Router help, please.

GHoosdum

I'm beginning to experience some intermittent performance issues with my current wireless router, a Netgear WNR2000v2. Basically I am seeing really poor internet download/upload speeds to connected devices at random moments. My internet plan is 15/1 Mbps, and I've seen the upload cut in half and the download drop under 1 Mbps at times. This is usually accompanied by really high ping times from wireless devices to the router. In case it is useful info, my cable modem is a Motorola SB6121 that I purchased rather than lease from TWC.

I'm sure my usage is increasing lately, but I'm not sure if I have exceeded the capacity of my current router or if there might be something else going on.

Here's how I use the router now:
Wired Devices:
-Windows Media Center PC
-XBOX 360 Original as Media Center Extender
-Western Digital MyBook Live 2TB Home NAS
Wireless Devices:
-2 PCs
-iPad
-iPod Touch
-Nexus 7 Tablet
-Asus Transformer Infinity tablet
-XBOX 360 Slim as second TV Media Center Extender

Am I over-utilizing this relatively low spec'd home router, or should I be looking elsewhere for the cause of this problem?

If this is too much for the little router to handle, what should I be looking for in a replacement?

PirateNinja

I had the exact same Netgear router as you and the exact same problems. I spent about a week trying to tweak and configure it then I got to the point where it wasn't worth the time.
I got this one in December of 2011:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004K1EZDS/
Cisco/Linksys E4200
and I don't think I've ever had to reset it. Everything runs smooth as butter:
- 2 Tablets
- 2 iPhones
- 2 Laptops
- 2 Desktops
- TV + Wii + BluRay player
- NAS (bonus, I run wired backups @ 60Mb/s)

I'd recommend it.

Straight_Man

I have a Cisco/Linksys E4200 also, and can only say pay a bit more for the v.2 of that router. It took lots of tweaking to get my v.1 working, though once it was tweaked it worked smoothly-- very smoothly.

Thrax

(Asus RT-N65U. Yes, with a "5".)

primesuspect

Let me also throw in a first-hand recommendation for the ASUS RT-AC66U. With the latest firmware, it has been absolutely rock solid and super high-performance in our big old house, even under heavy use.

PirateNinja

Thrax said:

(Asus RT-N65U. Yes, with a "5".)

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamond-Series-Routers-RT-N65U/dp/B008OUKZZI/

Straight_Man said:

I have a Cisco/Linksys E4200 also, and can only say pay a bit more for the v.2 of that router. It took lots of tweaking to get my v.1 working, though once it was tweaked it worked smoothly-- very smoothly.

v2 is Marvell, so if you are in to third party firmware solutions stick with v1.

I'd say you can't go wrong with any of the three routers mentioned.

Tushon

Since excellent alternative devices have been suggested, the general path for seeing if your existing router can perform any better would be to check for an upgrade to the firmware of your current device from the manufacturer, reset all settings on the device to default and change only what you need (i.e. WPA2-PSK can be set to the same, any port forwarding that needs to be done) and see if it gets better, same or worse.

http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/

poorly formatted, but it appears you want the 1.2.XX firmware listed in the middle.

GHoosdum

Thanks for the firmware link, Nick - I'm currently on the latest version, updated a while ago. The intermittent dropouts are happening on that firmware.

Ironically, the effect this is having on our TV (since we're tuning through the Xboxes over the network) has made WAF really easy for a new router purchase. No offense to the Linksys recommendations, but I'm kind of torn between the two Asus routers: RT-N66U and the RT-N65U that Thrax recommended (which I had never seen before his post!)

From what I can see, the advantages of each are as follows:
RT-N66U:
-600MHz CPU, 256MB RAM
-Wall mountable
-External antennae

RT-N65U:
-Dedicated 500MHz CPU per band
-about $30 cheaper
-USB 3.0

From what I've found on the web, I can't tell whether the 600MHz CPU in the N66U or the dual CPUs in the N65U provide better overall performance. To me, it seems like a tradeoff between the wall mount-ability for the newer generation of hardware. Thoughts?

In other news, I have posted a screenshot of the local 2.4GHz channel survey. My SSID is labeled "2WIRE754" and our new neighbor upstairs is "jamshley" squatting on channel 8, therefore overlapping both my channel, 6, and channel 11 as well. I was on channel 6 before the neighbors moved in upstairs, so channel interference might be occurring now. There seems like a fairly high number of signals across the spectrum, but the highest signal is the router from the upstairs neighbor. What does conventional wisdom dictate I should choose for my 2.4 GHz channel?

Thrax

The RT-N66U is a much better router from a modability perspective, and has higher overall performance with respect to its routing capabilities (e.g. Torrent traffic). Hands down, it's the best 802.11n router a normal consumer can buy. But the N65U is very good throughput by itself and is half the price!

primesuspect

lol @ waf

PirateNinja

Wife's Approved Financing

mertesn

Thrax said:

The RT-N66U is a much better router from a modability perspective, and has higher overall performance with respect to its routing capabilities (e.g. Torrent traffic). Hands down, it's the best 802.11n router a normal consumer can buy. But the N65U is very good throughput by itself and is half the price!

@Thrax, got any throughput data from your own usage? I tend to transfer large amounts of 1GB+ files and my current N router isn't cutting it.

Zanthian

I am running the RT-N66U and loving it. Really nice performance and the range is great.

Zanthian

PirateNinja said:

Wife's Approved Financing

Wife Acceptance Factor

GHoosdum

@Thrax where did you find the N65U for half the price of the N66U? Right now I'm seeing them for around $130 and $165, respectively, which makes the value prop slanted toward the N66U. Finding the N65U for half the price would definitely change the math for me.

Thrax

When I was researching ~5 weeks ago, I saw it on Amazon for about $110.

GHoosdum

@Zanthian brought to my attention Newegg's deal of the weekend for the RT-N66U and a 500GB WD USB 3.0 drive for $169, so I finally pulled the trigger on it. I couldn't find the RT-N65U for less than $120 right now so I'm willing to pay the small premium for the benefits of having the best N router on the market. The free hard drive doesn't hurt either.

Also, I used the Newegg link from Icrontic so there should be a little kickback in the works.

Any recommendations for best practices in setting up my network? I have a couple N devices and several G devices. Should the networks be segmented from each other?

Thrax

If range isn't a concern, best to put the N devices on a 5GHz N-only network, and the other devices on their own G network.