Upgrading my router. Which one is best?

[DrumReaper]

I actually don't know what the underlying OS is on the Roku. The firestick is a bastardized Android. Amazon is shipping movies as apps (apk) instead of bog-standard media (mp4?) files? Or is the APK route their attempt at doing content rights management?

Or do you just mean 'apps' for accessing this service or that service? Yes Roku has a decent variety but I'm not familiar with the platform enough to know if you can side-load or if there are any glaring omissions. All we use it for is Netflix and 1 month rental of HBO when a full season of a show has been published.

If your firestick is older than say 2 years, you need to upgrade the software (if possible) or replace it. They have been notoriously buggy.

Copy. I use the APK NOVA to watch movies and shows. Works really well. Unfortunately, it still buffers but not as much as prior APKs I’ve used.

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[shogun32]

it still buffers but not as much as prior APKs I’ve used.

everything buffers. It also depends what network jitter looks like to the CDN and how badly the app is written. You'd think all the apps would use a common library for all streaming and buffer management, and it confined itself to parsing show metadata and dealing with credential handshake but alas...

 

[JohnnyGT]

I had a few FireSticks because they are so cheap when on sale. Ended up giving them away and replacing them all with Roku streaming sticks. I don't know much about the "free streaming" apps and channels since I just run a Plex server for all my "free" content.

 

[JohnnyGT]

Plex is great. Though, I also built a full desktop for my TV, so I can also game on it.

I still have a plasma TV so no gaming on there due to HUD burning in. Bought a 1440p 144Hz 34" ultra wide for that instead.

 

[ctandc72]

You've gone down the rabbit hole now. Good luck. It's like when you first joined a forum to look at a "few mods" to your first car. LOL.

I work in IT for a living. So I'm not clueless. The Unify stuff is good - but it's not plug up out of the box and jump online in 2 minutes either. Spend the time to set it up RIGHT the first time and then forgot about it.

I doubt the bandwidth is your issue - if you were fine in the past. Have you eliminated your modem as the problem? Call your provider - see how old your modem is - most times they'll send you a new one (the latest firmware rev etc) for free.

Everyone mentions bandwidth and gig this gig that..........I can tell you that a consistent legit 200mb connection should handle your bandwidth needs without issue.

And bandwidth isn't the problem with PS4 / PS5. You need your console in a DMZ (simply you give it a static IP that doesn't change and you open all ports) and you need to NOT use your service providers DNS servers for your console.

If you were working fine before - you might want to make sure it's not your modem.

I live on a decent chunk of land. Wife worked from home a good bit BEFORE all this crap, so high speed, reliable connection was a given. Ended up paying to have Comcast run cable from the nearest head unit. I haggled and got it done for a decent deal. I could have done it myself, but they won't "Certify" installations not done by their "authorized" contractors (subs with a ditch witch and a truck / trailer basically).

I had 300mb service for quite a while. I got a deal on GB (because me paying to run the service to our house ended up having two more people become customers in addition to us).

I had Unify / Ubiquiti stuff ready to go (still do). But it's POE so I needed to run some cable. In the meantime my wife bought an Orbi setup. Laugh all you want. That thing plugged up to my comcast modem, with one satellite upstairs, one in my garage and a tp link extender (cheap and has been rock solid for two years lol) in my shop? I get 50-60 down sitting in my deer stand on my property. Or in the shop. Or at my fire pit. In the house? I have more bandwidth than my laptops and devices can handle.

I've been meaning to replace it for two years. I likely will when it dies.

That's my point about bandwidth. Think of bandwidth as a pipe. The more bandwidth, the bigger the pipe. But if you hooked up a faucet, it can only flow so much - many times the restriction is not the pipe coming in, but what is connected to the pipe. Truth is, most devices that aren't the latest and greatest - anything over 200mb is a waste.

Example - when major game updates or I want to quickly download a game to my PS4? I run a long cable from my switch (that is plugged into my modem and feeds my router and powerline adapters for security stuff) to my PS4. It'll do 300-400mb down at best, even though that connection is good right up to a GB. Wireless from PS4? 30mb if you're lucky. Normally the slow down is your device or the source of the data. Not your connection to the internet. All my gaming on my PS4 is done via Powerline adapter - never any lag or problems.

I would test your modem first off. I tried replacing my comcast modem so I didn't have to rent theirs. Tried the top 5 (yes five) rated cable modems. Best I could do was 750mb down, ethernet connection to a laptop. Hook up the comcast modem? 1.2GB. Returned all five (Amazon).

In your situation, if it were me, I would MAKE SURE the issue isn't the modem providing the signal to the router. If it's not, then I'd get a solid router then I would buy a decent access point for each roommate. Create a SSID for each roommate and their devices and move on with your life.

That's just me.

 

[FreePenguin]

I went to Sam’s club for the routine stuff and saw this. Mr9610v2 (MR9600) but v2 with stronger bands. Was a minor update, it was $150, and everywhere else is 300 for MR9600, ya know I figure why not try it. 90 day return policy.
I hooked it up, and it’s flying! I’m getting 180mps out of my 200mbps all way at furthest end of house in garage. I previously got 30-40mb.

I think for $150, this little guy is going to do perfectly fine for the next few years. Not that I didn’t take into consideration everything here, just opportunistic and a good price.

I played zombies w my gf on her ps4 pro and my Ps5 and we both are getting a 100% signal strength, she’s getting 120mbps via PS4 connection and I’m getting 100mbps Ps5 (Ps5 is further away) and we have giant tv’s on walls in pretty much line of sight

It’s on sale now still, for a few days. My Sam’s had plenty of them.

that said, I’m keeping my wrt3200acm in my drawer, I like it, he made me happy so he can stick around as a back up if I ever need another device as a sub device.

im wanting to stress test him on his own to see if we encounter any drops, havnt had a single issue yet, everything blazing

even on my phone and laptop, pages was always quick, but now it’s like, my devices are twice as fast, instead of click, wait and loading, it’s like the click and loaded is same time.

must be just quicker response than older router.

edit, I get signal for like 4 houses down, then I lose signal in car. Before it was next house signal was gone. My router sits directly a brick wall though, but a window above it.

 

[FreePenguin]

Good deal man. How's that PS5 handle?

It’s a good time. I got it the day it was released from the ps direct. We are trying to get another one, call of duty etc is straining the PS4 pro too hard for my gf we have a Ryobi fan blowing on it when we play that game. Ps5 doesn’t even get luke warm.

Won’t lie, call of duty Cold War was pushed a year ahead of schedule because the other call of duty company didn’t make their cycle, so my gf/me/and my friend with Ps5 as well, we get occasional “error occurred, submit crash report”

god it’s so annoying! Talking 3 hours into a zombie round andsomeone crashes.

but it’s a good system. I bought new 4K tv’s and everything just for the system.

 

[Vert]

I went to Sam’s club for the routine stuff and saw this. Mr9610v2 (MR9600) but v2 with stronger bands. Was a minor update, it was $150, and everywhere else is 300 for MR9600, ya know I figure why not try it. 90 day return policy.
I hooked it up, and it’s flying! I’m getting 180mps out of my 200mbps all way at furthest end of house in garage. I previously got 30-40mb.

I think for $150, this little guy is going to do perfectly fine for the next few years. Not that I didn’t take into consideration everything here, just opportunistic and a good price.

I played zombies w my gf on her ps4 pro and my Ps5 and we both are getting a 100% signal strength, she’s getting 120mbps via PS4 connection and I’m getting 100mbps Ps5 (Ps5 is further away) and we have giant tv’s on walls in pretty much line of sight

It’s on sale now still, for a few days. My Sam’s had plenty of them.

that said, I’m keeping my wrt3200acm in my drawer, I like it, he made me happy so he can stick around as a back up if I ever need another device as a sub device.

im wanting to stress test him on his own to see if we encounter any drops, havnt had a single issue yet, everything blazing

even on my phone and laptop, pages was always quick, but now it’s like, my devices are twice as fast, instead of click, wait and loading, it’s like the click and loaded is same time.

must be just quicker response than older router.

edit, I get signal for like 4 houses down, then I lose signal in car. Before it was next house signal was gone. My router sits directly a brick wall though, but a window above it.

Nice ping for gaming!

 

[shogun32]

I get signal for like 4 houses down

cool. neighbor teenager be like "new device I can use to surf my porn on and the parents won't know"...

 

[shogun32]

I can't wait for more current gen exclusives to come out and really test what these things can do.

all the shoot-em-up games need to come with a 7lb rifle and the "typical" GI trigger, IMO. Joysticks and 8oz controllers, pusshaw...

 

[FreePenguin]

What’s more interesting is Ps5 is currently 7nm pc chip, and didn’t intend to shrink the die to 6nm for 3 yests

but due to silicone chip shortage they are doing therefresh right now. They are pushing Ps5 w 6nm redesign for next spring most likely

from what I read, it’s going to be a substantial power bump, way ahead of time. But it’s to reduce silicone usage as there’s a shortage

I don’t have close housing, pretty good size actually. My lot is 15000 feet, but I am surprised that I see as many Wi-Fi broadcast as I do. I mean, shocked.

there’s a good distance between houses. Can’t believe peoples Wi-Fi broadcast tomy house in general, I’d understand like 2-3 housesignals

but I see like 20. Lol I don’t know if any are due to my weird room mate with like 6-7 phones but now I know someone now sees my new Wi-Fi signal that didn’t before “FreedomPenguin” is my Wi-Fi and it’s public. Passwords of course

oh I did have an issue,all my routers have same user and password, andnever had this issue but gf phone kept asking her to put password in multiple times, Ihad her forget network and rejoin, no issue since. Must of needed the fresh credentials.

 

[FreePenguin]

That's just a rumor at this point. I wouldn't count on a power bump either, more likely a reduction in power/cooling needs if...IF it actually comes to fruition. The other rumor around this is that the PS5 large/weird shape is going to change to a reduced, more rectangular footprint. A smaller case generally results in worse cooling, unless the hardware produces less heat.

I edited
But I agree, nothing confirmed. But I genuinely love my Ps5. I don’t play everyday but when I do, it’s blazing fast.

ie. When my friend and me play Ps5 w his Ps5 we load the maps in 1 second, when we play w PS4 pro with us. There’s a 30 second load screen, him and I are loaded but it must be waiting for her.

on Fortnite, myself I’m loaded in instantly, she’s loading for up to a minute behind me.

edit, I chose the Ps5 disk version because I wanted it sideways,I don’t even own disk but I paid the extra hundred for looks.

my friend went for digital because he stands it up. I think the Ps5 is pretty though, but general I hear Xbox is the preferred style aesthetically

 

[ctandc72]

Have you ever taken her PS4 apart and cleaned it? No lie - my PS4, I've had it for YEARS. It started sounding like a small plane taking off. Finally took the cover off and blew it out with the compressor and cleaned the fan housing. When I plugged it back in - I thought the fan had died it was so quiet.

 

[FreePenguin]

Have you ever taken her PS4 apart and cleaned it? No lie - my PS4, I've had it for YEARS. It started sounding like a small plane taking off. Finally took the cover off and blew it out with the compressor and cleaned the fan housing. When I plugged it back in - I thought the fan had died it was so quiet.

yeah, I did both my ps4 and ps4 pro, was real easy to pull them apart from the casing, then I used compressed air, blew them out, then I used a shop vac, sucked them out, then I put them on the garage floor, and hit it with my 400cfm 200+mph leaf blowers, lol. only on CoD does it stress the hell out of the Ps4 pro. its just running it hard.

 

[DevinSmithz]

I have a Linksys WRT3200ACM that ive been using like 5 years now, its been killer. there's 4 people in my house, everyone has tv's, laptops, game consoles, desktops, phones, etc. there's like 35-40 active devices on on my wifi, and really havnt had a lot of issues. I only have 200mbps but speed wise it handles it pretty boss. The problem is I think we are exceeding the poor things mind with the device amount, sometimes random devices are getting kicked off for no reason.

I was given a Netgear nighthawk X6S awhile back and modem, but it didn't really yield any extra oomph so just put it aside. My house is almost 3000 feet. but my WRT3200acm reaches everywhere perfectly fine. I did buy a Eero Pro 6 this week, and it was causing lag interruptions on my playstation 5 and ps4, my gf and me would both have random spikes like every 20 minutes saying connection interrupted. Plugged the WRT3200acm back in, and no issues. so the Eero is going back

I am leaning towards the Costco models, as Costco guarantee, if the routers ever break, I will return it if ever was needed.

So help me pick guys!!!

(current WRT3200ACM) vs Linksys MR9610 vs Netgear RAXE450 vs Linksys Hydra Pro 6e tri band

(I have 2 room mates who pay rent) so its important to get the bossest router I can to help today, and also future proofing a bit. I listed all my routers for sale.

Sams club- this router is going on sale for 149 on may 8th.
Linksys MR9610.
https://www.samsclub.com/p/linksys-...UiUM2HFO3QzagLH82Lpw1w&pubNAME=Slickdeals+LLC

Costco has 2 routers im interested in.

Netgear RAXE450 (its a RAXE500) but like a hair difference in top bandwidth, but 150 bucks less than RAXE500.
449 bucks
https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/routers/raxe450/

Linksys Hydra Pro 6E Tri-Band router. Now there is a caveat to this one. It says it has 2x2 2.5ghz chip 2x2 5ghz chip and 4x4 6ghz chip, but the previous model MR9600 /9610 has 4x4 2.5ghz chip
https://www.linksys.com/us/wireless...ain_Site-en_US/reviews/product/2/P-MR7500.htm



This is what ive been using. I just listed on craigslist for 100, see if anyone buys it to put $ towards my upgrade.
https://www.linksys.com/fi/wireless...0-mu-mimo-gigabit-wifi-router/p/p-wrt3200acm/

I would suggest getting something that has third-party firmware (DD-WRT, OpenWRT or Tomato) available. Reason being, the OEM firmware is often poor and slow to receive security patches.

I’ve been happy enough with my Netgear R6400 as it’s able to stream games from my PC to a nvidia Shield TV in the room next door. Fortunately it has plenty of third-party firmware available, as Netgear were slow to respond to a security issue last year (though they’re not alone on this front). However, if interested to see more options then check this list https://www.reviewsed.com/best-routers-under-100/

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