I'm looking to upgrade my router. My current router is: Netgear Nighthawk R8000. My current internet speed is 250mbps download and max (limited due to coax cable and that my area isn't receiving fiber for another 3 years) 100mbps upload.
My house is 2 stories, roughly 1600 sqft. Wifi to upstairs bedrooms sit above the same room my router is located. Only ethernet cable I'll be using is for my ps5. Any given day I have about 7-9 devices connected which has worked decently well with my current router but I'm rebooting more frequently and sometimes 1 TV upstairs has some lagging issues.
I'm accustomed to routers that have 3 bands. Currently 2.4ghz is connected for 1 phone and 1 tablet. And the two 5ghz bands are connected to 3 TVs, 2 phones, 1 laptop. Ethernet for ps5.
I've read about Wi-Fi 6/e. I believe 6e will work best and for my current devices. I can't decide between brands. I thought TP-Link had some controversy a few years ago but I can't find it now. Linksys, I hate that you must use their app to sign in. Netgear, my only complaint about them is firmware updates. If anyone can guide me to a router that fits my usage, I'd be forever grateful. Thank you.
I'll have to look into vlan as I have a vague idea for what it is. But that's one thing I enjoy doing as long as products support it is installing/tinkering custom firmware, custom Os', etc... My router hasn't had a firmware update in like 4 years even though end of life stops in a year or 2.
Not an expert but sharing my very recent experience.
I had an old nighthawk Netgear router from 2018 that started to act up, so I got a newer WiFi 7 router from Netgear (RS90) and it was even worse than the old one. After hours on the phone with tech support they couldn’t do much, so I returned it and went with a TP-Link WiFi 6 mesh (Deco X55 AX3000) and it has been working great.
yeah I stopped buying gaming routers 4 years ago. I was on my 3rd nighthawk - they would no joke die consistently 2-3 months after their warranty expired. 3 of them in a row, like clockwork.
I went with a mesh system and I am very pleased with it. it allows me to have solid fast wifi in my detached garage, which wasn't possible with the gaming router. and I have overall way better signal on the other stories of my house. I get close to 1 gig on wifi now. the mesh system, which includes 4 routers, was also cheaper than my nighthawk.
never going back tbh
You can totally get away with 1 router.
How I have it set up, is I have a 5HGz router (nighthawk) controlling all my home WiFi needs. Off the back of that router, I have a Ethernet cable going to another router (my BE9300 TP link) and that’s in my room.
My BE9300 broadcast its own WiFi 6GHz network, aka my dedicated VR network that nothing else is on it.
A common misconception is that streaming VR to your headset uses your internet connection. This is completely false. It just used the WiFi band AS its connection to your headset uses set. This is how you can play WiFi with no internet on standalone games completed disconnected from the web.
What can cause issues is when multiple devices are fighting for the connection and it can intermittently interrupt the VR connection from time to time making to jarring.
When I used my 5GHz network on my nighthawk there was noticeable hitches and high latency issues at times. Ever since I swapped to my 6GHz BE9300 it’s been flawless.
So your set up would be like this:
Modem > Router (for home WiFi) > ethernet to VR router > VR router Ethernet to PC
If you want to try without a dedicated VR router it’s this:
Modem > Router > Ethernet to PC
It’s pretty simple and isn’t complicated as people make it out to be.
I’d recommend watching this if you’re interested in the VR router setup. But if it’s in the same room that you’ll be gaming on, you can probably get away with a router that just does triband (2.4,5,6GHz) networks
https://youtu.be/9Ugy8ZC26tE?si=YojtyVEOvNc--3GB
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