Recommended Router with Netduma R1

[Dantaniean]

Just after some advice.  I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a good basic router to support the R1.  

For the past few years I have always used TP-Link based routers.  In that time I must have gone through about four of them.  The problem seems to be dropping connection.  The first two I had seemed to relate to me switching the TP-Link routers off at night.  The last two I have not done that, but overall a period of time there has been a slow increase in disconnects.  It starts subtly with wireless disconnects and then it moves to actual disconnects from the net.  Last week it dropped a total of twenty times in one day.

I have recently purchased another TP-Link, mainly because it is the only one that is in a good price range and is readily available (more fool me).  The first couple of days have been fine, no drops or anything.  Then the wireless drops have started to creep in.  Once yesterday and twice today.  I'm expecting the same sort of thing with this one in that it will go on over a period of time and will fail again.  In fact reviews of a lot of the TP-Link modems and some others have indicated it is a reoccurring problem and recommend not purchasing their modems.  Hence why I am here now.

My internet connection is with Plus Net and they have offered to send me one of their modems instead.  I am tempted to use theirs, but I wonder what control I will be given if I chose theirs. I know there might be a restriction on promoting other routers on this site, but if anyone has any advice I would welcome it.  Many thanks.

NB.  The phone line has been tested by BT and Plus Net and everything is ok there.

[BIG__DOG]

Asus, any model.......avoid linksys as they never update their firmware!

[N3CR0]

I used a Draytek Vigor 130 on BT. Just a modem, not a router but worked perfectly with my R1.

[BIG__DOG]

2 hours ago, Dantaniean said:

Just after some advice.  I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a good basic router to support the R1.  

For the past few years I have always used TP-Link based routers.  In that time I must have gone through about four of them.  The problem seems to be dropping connection.  The first two I had seemed to relate to me switching the TP-Link routers off at night.  The last two I have not done that, but overall a period of time there has been a slow increase in disconnects.  It starts subtly with wireless disconnects and then it moves to actual disconnects from the net.  Last week it dropped a total of twenty times in one day.

I have recently purchased another TP-Link, mainly because it is the only one that is in a good price range and is readily available (more fool me).  The first couple of days have been fine, no drops or anything.  Then the wireless drops have started to creep in.  Once yesterday and twice today.  I'm expecting the same sort of thing with this one in that it will go on over a period of time and will fail again.  In fact reviews of a lot of the TP-Link modems and some others have indicated it is a reoccurring problem and recommend not purchasing their modems.  Hence why I am here now.

My internet connection is with Plus Net and they have offered to send me one of their modems instead.  I am tempted to use theirs, but I wonder what control I will be given if I chose theirs. I know there might be a restriction on promoting other routers on this site, but if anyone has any advice I would welcome it.  Many thanks.

NB.  The phone line has been tested by BT and Plus Net and everything is ok there.

you would be better with a modem rather than a modem/combo to be honest. It is worth paying the extra for a stand alone modem such as a draytek vigor 130 which I also own but nolonger use as it is not compatible with my g.fast connection. You can buy a draytek modem/combo but they are enterprise level for business and a bit hard to navigate if you don't know what you are doing. If it is a router or router combo then I would go for asus all the way.............but................if you have a modem then I would suggest getting the XR500 as that will stand you in good stead for years to come. 

 

Your true test on your line would be to run a pingplotter test and see if theres any jitter or spiking.

[Dantaniean]

39 minutes ago, BIG__DOG said:

you would be better with a modem rather than a modem/combo to be honest. It is worth paying the extra for a stand alone modem such as a draytek vigor 130 which I also own but nolonger use as it is not compatible with my g.fast connection. You can buy a draytek modem/combo but they are enterprise level for business and a bit hard to navigate if you don't know what you are doing. If it is a router or router combo then I would go for asus all the way.............but................if you have a modem then I would suggest getting the XR500 as that will stand you in good stead for years to come. 

 

Your true test on your line would be to run a pingplotter test and see if theres any jitter or spiking.

Line tests and ping tests have come back all fine.  When it's working I got A to A* typically across the board.  Tests on DSL Reports and Ping Plotter are pretty much the same.  Minimal ping spikes and jitter.

The reason for a new router is that I have the Netduma R1 already and as far as I can tell that seems to be working fine.  I would go for XR500, but there are a couple of things persuading me not to.  First is price.  If I can get a pretty reasonable router that would be great and I can carry on using the Netduma R1.  Secondly I've read or heard that the DumaOS firmware was designed with the Netduma R1 in mind and benefits from getting the updates sooner.  Understandably, the XR500 has better hardware and good wifi, but it's the wired connections that I am interested in.  Thank you for the suggestions and advice though, it is appreciated.

[BIG__DOG]

2 hours ago, Dantaniean said:

Line tests and ping tests have come back all fine.  When it's working I got A to A* typically across the board.  Tests on DSL Reports and Ping Plotter are pretty much the same.  Minimal ping spikes and jitter.

The reason for a new router is that I have the Netduma R1 already and as far as I can tell that seems to be working fine.  I would go for XR500, but there are a couple of things persuading me not to.  First is price.  If I can get a pretty reasonable router that would be great and I can carry on using the Netduma R1.  Secondly I've read or heard that the DumaOS firmware was designed with the Netduma R1 in mind and benefits from getting the updates sooner.  Understandably, the XR500 has better hardware and good wifi, but it's the wired connections that I am interested in.  Thank you for the suggestions and advice though, it is appreciated.

If you are bothered about the price and are budget conscious then consider the XR300 which launches next week which is lower in price than the XR300.  I prefer wired above anything so I use a managed switch for every device in my house (including a router I use as an AP for the wifi as I have wifi disabled on the XR500 to reduce workload and throttle my family's bandwidth  ) except my consoles which are plugged  directly into the XR500 bypassing my switch. There are many options open to you to consider. The switch I use is the Netgear S8000 (no I am not plugging them just advising you it is a bloody good piece of kit).