Later this year I plan on moving in with my best friend and his wife as a roommate. Right now they are leasing a Comcast modem/router hybrid. However, I want to get us a Motorola SurfBoard modem and a nice router. We will probably have at most 3 PCs online (2 gaming) and 2 TVs streaming Netflix/HULU. The Internet is a 120Mbps connection. The place would be a one-story apartment or house. Basically I need to know based on the Internet speed and number of devices, whether a wireless N router would be sufficient, or if I should splurge for an AC router. Some of the routers I was looking at: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Night...=1456639462&sr=1-4&keywords=netgear nighthawk http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Arche...B00BUSDVBQ&tag=thewire06-20&ascsubtag=WC29013 http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WD...=1456738762&sr=1-6&keywords=wireless n router http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wirel...ds=wireless n router&refinements=p_89:Linksys
I would go with an AC router. Moderator Downloads form Notebook review has a recommendations thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/quick-fix-802-11ac-router-recommendation-2015.738892/ Read atleast post #1 and #65.
A wireless N will do just fine but I agree with Gandalf recommend AC. Why? Because that is the latest and next year, if you buy a new wireless device, it probably will be AC so why buy something that has already been superseded? Instead, buy something that will last you further into the future. And FTR, I too like Netgear routers. Oh, and also FTR, I think you should spell out beforehand what happens when you move out.
You might also want to consider the Turris Omnia which is causing a (positive) stir currently: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/turris-omnia-hi-performance-open-source-router#/ The downside is you'll need to wait until ~April to receive it, but it looks highly promising.
Yesterday I was at img burns web site, & chose one of several dl links, which immediately brought up Ai from Trend Micro, keeping me safe. I recommend the ASUS AC with Ai Protection. Adds a layer of protection for the whole house, before it has a chance to reach a device. I got img burn form the list at major geeks.
I can't say I would ever recommend a router just because it has a built in URL blocker, so many to choose from these days, they are even built into browsers directly. Not to mention, it sounds like it was a false positive on an external mirror, not a legitimate trigger... lol. Then how do you get past that, explain to your family member "tough luck" because Trend Micro has a false positive? Tell them to wait until you log into your router? Technology is for simplifying life, not complicating it.
No problem! Many others here, & publications like the ASUS routers, for that reason & other(s). What makes you think it's just a URL blocker?
I don't think it was a false positive. ImgBurn bundles OpenCandy PUPs with it and is included with the EULA.
FYI over ASUS Routers: Asus agrees to 20 years of audits to settle "pervasive" router insecurity charges.
Hi Bill & Krusty, I even posted regarding the FTC & Asus settlement. This is not an isolated or singular problem. Router insecurity had to do with the 'internet of things'
I guess I find it unlikely that it's a full on gateway/file proxy like used in enterprise. On the other hand, routers have been bundling URL filters from AV providers for about a decade. Then you have the possible privacy implications of how that URL analysis is done. Is it sending all your URLs to "the cloud", or is it maintaining a local database, etc. Are those URLs being sent over HTTPS if so? Security vendors have a track record of sucking at security. Ah, quite possibly. A reason why I think the auto update feature on the Turris Omnia has at least the potential to be a good candidate for non techies.
Whatever you use, i would also use a tightly configured Good bidirectional firewall ! So many routers have backdoors built in, and/or vulnerabilities etc !
And this probably goes without mention, but I will anyway - be sure to change the default passphrases!
You could also look into building a cheap computer that doesn't have proprietary firmware in it. I have an old Intel Pentium 4 with 512 MB of RAM that is just waiting for an IDE cable so I can transform it in an open-source Firewall I'll probably put openBSD in it or some Linux distro. Or pfsense! There are 30$ computers that can easily handle home networking or for a small business. There's nothing better than building your own open-source firewall that fits what you need, that you know how it works, and that you can guarantee to work. Currently I have a very simple router that I use mainly for bandwidth control and to block incoming connections to an IP that doesn't exist in my network.
I have been using the Motorola 6141 modem with Netgear R7000 router for the last year and a half on a 50 MB connection. The Netgear R7000 is very perceptibly faster than my previous TP-link N router loaded with dd-wrt. Of course at the time I bought the Netgear it was about $200.00 more than what I paid for the TP-link.
I'll have to give the Turris Omnia a look, though I'd be hesitant to buy something before reviews are out. What is the router that has HitmanPro built in, and is it lifetime or yearly?
A advice would be to stay as far away as possible from those routers. I had a couple of those running at several places and had to remove them again and buy something else for the users who had them. They have a plethora of issues that you absolutely do not want to deal with. With the HitmanPro.UTM activated on the router you face the following issues : - You can't update a Microsoft Office 2013 click-to-run installation on your PC. HitmanPro.UTM will block the connections to Microsoft and your Office 2013 installation will become a sitting duck without updates just waiting to be exploited. Reported last summer and again this winter - no fix provided. - You can't download from the Microsoft store or only with huge delays. With HitmanPro.UTM activated on router, any download attempt after a purchase in the Microsoft store done on PC, Xbox or a Windows Phone will have huge problems. Your download will max out your connection for one second and then go to zero for 50-60 seconds, then max again for one second and back to zero for 50-60 seconds and so it continues. Often the download will fail after some time, in rare cases it will succeed if it is able to keep running for hours and hours. Reported by several users throughout 2015 - no fix provided. - Huge downloads will suddenly be cut off and fail with HitmanPro.UTM activated on router. Well-known issue for years - no fix provided. - Ping becomes unreliable with HitmanPro.UTM activated on these routers. The first ping will be huge, the following will be normal for that exact address. The first ping of any address will add 60-100 ms on top of the real result. The further away from the Sitecom servers you are, the worse this gets. Well-known - no fix provided. - If you happen to own any of the widely used Sonos HiFi streaming units, then these will be blocked with HitmanPro.UTM activated on router. Well-known issue and Sonos in the end had to publicly warn users against this - no fix provided. - If you happen to own one of the many internet radio units usually running Android or Linux, many of those will either be unable to maintain the stream or have it crippled with HitmanPro.UTM activated on router. Well-known - no fix provided. - If you feel like changing your router password away from default (that are luckily individual, but still), then you can no longer access your HitmanPro.UTM settings page. Reported last spring - no fix provided. After that list I would like to mention a couple of general things about these routers unrelated to the HitmanPro.UTM features. The WLR router series rarely gets any firmware updates. They had one not long ago. But that firmware update causes these routers to have problems with their routing tables. This results in steadily increasing packets being dropped. If you use your connection heavily, you will have to reboot router several times each day. Reported - no fix provided. And the latest firmware update also causes IPv6 firewall to disable itself right after boot of router, with no way of restarting it or alter any rules in it. Reported - no fix provided. Also if you like most people disable WPS on these routers, then it will also turn off the two buttons for WPS. Unfortunately these two buttons have to be pressed simultaneously to reset router. So if you disable WPS, forget your router password and want to go back to factory default then you are out of luck. You now own a expensive paper weight. Reported - no fix provided. Only buy these routers if you are taking anger management classes, because you will become very, very frustrated very, very quickly. A quick note to Erik and Mark from Surfright/Sophos if you happen to read along at some point - this is not written to badmouth any of you in any way. HitmanPro.UTM are a product of the past, and I fully understand your focus on HitmanPro.Alert.
That is indeed the downside of an unreleased product, depending on when you're moving in, ofcourse. Sounds about right. Like I said earlier technology is meant to simplify life. The last thing one should want to do is add another source of issues, especially a router at that. Gateway AV is great for enterprise, not home users.
So I think I will pony up for the Nighthawk AC1900, since it is the same price as the ASUS and both have good reviews. However, I need a modem too. I was going to go with a Motorola Surfboard, but I see Netgear has modems as well, then I found they have an AC1900 modem/router 2-in-1. It has really good reviews, but would it be better to buy a separate modem and router? http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Night...94&sr=8-4&keywords=netgear cable modem router
The cable company will have control of the device that interfaces with their network (coax). Via DOCSIS config files and SNMP. So, for example, they could (and probably would at times) push firmware updates to that device. One of the benefits of going separate: You will (should) have sole control of the router, and the cable company will only have control of the modem.
@Brandonn2010 : I agree with @TheWindBringeth, keeping modem and router separated are your best option. - It will keep your ISP out of your LAN. - You will be less likely to face throughput issues. A lot of the modem/router combo units will have trouble when you use your connection heavily. and less important, but more of a convenience thing - Changes on ISP side that causes you to need new modem (new ISP or ISP upgrades to their system), you just unplug old modem and plug in new modem. Your LAN keeps your setup. There are in my view only positive things to say about keeping modem and router separated. The only downside to keeping modem and router separated, are the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) There are six things to say about that. "Location, location, location" - place units out of sight, and you're in a lot less trouble then if visible. And of course - "flowers, flowers, flowers". Never forget those when dragging new electronics into the house.
Newegg often has a bundle deal with the nighthawk and a Motorola modem with a nice discount. That's how I got mine.
Well I was pretty set on the Nighthawk AC1900, until I started reading about MU-MIMO. Since we may have 5+ devices using a good amount of bandwidth at any time (gaming+streaming TV), MU-MIMO sounds like it would be good. I see these 2 routers have a similar price, although not as good reviews. What do you think? I like the ASUS more, but noticed it has Trend Micro built-in, which may be good or bad: http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-MAX-S...p_n_condition-type:2224371011,p_72:1248879011 http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-RT-AC87U...id=1457749709&sr=1-11&keywords=mu-mimo router
