Please Help Me Find Good a Mid-Range Router

PeeDee on 26/12/2021 - 11:57

Not really a find me a bargain post. As long as it's at least the right one as a priority over a cheap one.

I'm wondering whether there are any good deals for routers during these boxing day sales. Could you guys please recommend me one, or give me some pointers? I appreciate your help.

Knowledge of networking: basic. I had the Asus Dark Knight RT-N66U Double 450Mbps N Router but I think it reached its life because it suddenly won't turn on. Now using a crappy old router provided by ISP. Ideally would like at least a dual-band.

Some details about my homes usage:

  • Have NBN
  • Wi-Fi for 14 devices.
  • 3 Ethernet devices to PC
  • Family of 4.
  • DHCP connection
  • Office and home use.
  • No hardcore gamers in the house.
  • Watch shows via wifi and ethernet
  • Budget around the $300 range

I think I've covered the essentials?

Please also be from The Good Guys or JB-HI-FI.

Thanks in advance!

Computing

Comments

  • PeeDee on 26/12/2021 - 12:08

    I'm thinking about this. What do you guys think?

    Asus RT-AX58U Dual Band AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Router
    https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/asus-rt-ax58u-dual-band-a…

  • iamherenow on 26/12/2021 - 12:23
    +1

    RT-ac86u is $212 on Amazon. About as cheap as this one goes.

    • PeeDee on 26/12/2021 - 13:16

      What you have preference over?

      RT-ac86u on their AC2900 wifi, 1.8 Ghz cpu and a large amount of ram

      or

      The RT-AX58U with wifi 6 / AX?

      • [Deactivated] on 26/12/2021 - 13:29

        Wifi 6 to futureproof

        • PeeDee on 26/12/2021 - 14:08

          RT-AX58U that is. Thanks.

  • spal on 26/12/2021 - 14:10

    Have you considered picking up a Telstra Smart Gen2 router off FaceBook Martketplace. I picked up a BNIB for $30. There are plenty of these up for sale.

    • PeeDee on 26/12/2021 - 14:18

      no because that doesn't match the requirements I'm after.

      • spal on 27/12/2021 - 17:06

        I get much more out of the Telstra router than your listed usage, including running home server and two 4K Netflix. So, not sure why you think it does not match your requirements. BTW, I did not neg you.

        • PeeDee on 27/12/2021 - 18:17

          Could you please link me the router you are talking about?

          • spal on 27/12/2021 - 19:54

            @PeeDee: https://g.co/kgs/5H9AWp

            • PeeDee on 27/12/2021 - 20:21
              +1

              @spal: I appreciate your suggestion but after being traumatized from buying a second hand one claiming to to be working, I stopped looking for 2nd hand. The ad looked all legitimate. I don't know if eBay or PayPal would provide protection against things like that.

              Do you need to be with Telstra? There are specs that I may not need as well like 4G. Does it use WIFI 6?

              • spal on 28/12/2021 - 09:32

                @PeeDee: I used to be Telstra. When I was forced to move because Telstra couldn't fix its things, my new connection with Superloop continued on the Telstra modem without skipping a beat. Now, I have moved to a new home, and needed to leave my Telstra modem in the previous house. So, I just went ahead and bought a new Telstra modem of FaceBook Marketplace for $30. It has worked flawlessly with ABB (NBN Fibre). For that kind of money I can take a risk. You will anyway pick up usually from someone's home. If it doesn't work, take it back to them. I doubt anyone will fight you for that kind of cash.
                Only thing which wouldn't work for non-Telstra customer is the 4G redundancy if your NBN isn't working. That part of the functions are locked to Telstra network.
                Don't think it uses WiFi6. But, please check up. It has 4 Gigabit ports. You can connect a combination of cheap switch and maybe Tenda mesh system. You may get all of this done for less than half of your budget. If you don't have a massive house with Wi-Fi darkspots, you may not need a mesh system anyway.

  • oscargamer on 26/12/2021 - 14:40

    What is your crappy existing router?

    I'm thinking to use that as purely a router and get a mesh wifi for the house….

    • PeeDee on 26/12/2021 - 14:45

      Netcom wireless NF12.

      What do you think? lol

      can it do?

  • juzza87 on 28/12/2021 - 09:46

    Unpopular opinion: Anything for sale at The Good Guys/JB Hi-Fi (they're the same company) will be inferior to basic enterprise equipment. These prosumer devices try to cram as many features into a stylized single box as possible and suffer in performance/reliability as a result. If it were for myself I'd run pfSense to handle the routing and go with some TP-Link Omada access points or similar (bonus points for running them over PoE).

    It sounds like you're ready to move beyond basic networking

  • John Doh on 07/01/2022 - 09:22

    What did you end up buying finally?

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