what router to buy for minimum fidgeting?

[Lazybones]

Also orientation of the AP / antennas can make a big difference.

[Mr. Analog]

I have an old DIR-655 sitting here that I think can be set up as an AP

If you want it I can find out and config it?

[Thorin]

No worries, the router covers my whole house just not at full power, and the big reason I got it was to segment my home network so visitors can't get to confidential documents on my drobo.  And "not at full power" just means not full bars on the wireless devices; like I said, I can still stream content anywhere in the house.

[Mr. Analog]

Ok, just wondering 'cause it's sitting here gathering dust, if you need an AP let me know

[Thorin]

There's a new firmware out for the RT-N66U and RT-AC66U (which I bought a while back).  The version is 3.0.0.4.378.9313.  Apparently it's added support for this Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asus.aihome.  I think I might try that app out tomorrow on my phone, if it's free.

[Thorin]

Well, my RT-AC66U lasted a little over three years.  It started randomly rebooting five or six weeks ago, although not very often.  In the last week, it's been doing it more often, leading to three reboots in one hour while I was trying to have a work call.  Research suggested these spontaneous reboots were likely due to a power supply going bad, so rather than fight with it (since it was affecting my work), I went out and bought an RT-AC86U last night.  It was $229.99 on sale, $241.49 after tax, at MemEx.

It took me a while to get it set up, I upgraded the firmware to the latest ASUS provides and suddenly wireless wasn't available, so I flashed over to the latest Merlin.  Then wireless came back, but none of my wireless devices could get internet access.  I ended up factory resetting and starting over.  Took me an hour to go to the store and buy it, then a half hour to physically install it (lots of cables in the way), then two and a half hours to get it set up the way I want it, with a proper MAC filter whitelist and separate guest networks.  Haven't seen a spontaneous reboot since.

Oh, I learned that when installing a new router while using a bridged Shaw Hitron modem, you should turn the modem off, then start up the router and wait for all the lights to come on and stay on (the AC86U has a red light to show there's no WAN connection, this makes sense because the modem is off), then turn the modem off.  Otherwise the router doesn't seem to get an IP assigned from Shaw's DHCP.  I don't know whether this was due to MAC locking or due to the Aggressive Mode setting the ASUS router uses, but man, that was a pain to figure out.

[Thorin]

Here's what it looks like.

[Lazybones]

The Shaw router at least has to be rebooted when a different device is connected in bridge mode.

Not sure if they lock it to one device or if it just cleans up their arp table..

[Thorin]

The Shaw router at least has to be rebooted when a different device is connected in bridge mode.

My experience was that I had to turn the Shaw modem off, then turn the ASUS router off and back on, then let the ASUS router settle in, then turn the Shaw modem on.

I tried just rebooting the Shaw modem, that did not fix my problem.  I tried rebooting the Shaw modem, then rebooting the ASUS router, that didn't fix my problem, either.  I tried turning off the Shaw modem, then rebooting the ASUS router, then turning the Shaw modem back on immediately, again no go.  I finally learned about the Aggressive Mode setting in the WAN DHCP section after all that and disabled it.  When I factory reset, Aggressive Mode came back but didn't seem to interfere with getting a WAN IP...

Gotta love troubleshooting, right?

[Lazybones]

Have you tried turning it off and on yet?

Of course I have..... Wait.... Hold on a min.. Never mind...


I have been very happy with my Ubiquiti EdgeRouter + AP-AC-PRO access points.

[Melbosa]

I just bought a Netgate pfSense box myself to replace my R8500 which I now just use in AP mode.  I wanted it to better manage and understand my traffic usages, as well as take advantage of some new features around hardware encryption layers.  So far I am extremely happy with it which cost me $280.

Cova was wondering about the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter the other day, and I hadn't had experience with them, but assumed they'd be nice.  I'll let him know that you own one if he has any questions.

[Lazybones]

Man I have been running this hardware since 2016!

http://forums.righteouswrath.com/index.php/topic,11102.msg90792.html#msg90792

Not as flexible as a pfsense box but also not very fidgety which I like.

[Mr. Analog]

I guess I lucked out with my RT-AC56U so far I've had no problems with it. Granted it takes far less of a beating than probably anyone else here.

[Darren Dirt]

...what's a router?

[Melbosa]

...what's a router?

Bored?