what router to buy for minimum fidgeting?

[Thorin]

This is not an atypical situation in my house:

uTorrent running on one computer with 10+ torrents downloading, frequently pulling down 3+Mbps between all the torrents.
Plex Media Server streaming to Roku.
Laptop open with Skype video call running.
Laptop downloading games from Steam.
Three separate phones streaming audio through Music Paradise.
Two FaceTime video calls.
One laptop copying files from the Drobo to local.
One laptop downloading large customer databases, connecting to TFS, browsing the web.

All at the same time, possibly with one or two sessions of Minecraft running as well.  Obviously there's some multitasking - yes, the fella on Skype video to his girlfriend will have music going on his phone, so they can listen to it together.  How cute.  I hate to see how much data it eats up, but I haven't been bumped into higher data plans yet.

Frankly, I'm surprised the Shaw modem/router can even handle this amount of traffic, leave be do it without major slowdowns.  I honestly thought three video calls plus streaming video and audio plus torrenting would cause it to seize up and require a reset every day, as my cheap old dlink did (well, the dlink could only handle _one_ video call and torrents at a time).  That was a cheap old dlink, though.

[Tom]

It depends on the shaw modem/router. Some of them are absolute @%&# (many of the SMC units for instance), and some are not. Apparently the brand new motorola modems they are switching to, are really slick and can handle just about anything you want to throw at them. I heard a rumor they might support 802.11ac as well, but if not, they still will do dual band 802.11g/n.

With the new modems I think shaw is doing what I did, paying to make the support headaches go away.

[Thorin]

We used to have the Motorola (second from the left), but they took it and gave us the Cisco (all the way on the left) when we switched back from Telus:



I've never had the SMC modem/router, although I did once own an SMC router.  It was twenty bucks, and it froze every time I downloaded a big file.  And I've never owned an SMC since, mostly due to my experience with the help files and support to try and figure out why it was freezing (the help files and support were useless).

The Cisco gets plenty hot, though, and we did have a couple of outages in the last week.  Of course, since having to get Shaw to remove it from their network and add it back in I've had only one instance of it dropping connection, and its wifi signal has been way stronger than it used to be.  So I dunno what's going on.  Still, at some point I'll put in a separate router.

So advice from here: Get an Asus / don't get an Asus they overheat, get a Netgear / don't get a Dlink / Dlink is fine although basic interface / put router on UPS in basement (means getting a UPS) / business-level Soekris router is cool but expensive.

I will probably eventually get an Asus RT-N66U.  It will probably not go on a UPS and it will probably sit on the main floor rather than in the basement.  I will probably have to re-route network cables, power cords, and possibly mount things on the wall.  And the guy at the store will tell me it's all plug and play and I'll roll my eyes, knowing full well it'll take me 4+ hours to re-arrange everything, reroute cables and cords, and to set up the router the way I want it (MAC filtered for common devices, guest network for visitors).

Thanks for all your suggestions.

[Mr. Analog]

I still have the Motorola, they can pry it from my cold dead hands lol

[Tom]

We used to have the Motorola (second from the left), but they took it and gave us the Cisco (all the way on the left) when we switched back from Telus:



I've never had the SMC modem/router, although I did once own an SMC router.  It was twenty bucks, and it froze every time I downloaded a big file.  And I've never owned an SMC since, mostly due to my experience with the help files and support to try and figure out why it was freezing (the help files and support were useless).

I have the last one in that picture. I've never used it as a router for more than a day or two. It's been in bridge mode for most of the time I've had it. I used to have one of the motorola's but it was the DocSIS 1 model, and wouldn't work with the 50mbps or higher plans, so they gave me the smc.

The Cisco gets plenty hot, though, and we did have a couple of outages in the last week.  Of course, since having to get Shaw to remove it from their network and add it back in I've had only one instance of it dropping connection, and its wifi signal has been way stronger than it used to be.  So I dunno what's going on.  Still, at some point I'll put in a separate router.

Probably got reprovisioned, and a new firmware flash. Who knows what could have been wrong with the version it had.

So advice from here: Get an Asus / don't get an Asus they overheat, get a Netgear / don't get a Dlink / Dlink is fine although basic interface / put router on UPS in basement (means getting a UPS) / business-level Soekris router is cool but expensive.

The soekris wasn't a serious suggestion for you, as you clearly didn't want to spend that much, though the 6501-30 is cheaper, its still more than the asus. probably by about $100.

I will probably eventually get an Asus RT-N66U.  It will probably not go on a UPS and it will probably sit on the main floor rather than in the basement.  I will probably have to re-route network cables, power cords, and possibly mount things on the wall.  And the guy at the store will tell me it's all plug and play and I'll roll my eyes, knowing full well it'll take me 4+ hours to re-arrange everything, reroute cables and cords, and to set up the router the way I want it (MAC filtered for common devices, guest network for visitors).

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Good luck!

I know I have some work to do on my network, and it won't be fun.

I recently picked this switch for $70 off. And in order to make the most of it, I'll need to run new/more cable to the front and back rooms. Probably run 4 into the front room here, rather than the one I currently have.

Once its done it'll be cool though. it supports some basic QoS and port trunking/bonding. both my server and my nas have dual GbE ports, so I'll trunk em both. And I wont have any risk of running out of ports any time soon. currently running out in the living room, but once I do the re-org, that'll be fixed (new lines, and moving one or more things to the back room to free up ports).

[Lazybones]

I still have the Motorola, they can pry it from my cold dead hands lol

Keep enjoying those old school docsis 3 speeds, I believe it tops out at 25mbit. You have to upgrade for the 50mbit plus plans. I have at least 2 of those old suckers if you want spares.

The Cisco is far better then the SMC and runs much better in bridged mode. I suspect it will not be as hot with wifi disabled and in bridged mode.

[Thorin]

I'm seriously considering buying an Asus RT-AC66U, but I haven't been able to figure one thing out: can you enable MAC filtering on the main wireless network while disabling it on the guest networks?

What I want is a main wireless network that only authorized devices can access (still has a password, though) and that they can access all other devices on the LAN, then a separate guest network that any device can access if they have the password, but that cannot access other devices on the LAN.  One would think I could do this with just passwords, but it turns out my kids give out my wifi password without me knowing and I don't want people I'm not familiar with having access to my Drobo.

If I can't turn on MAC filtering for the main network while turning off MAC filtering for the guest network, then I'd probably have to do this with two routers and completely disconnected networks.  Luckily Shaw does give us two IP addresses.

[Mr. Analog]

Yes this is possible for the RT-AC66U, there is an option to enable / disable MAC filtering on the guest network

THAT SAID for some firmware versions this feature is broken

[Thorin]

Well I know what I'm doing tonight.  Hopefully it won't be too hard to get Shaw to switch my modem over to bridged mode.

[Mr. Analog]

Well I know what I'm doing tonight.  Hopefully it won't be too hard to get Shaw to switch my modem over to bridged mode.

Is this not something you can do yourself?

https://community.shaw.ca/docs/DOC-1033

[Tom]

They tend to hide a LOT of settings. Bridge mode is typically one of them. Maybe the newer modems let you, but I doubt it. My SMC never had it available. In the past you had to call shaw to switch it for you, they claim its a separate firmware in some cases.

[Mr. Analog]

I think it depends on the modem you have more than anything else

[Tom]

I think it depends on the modem you have more than anything else

I think it depends on the mood shaw is in when it orders them. Many modems they have had in the past had bridge mode built into the firmware, with it displayed by default, but shaw would intentionally hide it.

[Mr. Analog]

I think it depends on the modem you have more than anything else

I think it depends on the mood shaw is in when it orders them. Many modems they have had in the past had bridge mode built into the firmware, with it displayed by default, but shaw would intentionally hide it.

Like, did you even follow the link I posted? They have instructions for non-technical people floating around depending on the modem you have. Some of them actually have the login information as part of the tag that's on the modem itself. The only reason I knew to look at all is I called them about it and got to talking with one of the techs, if you have a crusty old Motorola like I do they have to connect to it, if you have a router modem combo you may not have to involve Shaw at all.

[Tom]

I think it depends on the modem you have more than anything else

I think it depends on the mood shaw is in when it orders them. Many modems they have had in the past had bridge mode built into the firmware, with it displayed by default, but shaw would intentionally hide it.

Like, did you even follow the link I posted? They have instructions for non-technical people floating around depending on the modem you have. Some of them actually have the login information as part of the tag that's on the modem itself. The only reason I knew to look at all is I called them about it and got to talking with one of the techs, if you have a crusty old Motorola like I do they have to connect to it, if you have a router modem combo you may not have to involve Shaw at all.

Yes I did follow the link. Just because it tells you how to log in doesn't mean the option is available. I've looked up how to do it on the past 2 or 3 modems I had. Including this (newish) SMC unit they gave me when i got my business account. The suppliers docs say these models have a visible option, but they did not. Shaw specifically disabled them.