may be a help too.

[mojo84]

My best experience is a CISCO/ Linksys EA4500 with the latest Firmware. QoS and link recovery works with those models. For the issue yiu have with your uplink you may also want to look at eventual problems with in-house cables and or provider issues. Logging features of whatever device you use may be a help too.

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up getting an Asus n900, can't remember the model off hand. However, I tried an old router I had, one loaned to me by the internet provider and my new one. Still has problems with dropping service. Sent them as strongly worded letter and haven't had any further issues since. I suspect it was something on their end and they didn't really look until I sent the letter and tried all the other routers.

Thanks again.

[mojo84]

No where near that. Every now and then it hits 130. Typically it is around 65-75. My router definitely outperforms the pipe.

[Piney]

Your comment about dropping the connection-- DSL ? Cable ?

Our Comcast connection was quite poor-- lots of really low speed, dropped connections. Their support staff were useless ! After several returned/replaced modems, I bought my own Motorola model. Perfect-- much more sensitive to their poor connection paramaters. Doesnt drop.

I ask because its possible its not the router portion , but the modem portion of your connection.

On a similar note--I have a Cisco/lynksys wireless router-- good coverage all over the 2 story house and outside.

[mojo84]

It's GVTC fiber optics. Not sure if that would be cable or not.

[bmwrdr]

Just in case you need a way to determine where the bottleneck in an active connection is you could use a relatively new tool included in Windows 7 or higher. If you run XP you can download it from the MS website.
It is called "pathping" and if you run it from a DOS Shell (CMD) it basically traces the route from your originating PC to the destination you experience a problem with. After the trace is complete it computes statistics about the connection and pronts the results in the DOS shell. A self explanatory example is below.

C:\Users\XYZ>pathping http://www.google.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tracing route to http://www.google.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; [63.96.4.55]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 kswinpc.local [10.10.100.116]
1 CISCO46277 [10.10.100.1]
2 192.168.168.1
3 lo0-100.DLLSTX-VFTTP-308.verizon-gni.net [71.252.138.1]
4 T0-6-0-3.DLLSTX-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net [130.81.168.76]
5 * * *
Computing statistics for 100 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 XYZ.local [10.10.100.116]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% CISCO46277 [10.10.100.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 1ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.168.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 8ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% lo0-100.DLLSTX-VFTTP-308.verizon-
ni.net [71.252.138.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 9ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% T0-6-0-3.DLLSTX-LCR-22.verizon-gn
.net [130.81.168.76]

Trace complete.
C:\Users\XYZ>