thats the question, what does the enterprise Access Point or router does that the commercial one does not?
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Any one experience with Netgear, Asus, and Linksys routers?
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thats the question, what does the enterprise Access Point or router does that the commercial one does not?
it can handle more simultaneous users? I really think a local commercial network install company becomes familiar with a product and exclusively uses it because thats all they know.
there are a variety of open source firmware and software efforts out there
for example currently i run a PFSense box at home and not really impressed. difficult for me to use.
ya i use that apple extreme in AP mode;
-have the feeling it may not handle higher resolution video streaming if i went that way.
-moving back into the city i put some effort to physically locate the router in the new house. This more than anything else made a difference.
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For me, it came to reliability. Got tired of a new consumer router every year or two, because they would need to be reset often, act strange, or simply die. Not acceptable when working from home.
Tons of other nice-to-have things, like better logging and network mapping, separate guest SSIDs...features that one may not need, but great if you do.
The biggest feature is the ability to add and change APs as much as i want, no limits. Only 3 now, but they all behave, and roaming between APs is seamless and invisible to users. Just last week I did some firmware updates to APs. I rebooted one while an ATV client was streaming. No stutter, no pause, next AP picked up the ATV and it never knew the primary AP was off line. Slick.
To be fair, the gap has closed between consumer and enterprise gear. IMHO, entry-level UBNT gear sits right in the sweet spot between the two. There are surely others that fit the bill, but UBNT has been around long enough to have mature firmware, and I have the most experiecnce with them.
Tons of other nice-to-have things, like better logging and network mapping, separate guest SSIDs...features that one may not need, but great if you do.
The biggest feature is the ability to add and change APs as much as i want, no limits. Only 3 now, but they all behave, and roaming between APs is seamless and invisible to users. Just last week I did some firmware updates to APs. I rebooted one while an ATV client was streaming. No stutter, no pause, next AP picked up the ATV and it never knew the primary AP was off line. Slick.
To be fair, the gap has closed between consumer and enterprise gear. IMHO, entry-level UBNT gear sits right in the sweet spot between the two. There are surely others that fit the bill, but UBNT has been around long enough to have mature firmware, and I have the most experiecnce with them.
I have the ASUS RT-AC5300. Looks like a monster. Huge footprint, and ridiculous number of antennas, but for two years I've had no issues. My needs are modest. My home is around 2K sq ft and my internet is 300 down and 25 up.
One of the reasons I choose this router was to use port aggregation with my Synology NAS. One thing I have been wanting to ask someone who is knowledgeable about these things is related to the ASUS Trend Micro software. Am I getting a false sense of security thinking the software is blocking any phishing attempts and fending off any attacks?
I have also been looking at the new router by Razer, but after reading this thread I am intrigued with the Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite and UAP-AC-LITE access point option. Is there any benefit to this set up over what I have now?
One of the reasons I choose this router was to use port aggregation with my Synology NAS. One thing I have been wanting to ask someone who is knowledgeable about these things is related to the ASUS Trend Micro software. Am I getting a false sense of security thinking the software is blocking any phishing attempts and fending off any attacks?
I have also been looking at the new router by Razer, but after reading this thread I am intrigued with the Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite and UAP-AC-LITE access point option. Is there any benefit to this set up over what I have now?
+1
My NetGear Nighthawk did a good job with giving me much better coverage than my absolutely awful cable company modem (not surprising). When my Nighthawk died I got a mesh system and was astounded at how good the coverage was in every inch of where I live.
I'm not sure how the Asus setup does things, but no network anti-virus/IDS is useful without TLS termination and inspection. The Trend Micro stuff might help you if you downloaded something malicious that was sent over plain HTTP, but if it can't see anything sent over TLS, it's going to miss a vast amount of traffic. The web reputation stuff does mean, however, that every site you visit is logged and sent to Trend Micro's servers, which is a privacy concern IMO.
The main advantages of splitting your router and AP (for home users) are flexibility and coverage options. You can place your AP where you need it instead of where your router is, and you can add additional APs easily. For example, my router and switch are in my basement because I have more room down there, but I have a few APs (Aruba and Ubiquiti) throughout the house. The firmware on enterprise or "prosumer" gear is generally much higher quality, so that means fewer bugs, better security, and fewer reboots, plus better management options, more features, and higher performance.
Thanks for the info. I started to read about configuring a Unifi AP Pro and EdgeRouter Lite and quickly realized this may be over my head. I have a basic understanding of protocols, but manually configuring routers, switches and AP's could cause me to drink heavily and throw the whole set up out the window in frustration. Not sure if I want to go there.
Understandable, but if you wanted to give it a shot, I'd be happy to help as would other regulars on this forum.
Very kind of you to offer. I’m going to do some more reading and I just might take you up.
You might want to checkout the smallnetbuilder site:
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/117-2_4-ghz-profile-dn/35?see=AVG
I tried a mesh system, Linksys Velop Wireless AC-4400 Tri-Band Whole Home Mesh but found I got better performance from a TP-Link Archer C2300:
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/tp-link-archer-c2300,review-5625.html
Its performance is roughly equivalent to my Comcast xFi gateway modem (~300 - ~500 Mbps) which has: 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi standard and MU-MIMO.
But my home is small ...
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/117-2_4-ghz-profile-dn/35?see=AVG
I tried a mesh system, Linksys Velop Wireless AC-4400 Tri-Band Whole Home Mesh but found I got better performance from a TP-Link Archer C2300:
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/tp-link-archer-c2300,review-5625.html
Its performance is roughly equivalent to my Comcast xFi gateway modem (~300 - ~500 Mbps) which has: 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi standard and MU-MIMO.
But my home is small ...
Agreed. I would add that the APs are pretty easy configure. Maybe not the easiest compared to other consumer-targeted stuff, but setup in default mode, with no changes, they are pretty easy and great as-is.
As for routers....the EdgeRouter I use is not so non-tech friendly (though it has improved over the last few years). Top of my list for ease of use would probably be either the Synology MR2200 or the UBNT Security Gateway.
The UBNT rig uses the same management tool as the APs, so that's compelling. They Synology box wins on options, features, and security/parental controls, plus it costs less, as well as easy remote access, and easily setting up file sharing to a USB drive (like a dedicated NAS).
They've definitely improved but some are still so painful. I cringe at walking someone through setting one up over the phone.
+1 on the ASUS AC-5300. I used this to replace an AirPort Extreme, also with a small ASUS router which works as a mesh pair with the AC-5300. Not entirely faultless but packed with features and reliable running.
Only real pain is the way it works with a tethered phone to provide a secondary WAN feed on failover of the cable modem - it’s a bit fiddly after a reboot I find a have to change the android phone tethering settings again (maybe phone’s issue?). The that kind of functionality on consumer router is pretty good.
It’s been finicky for me when I try to use it as a time machine back up with an external drive. Drive occasionally disappears.
Yeah I tried stuff like USB network drive and TM support. But I noticed it was really hammering the CPU on the router and also getting really hot. So, given that was not why I bought it, I don’t use it for that any more. ASUS do seem to want to spin up a load of stuff beyond its real capabilities.
My experiences: For the last 5 years I’ve subscribed to an ISP delivering 300mbps download and 300mbps upload speeds for Internet, and using an Ethernet connection I actually get those speeds. For WiFi, I replaced my Apple AirPort Extreme router two years ago with a Linksys EA9500. I saw some improvements in wireless speeds but not as much as I had hoped. I have a two-story home built in 1906 so all plaster and lath walls which are death to WiFi. I picked the EA9500 for its tri-band handling and ability to use range extenders with similar features to keep from cutting speeds in half. And it all sort of worked. Still had difficulty getting a strong signal to my detached garage 50 feet from the house without trenching an Ethernet line in conduit out there.
Then on came mesh routers with a vengeance: Velop, Orbi, Deco, eero, others. Reviews seem to suggest near equivalency so I finally bought some on the recent Amazon Prime Day where they had the eero pros at half price. I’ve positioned five of these bad boys throughout the home and it really has improved WiFi performance measurably. With our 300mbps/300mbps down and up, our same-room wireless speeds are above 250mbps now where previously they were as low as 10% of that. The downside is that each pro has only two Ethernet ports vs. the 8 ports on the Linksys EA9500, and one of those two is the input Ethernet cable from the ISP’s fiber optic modem. Will have to get a hub for the main eero router in the network closet likely.
I have the eero network successfully running and I’m still running the Linksys network as well until I feel confident enough to disable it and sell the router and range extenders. Pretty impressed so far.
eero upsides: WiFi and high speeds throughout my difficult home, and incredibly stupid-simple setup.
eero downsides: these devices run really hot so I worry about reliability, and you need many of them in a venue like mine. I’ll probably add a few more if/when they go on sale again. Network management tools are pretty rudimentary.
Linksys EA9500 upsides: one big honkin’ router with lots of Ethernet ports and decent network management tools.
Linksys EA9500 downsides: flaky app, no way to see data throughput or quantity.
This weekend I’ll try to set up the eero network to our detached garage using WiFi only. I hope that solves the weak signal issue there. If not, I see no alternative to Ethernet trenching.
Then on came mesh routers with a vengeance: Velop, Orbi, Deco, eero, others. Reviews seem to suggest near equivalency so I finally bought some on the recent Amazon Prime Day where they had the eero pros at half price. I’ve positioned five of these bad boys throughout the home and it really has improved WiFi performance measurably. With our 300mbps/300mbps down and up, our same-room wireless speeds are above 250mbps now where previously they were as low as 10% of that. The downside is that each pro has only two Ethernet ports vs. the 8 ports on the Linksys EA9500, and one of those two is the input Ethernet cable from the ISP’s fiber optic modem. Will have to get a hub for the main eero router in the network closet likely.
I have the eero network successfully running and I’m still running the Linksys network as well until I feel confident enough to disable it and sell the router and range extenders. Pretty impressed so far.
eero upsides: WiFi and high speeds throughout my difficult home, and incredibly stupid-simple setup.
eero downsides: these devices run really hot so I worry about reliability, and you need many of them in a venue like mine. I’ll probably add a few more if/when they go on sale again. Network management tools are pretty rudimentary.
Linksys EA9500 upsides: one big honkin’ router with lots of Ethernet ports and decent network management tools.
Linksys EA9500 downsides: flaky app, no way to see data throughput or quantity.
This weekend I’ll try to set up the eero network to our detached garage using WiFi only. I hope that solves the weak signal issue there. If not, I see no alternative to Ethernet trenching.
Similar experience. The only negative for me was that I had to buy a little switch because two ports in my office doesn't cut it. It was so worth it to get fast, consistent WiFi anywhere inside.
My 2 cents.
Mesh really works. Benefits include easy of use and speed. Better management and monitoring tools.
As others pointed out, most equipment manufacturers have similar performance. A premium price is not justified unless one has a very specific use case.
TP-Link Deco mesh routers are cheap and efficient. Not as advanced as Eero or Velop but does the job really well. TP-Link used to be cheap and basic routers 5-6 years ago but they have come a long way.
Waiting for new WiFi 6 mesh routers to upgrade my setup. Probably by the end of 2020 will have 3-4 good offerings for us to choose from.
Mesh really works. Benefits include easy of use and speed. Better management and monitoring tools.
As others pointed out, most equipment manufacturers have similar performance. A premium price is not justified unless one has a very specific use case.
TP-Link Deco mesh routers are cheap and efficient. Not as advanced as Eero or Velop but does the job really well. TP-Link used to be cheap and basic routers 5-6 years ago but they have come a long way.
Waiting for new WiFi 6 mesh routers to upgrade my setup. Probably by the end of 2020 will have 3-4 good offerings for us to choose from.
which did you get?
I hear good things about AmpliFi HD WiFi System by Ubiquiti Labs, although I am afraid to make the switch especially that Wifi6 is on the horizon. I also want a mesh network that can do chain form as in "Main Unit->AP1->AP2".
Damn you guys!!! damn all you to hell for making me want to spend all my money
I'm pretty much sold on the AmpliFi HD WiFi System..... except Wifi6 is pretty much rolling out next year
I'm going to wait until ubiquity rolls out the new standard
I'm pretty much sold on the AmpliFi HD WiFi System..... except Wifi6 is pretty much rolling out next year
I'm going to wait until ubiquity rolls out the new standard
I wish I could chime in and give more help. I have not personally owned a Linksys system since the WRT54G way back when it was THE router to get. After that I went Apple Airport.
Then on to multiple Airports hardwired to each other.... after years of testing, I will never do wireless extending in my own home. For anyone else I would advice just getting ethernet ran, a 1000' box of cat6 can be had for close to $100. Or simply hiring someone to do it and be done with it. In my opinion is worth it, but I also understand if someone can not or is not willing to do something.
After the Airports I changed over to UniFi and do not see myself changing from them for quite some time if ever. I like their products.
Then on to multiple Airports hardwired to each other.... after years of testing, I will never do wireless extending in my own home. For anyone else I would advice just getting ethernet ran, a 1000' box of cat6 can be had for close to $100. Or simply hiring someone to do it and be done with it. In my opinion is worth it, but I also understand if someone can not or is not willing to do something.
After the Airports I changed over to UniFi and do not see myself changing from them for quite some time if ever. I like their products.