Hey HA folks. I need some help. In my current home, the router I have is so-so. It is not the cheapo wireless router that comcast provides its customers. I went out and purchased the Netgear C6300. It has served its purpose for the most part. It has had spotty reliability and my concern is that as my network of devices grows in our new home (larger), this router will not be able to handle the load and ultimately slow everything down. Admittedly, I have a bit of ignorance regarding how the signals are transmitted and how certain devices take higher priority, etc. I am currently doing more research so I have a better understanding of how wireless works in my home.
I would like to know from others on Comcast, what options they are using and how they like it. Also, as I plan to move into this new home where the best location for the installation would be to ensure that I have the best location for all future load on the network.
I have been a hard-wire everything kinda guy. Until recently we had very few wireless devices other than a couple of phones and a couple of tablets. We used a mid-range Asus router with an alternate firmware to get more control and updates.
Well, things have changed. Somehow we have added a bunch of WiFi devices. To improve things we added a high-end Linksys Wifi router for throughput and coverage. The interface was crap and no control. It had coverage but not complete enough. After adding a real router, demoting the Linksys to an access point role and adding two other WiFi routers as access points, I still had spotty coverage.
For years I had people recommend Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi devices to me. I grabbed a couple of the Unifi devices at the local computer store and tried them out. It took about half a day to decide this was the way to go. I tossed out everything else (except the router) and ended up with 3 Unifi devices spread through the house and garage. I have very strong and even coverage throughout the house and yard.
The devices I got were their lowest priced models, about $100 each. That was less than the Linksys router. The Linksys wonât likely get much more updates than what it came with. Since Ubiquity makes these devices large commercial deployments, it will get regular security and feature updates. Same my with the router. The Comcast device has almost no capabilities and I wouldnât expect there will be any updates there either.
Ubiquiti Unifi is not the only commercial WiFi device worth considering and it may be way more than you want or need. Do consider that one central device may not provide whole-house coverage, especially with 5Ghz. When you look at a replacement devices, think about security and the updates you likely wonât get.
Thank you for your detailed response. In my smaller home now, I have a wifi extender to help reach the back rooms but that has been hit or miss as well. But for the price and itâs uses, it has done a decent job. I will look into the Unifi devices you recommended. A concern for sure is security and outside access if I have a super strong signal and getting people trying to connect to it. I want something secure but modular to accommodate my needs and future devices.
I really like how the Unifi devices are working for me, but I havenât tried everything. I know there are other non consumer devices worth looking at. My point is, consider looking beyond the highly marketed brands, that seldom (never) live up to the hype.
I second @zarthan response about Ubiquity Unifi Aps. I currently running 2 AP PROâs in my home and they provide excellent coverage Prior to that I ran a hodgepodge of APâs (4 total) but I had an odd set-up. Out of those 4 however, I had a Netgear Nighthawk R6700 that was awesome. Unfortunately it did not meet my VLAN needs when I reconfigured my network.
If you are running a straight single subnet then I would say either mid-to-high end Netgear or Unifi. If you plan to run VLANs, then just move forward with Unifi.
Iâve recently switched to Unifi as well. Quite honestly the stability and coverage is way beyond any of the normal consumer brands. Iâve tried draytek, Lynksys and netgear as well as running pfsense on an old watchguard firebox. None of them compare to Unifi in my experience Was recommended to me from a professional installer and in his words Unifi âjust worksâ. Took me all of 10 minutes to get my network re-running and the APs set up in no time (I have 5 APs in my home now).
Unifi here too. Been running it for a couple of years now. Previously tried the multiple random routers setup as APs around the house and that kinda sorta worked but not really. I bought their cloud key and have that plugged into one house and also use it to manage my second house setup (you can run their controller software on anything else though - razpi, QNAP/Synology, etc). I run an Edgerouter x in each location and those things NEVER go down or require a reboot. You can get the USG and run that as your router and manage it from the unifi controller (same as the APs). But ya, these things just run and work. As @zarthan said - there are other options out there to consider, especially with all of the newer âmeshâ systems on the market but the UniFi setup has been pretty bullet proof for my needs. Preferably you run a cable to each AP but you can set them up as wireless extenders/repeaters if thatâs not an option.
Thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry for the late replyâŚlast couple days has been a blur due to a family emergency. Thankfully, everyone is safe and sound. Back to network performance and stabilityâŚ
My current setup is not too shabby but definitely slower than I would prefer. My router is not too horrible but my extender is not something I prefer because it simply gives me 2 other networks I have the option to connect to. I would rather have a mesh like you are all suggesting with the Ubiquity. I have also seen (since searching Ubiquity) that Netgear has something that creates a mesh. There have been a multitude of other products I have seen recently too since doing a search for products. Creeps me out how much their damn algorithms work on us. AnywayâŚI will have to wait until we are in our new home to see how bad our network performance is and then determine which product would suffice.
Thanks again HA community. Great having solid opinions to rely on.
As wireless router I was recommend Netgear router. I am using this router since 5 years and work really fine. Even when you face any issue netgear support team always ready to help you.My router is not too horrible but my extender is not something I prefer because it simply gives me 2 other networks I have the option to connect to. I would rather have a mesh like you are all suggesting with the Ubiquity. I have also seen (since searching Ubiquity) that Netgear has something that creates a mesh.
I really like how the Unifi devices are working for me, but I havenât tried everything. I know there are other non consumer devices worth looking at. My point is, consider looking beyond the highly marketed brands, that seldom (never) live up to the hype.
If you are running a straight single subnet then I would say either mid-to-high end Belkin or Unifi. If you plan to run VLANs, then just move forward with Unifi.
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