Tehchies, any recommendations on a good, reliable, and cheap router?

[Lzen]

I upgraded a couple of years ago to a Zoom modem/router combo because Cox said the Docsis 3.0 was better, yada yada yada. It had been problematic from the get go. Oh, it would work for awhile but every so often needed a reboot.

I decided to replace it so I bought a Netgear CM400 modem and a TPLink AC-1200 (C50) router a couple of weeks ago. The modem seems fine but the router drops signal constantly. I really don't want to spend a bunch of money on a router. Surely, there must be a cheap dual band router that is reliable. I don't know why this has to be so difficult. The TP Link was based on good customer reviews on Amazon. Still, there are a few people that had the same issues (constantly dropping signal). I have even used a wifi analyzer and set the channel to where it would not have much interference but that didn't help.

Also of note is that I really don't need anything faster than say 25mbps because I don't have the high end internet speed as I have never needed that much. However, if I ever decide I need to go to a higher speed, it would be nice to not have to upgrade the router.

Any suggestions?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

Under $100 this is one of the better ones -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BUSDVBQ/?tag=10beasts-20

I've had decent luck with this router, although I had to add an Access Point in order to cover the entire home.

[Demonpenz]

Crutchfield is selling the netgear nighthawk for 500.

[Aspengc8]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I hired a company to run Cat6 lines under my house and upstairs. I purchased several Gigabit switches and now, almost everything is wired, save for iPads.

It's made a yuge difference but I also have TWC 200 megabits per second service.

What was the reason behind running all the copper wiring? Large floor plan and didn't want AP's all over?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Aspengc8

What was the reason behind running all the copper wiring? Large floor plan and didn't want AP's all over?

My house sits on a hillside and therefore, its bones are concrete and steel girders. I've always had difficulty reaching the entire home with a router only and while I tried the electrical outlet adapters and Range Extenders, they were never effective and were considerably slower than being near the router.

For example, until early last year, the router was on the first floor of our home and on the opposite side, there was no signal. The Range Extenders cut the signal in half, as they transmit to and from, so even with 200 mbps speed, my wife's office, which is three floors up and on the opposite side of the home, was at 5 mpbs.

The solution was to move the router to the 2nd floor and run Cat6 under the home to our playroom and up to my wife's office. I installed Gigabit switches in each room so that the Wii U, X Box, DVD Player, Roku and Direct TV receivers get their signal directly from the source. In my wife's office, I installed a Gigabit switch and an Ubiquity Access Point.

Now, we have a 200 mbps signal throughout the entire home and can finally make phone calls in our home using our iPhones and the wireless signal, which allowed us to dump a second VOIP phone, saving $35 a month.