Reddit mentions of ASUS RT-AC66U B1 AC1750 Dual-Band WiFi Router, AiProtection Lifetime Security by Trend Micro, AiMesh Compatible for Mesh WiFi System

There are always better alternatives to a D-Link (or Belkin), both in hardware and software, and even in the same price bracket.

With your higher than rock-bottom budget - meaning you don't have to settle for the old TP-Link Archer C7 staple - I would recommend the Asus RT-AC66U_B1. It is based on the Asus RT-AC68U hardware and can also run the custom firmware from Merlin. Like its more expensive brother, it has very few complaints compared to most other consumer routers and good stock firmware.

Since you seem comfortable running DD-WRT or open source software in general, then an excellent alternative pick would be the Netgear R7000P with Kong's build. This is a MU-MIMO router, which could be handy in future.

Routers are hard to just... suggest as I'm not super knowledgeable on them, generally ASUS, Netgear, and TP-Link are all good for most people, specially if you just need some reliable internet... Your old router is only 2.4 Ghz, and nowadays most router have 2.4 ghz and 5.0 ghz, 5.0 is generally better in every way except not being able to go through walls as much as 2.4 at longer ranges, though older devices might not be able to work on 5.0 ghz. Is your current router provided by your internet company or did you buy it? Some ISP companys don't let you buy your own Modem/router, so look into that before buying.

https://www.amazon.com/RT-AC56U-802-11ac-Dual-Band-wireless-AC1200-AiProtection/dp/B00DES2FQW

https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC1750-4-Port-Gigabit-RT-AC66U_B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

both of those I think would be fine based on reviews/personal experience, though do your own research and maybe google around a bit on good routers in 2016 for updated lists.

The Google Wi-Fi might be a good choice if you're up for buying multiple to cover a larger area home since they're designed to do mesh networking. But mesh networking won't offer the highest speeds for multiple home devices capable of 802.11ac

I might suggest the Asus RT-AC66U_B1.

The next step down I'd recommend that R6900P at about $150

Down from that, I'd say something like the R6700 although you lose MU-MIMO support. Which for you, may not be a big deal since you have a pretty low number of devices. The AC66U would be another good contender for this slot, but it's just slightly more expensive as of the time I'm writing this. But whichever of the 2 is cheaper for you will be a solid buy.

Depends on your budget and what your walls are made out of. And /r/HomeNetworking

For a simple answer: the Asus RT-AC66U is a great unit supporting 802.11ac, especially when flashed with Merlin. And it's only $100.

You'll need to get a separate modem unit, /r/HomeNetworking has a list somewhere.

Try to hardwire everything stationary, keep wireless for devices that move.

I will say the free modem is totally okay to use. For the router on a budget, I would recommend this one, but I have an ASUS bias and you could find a cheaper Netgear.

Streaming really only needs 10Mbps for HD content. 4K will require more, but if you’re on a budget, you shouldn’t spring for a 4K Netflix anyway (assuming that’s the service you’re using and they charge more for 4K/multi-screen). I have to imagine the free speeds are in line with Spectrum’s Internet Assist Plan at 30Mbps, but I would ask them to clarify and see if it’s worth it. For $50 per month, you could have 100Mbps.

Also, just a random tip, you should only ever expect to get half of what you pay for because of how cable internet works with neighborhood nodes. Maybe you’ll get the full 30Mbps (or 100Mbps if you go that route) when literally no one else in your neighborhood is online, but don’t count on it.

https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC1750-4-Port-Gigabit-RT-AC66U-B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1483758930&sr=1-1&keywords=RT-AC66U+B1

This is a great mid-level one they offer. You get 5Ghz 3x3 plus it also has great features like TrendMicro Antivrius, Good QOS system, and open source firmware support should you ever decide try those out.

If you've already reset it, and it's still not working, I'd replace it with something newer.

If you like ASUS, this is a good AC router, and has Merlin Firmware support. https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC1750-4-Port-Gigabit-RT-AC66U-B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/

This is the one I was using for a while:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N08LPPP

The RT series is well supported in terms of firmware updates. My older RT-N66W still gets firmware updates every couple of months.

The main thing is that your router should be in the same room (with line of sight) to the Quest and the PC should be connected via Ethernet to the router. Otherwise the video data from your PC will have to go through walls to your router to get to the Quest, which will likely make things not as smooth as they should be.

Hi all,

Thank you for the input. Your answers led me to more research and I ended up getting the following:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N08LPPP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N1WW638/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Replaced the current router, set it up for vlan 201 and used the extender upstairs and now getting 100 mbps wifi on devices plus extended coverage upstairs without problem.

Thanks all for the great support and responses.

I am a fan of this Asus Router with this APC backup power supply.

If you have an android phone check out how crowded your Wifi is with Wifi Analyzer. Sorry IOS does not have any Wifi Analyzer apps.

ASUS RT-AC66U B1 AC1750 Dual-Band WiFi Router, AiProtection Lifetime Security by Trend Micro, AiMesh Compatible for Mesh WiFi System https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_jYzUDbFM1HXPY

What do you think? Will this last several years?

The Netgear I linked to is just a modem. It will only have one port (no wireless) which needs to be connected to a router.

If you do a lot of online gaming on the Xbox and don't have to have wired downstairs, it would probably be best to have the modem in the same room to use a wired connection.

I doubt the two floor townhome would be big enough to have significant concerns over wireless performance. But I will point out a couple options you may not be aware of. First you can set up a wireless bridge which is essentially a wireless cable. The device acting as the bridge would normally have 4 or 5 wired ports to plug into. This of course still depends on a good wireless connection between the router and bridge device. But the advantage is that the bridge can have stronger wireless antennas and is better able to communicate with the router than the built in wifi on devices like game consoles or laptops.

The other option is powerline adapters which actually provides networking over powerlines. Simple plug one into the wall near the router and connect a cable to it, and then plug in one or more into other electrical outlets. Powerline performance can vary greatly though. In some homes they work nearly as well as running an ethernet cable, but in some homes they are completely unreliable. In most cases they will at least work well enough for streaming and anything else other than gaming. Gaming over powerline is certainly possible if they end up working well in the townhome.

In a two bedroom townhome these probably aren't necessary, but something to keep in mind if the xbox isn't wired and the connection isn't stable.

For the router/wireless..

Personally I am a big fan of Ubiquiti products, but they are a lot more advanced than routers designed for home use. Their routers do not have wireless built in, but rather they sell separate wireless access points (Unifi). I use an Edgerouter X which costs about $50 and a single Unifi AC wireless access point. I have the Unifi AC Pro which is $130, but there are also the Unifi AC Long Range ($100) and Unifi AC Lite ($80) and any of them should be fine. The Pro is capable of a bit higher speeds, but the extra speed would likely only be beneficial if you are sending files between your devices (Plex media server for example). Just make sure you don't get the older non AC models.

While they are more advanced they really aren't very difficult to set up. With the Edgerouter you basically just need to login to it and select a wizard (specifically the one named WAN+2LAN2 which will set it to act like most any home router). Then for QoS (quality of service) to prevent streaming, etc to cause a lot of spiking while gaming, you go to the QoS tab to enable Smart Queue and then simply enter the Download/Upload speeds of your Comcast plan.

Unifi wirelss access points are a little different in that you can't directly access them to manage. Instead you install Unifi controller software on your computer to configure all Unifi devices on your network. There are a lot of advanced options for Unifi but basically all you need to do is go to settings and add one or more wireless network, being sure to set the security to WPA Personal with a security key (password).

Aside from Ubiquiti I have had the best experience with ASUS Routers. Probably just about any of the ASUS dual band wireless AC routers would be fine (such as https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC1750-4-Port-Gigabit-RT-AC66U_B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/). Not sure how well their QoS features work since haven't used them, but I imagine. Netgear Nighthawk AC routers also have a great reputation although I never used them personally. https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-AC1750-Smart-Router/dp/B00R2AZLD2/

So recommend one of the following:

1. Unifi Edgerouter X ($50) plus one of their Unifi AC wireless access points ($80-130)
   
   
2. ASUS dual band AC router such as the RT-AC66U (around $100)
   
   
3. Netgear Nighthawk dual band AC router such as the R6700 (around $90-100)
   
   Along with the Netgear modem

> Well to outright buy the verizon router it costs $150. Do you have any suggestions that might run under half that?

https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC1750-4-Port-Gigabit-RT-AC66U-B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504488034&sr=8-1&keywords=Asus+AC+router

A friend of mine has one of these. Slightly older model but very reliable.

I have this one and it has been amazing for the several weeks i have had it so far. It has a pretty good interface that is stupidly easy to set up if you don't fully know what you are doing.

I have the ASUS RT N66U. The newer version of mine is THIS. I've never had a problem with mine. The range is great and you can have guest networks so people aren't bugging you about your WiFi password, and they aren't on your personal network, so they won't have access to network shares.

I was looking for some sort of emulator for that model so I could see what he is seeing, nice find. +2 on upgrading to a newer router. You can pick up a AC66 nowadays for around $100 which is a steal in my opinion. I've had mine for 3 or 4 something years now and it has been fantastic. https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Band-AC1750-4-Port-Gigabit-RT-AC66U_B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1521227480&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+ac66

Yeah, it's probably time for a new router; probably an AC1750 class router; maybe:

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-RT-AC66U-B1-AiProtection-Compatible/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

You only need the Verizon Quantum Gateway if you also get television.

This Archer C7 supports the 1.75Gbps total wireless that the Verizon router offers, but you don't really need that unless you are wirelessly moving data among local devices. Also, both have Gigabit wired ports — 1,000Mbps to your 50Mbps service.

I have this ASUS router, that I got refurb'd for $65.

Do you have TMobile or Sprint? You can get free WiFi router from them (AC66U or 68U).

Anyways, an AC66U B1 ($115) would be a solid choice. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xugwzbD0HH65G

Consumer networking gear typically has three roles built in: Modem, Router, and WiFi Access point.

The modem is responsible for converting whatever signal your ISP provides into standard Ethernet. For example, a cable modem can understand the signal that comes in over coax into a Ethernet connection.

The router does some packet level inspection and keeps track of which computer should receive data from the internet.

The switch is just a device that lets all devices on a physical network communicate with each other.

The access point is just a bridge between the physical network and the wireless(WiFi) one.

The resulting setup looks something like this:
ISP <-> Modem <-> Router <-> Switch <-> Access Point

Since you already have a modem and router, you're just trying to add another access point to the setup

Basically, you need either a dedicated access point, or a router that can be put into "access point mode"

ASUS Dual-Band 3 x 3 AC1750 Wi-Fi 4-Port Gigabit Router (RT-AC66U_B1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_ruuCbmdKykz5K
This is the one I bought. Had a discount when I got it. Connected immediately, haven't had an issue since I got it. Has multiple devices connected simultaneously with no lag. Couldn't recommend it enough.

That's typical enough that almost anything will do - it's actually pretty hard to buy a really BAD router these days :)

I've used and like Asus and Linksys routers before, so one of those ought to do pretty well. Unless your house is large enough that you can't cover it all with one AP, something like one of these should work fine:

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Dual-Band-AC1750-Gigabit-RT-AC66U-B1/dp/B01N08LPPP/

https://www.amazon.com/Linksys-EA6350-Wireless-Dual-Band-Anywhere/dp/B00JZWQW4C/

I own the ASUS RT-AC66U B1 that I bought from Newegg.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hmzuDb6T2M2WB

This router contains features as AiMesh (which let's you have it and other compatible ASUS routers become a mesh system), 4 gigabit lan, and a ton of customizable options. Also, if you like, you can install custom firmware on it for more flexibility.

I got it so that I can use it alongside the FiOS quantum gateway router for my new build.

You’ll likely just want to get a consumer router which is actually a router, switch, and AP. The router takes the single public IP that your ISP provides you and allows all of your devices to communicate with the internet with just the single public address through NAT. A typical router will have one Ethernet jack for connection to the internet and 4 for connecting devices via a cable. If you can swing it, wire as many devices as possible for the best experience.

I like Asus routers for their ease of use, but having advanced features built in if you need them.

Here’s one I’ve installed at friends and family’s homes:

ASUS RT-AC66U B1 AC1750 Dual-Band WiFi Router, AiProtection Lifetime Security by Trend Micro, AiMesh Compatible for Mesh WiFi System https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N08LPPP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7mKkDbG1AAT7P

https://amazon.com/dp/B01N08LPPP/ I highly recommend Asus APs, they get updates more often than other brands and are solid workhorses.