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You shouldn't need two routers in normal apartment conditions. Unless your walls are filled with water or contain a tuned copper mesh, you should probably just

You shouldn't need two routers in normal apartment conditions. Unless your walls are filled with water or contain a tuned copper mesh, you should probably just spend more on your main router, make sure to use 5GHz, and run wires if that doesn't work. Unlike 2.4GHz with 1-3 non-overlapping channels available (depending on your chosen bandwidth), the 5GHz band has 21 non-overlapping channels. You're pretty much guaranteed to be fighting with several neighboring wifi networks in an apartment (and you're more likely to get the hidden node problem), so that's pretty much worst case for 2.4GHz. If you have a legacy requirement for 2.4GHz, try a single ASUS RT-N66U before installing two routers. I've seen it effortlessly cover several-thousand-square-foot areas from the back room or basement. I was able to get reasonable signal from one in a lobby through four vertical floors (and through many other active wireless networks). If you want AC / have AC-capable devices: get an AirPort Extreme if you use Apple hardware, or any of the ASUS AC (like the AC66U) routers otherwise. Be forewarned: many AC routers on the market combine their maximum 5GHz N speed and 5GHz AC speed for their "total capable speed", for example "N600 + AC1800 = AC2400!" [1] (it is a very nice router, but you're just about as well off in an apartment with an AC66U). Also, if you get an ASUS router, make sure to replace the default firmware with Tomato Shibby or asuswrt-rmerlin as the stock software has a bad habit of sprouting moderate to critical security vulns (ASUS isn't special here. Many of the consumer router vendors have this problem.). [1] http://www.asus.com/us/News/hE5SJg3y7bbIBIGO http://www.asus.com/us/News/hE5SJg3y7bbIBIGO

web007 12y ago
You just enumerated their main selling points: "run wires if that doesn't work" and "make sure to replace the default firmware". I don't think this product is the right one for you, but it is for someone my parents' age or for my non-technical peers. If my parents / in-laws have WiFi trouble I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that they get a couple of these.
- lunixbochs 12y ago
  My post was specifically trying to address his questions about wifi deployment in a 700sqft apartment. "run wires if that doesn't work": If you can't get decent wifi signal through an entire 700sqft apartment (where you'll probably have at most 1-2 walls between your router and computer at any point in time), you have bigger problems that a mesh network might not solve. At this point, you probably have too many neighboring wireless networks or bad walls, and mesh networks don't solve either of these. "make sure to replace the default firmware": My primary recommendation is Apple hardware, which is fine on default firmware. I also mentioned ASUS because some people actively don't want Apple hardware, but I'd venture those people are also more likely to be happier to install their own firmware/OS than the average.

web007 12y ago

You just enumerated their main selling points: "run wires if that doesn't work" and "make sure to replace the default firmware". I don't think this product is the right one for you, but it is for someone my parents' age or for my non-technical peers. If my parents / in-laws have WiFi trouble I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that they get a couple of these.

lunixbochs 12y ago
My post was specifically trying to address his questions about wifi deployment in a 700sqft apartment. "run wires if that doesn't work": If you can't get decent wifi signal through an entire 700sqft apartment (where you'll probably have at most 1-2 walls between your router and computer at any point in time), you have bigger problems that a mesh network might not solve. At this point, you probably have too many neighboring wireless networks or bad walls, and mesh networks don't solve either of these. "make sure to replace the default firmware": My primary recommendation is Apple hardware, which is fine on default firmware. I also mentioned ASUS because some people actively don't want Apple hardware, but I'd venture those people are also more likely to be happier to install their own firmware/OS than the average.