Best wireless AC router?

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M A V I C wrote:
[quote=silvarios]
MAVIC,
If you need QoS, skip Apple's routers.

Really? I'm surprised Apple's doesn't offer QoS. Do people not mind when their VoIP line cuts out?
I'm surprised you experience such problems. I've used VoIP exclusively for our phones for over 5 years now and have never once had such an issue, even despite our heavy use of Netflix and other streaming services.

(My understanding is that where you attach the VoIP adapter in your network may be important…)

M A V I C wrote: [quote=Article Accelerator]
What's missing?

QoS for one thing. I tried to find more screenshots, but couldn't find a complete current set. What I currently use DD-WRT for:
- QoS
- Assign IP based on MAC
- Port forwarding
- Bandwidth monitoring - both daily/monthly & realtime
- It comes default with more advanced firewall protection

Hmm, while I was flipping through the settings, I forgot I was going to try and crank up the tx power That's another nice feature.
Well, as I said, I don't think QoS availability is (or should be) an issue for most users in a properly configured network. Apple's routers do support port forwarding and Tx power settings well as assigned (static or "reserved") IP addresses.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5140
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/103 (old, but it gives you a good idea of available options)

I've never had to mess with firewall settings as I rely on UPnP and NAT-PMP.

For bandwidth motoring you can enable SNMP status monitoring on the Airport Extreme and read bandwidth data, etc. with various utilities. I suggest the powerful PeakHour utility:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/m...mp_status/
http://peakhourapp.com

[M A V I C]

Thanks AA. I've got my VoIP adapter connected directly to my router. I have a Gb switch connected to my router and had my wired computers connected to that. Now they're almost all wireless.

The main times I experienced VoIP cutting out was when I was uploading large files. For example, if I was on the phone with a client and I uploaded a large file via FTP, voice would cut out. So I set the VoIP port to "premium", I also set the MAC address of the VoIP adapter to premium, and I set the MAC address of my server to "bulk". That solved the issues.

Netflix doesn't require much as far as uploading, and generally downstream bandwidth is big enough that things like Netflix don't cause problems on their own. The issue occurs when the connection is fully saturated in one direction or both.

How do you think I should configure my network so I don't have this issue?

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M A V I C wrote: The main times I experienced VoIP cutting out was when I was uploading large files.

Yep, it's probably your heavy use of ISP-limited upstream bandwidth that causes the VoIP issues you've experienced. I don't do anything comparable here, hence my problem-free experience.

How do you think I should configure my network so I don't have this issue?

I seems to me that your setup is fine. And based on your usage, you may actually need a router with QoS support.

[silvarios]

Filliam H. Muffman wrote:
>> I don't think I've seen a consumer, 802.11n, single band router that only offers 5 GHz.

Technically, a single band 5 GHz router is 802.11a.

Yep. That's why I specifically listed 802.11n. Didn't want to confuse anyone.

[silvarios]

M A V I C wrote:
[quote=silvarios]If your current router is single band, you are stuck with 2.4 GHz no matter what devices you own. I don't think I've seen a consumer, 802.11n, single band router that only offers 5 GHz. Your main point stands, even if you had a dual band router, you'd be stuck with 2.4 GHz mode on account of your single band devices. Simultaneous dual band is quite helpful for this kind of setup.

You are likely correct with the first part. I just vaguely remember I can't get my router out of the 2.4GHz range. As far as dual band goes, I thought any router that was specifically sold as "dual band" could do both simultaneously? There are some that can do one or the other, but they're not sold as dual band. No?
.
Not sure what "sold as" means, but my Express is dual band, not simultaneous dual band.
Netgear had this to say:
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail...-dual-band

[M A V I C]

silvarios wrote:
[quote=M A V I C]
[quote=silvarios]If your current router is single band, you are stuck with 2.4 GHz no matter what devices you own. I don't think I've seen a consumer, 802.11n, single band router that only offers 5 GHz. Your main point stands, even if you had a dual band router, you'd be stuck with 2.4 GHz mode on account of your single band devices. Simultaneous dual band is quite helpful for this kind of setup.

You are likely correct with the first part. I just vaguely remember I can't get my router out of the 2.4GHz range. As far as dual band goes, I thought any router that was specifically sold as "dual band" could do both simultaneously? There are some that can do one or the other, but they're not sold as dual band. No?
.
Not sure what "sold as" means, but my Express is dual band, not simultaneous dual band.
Netgear had this to say:
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail...-dual-band
Sounds like marketing spin - get people thinking that they have to be "simultaneous" dual-band when the only one I've seen branding it that way is Netgear.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/06/a...t-so-much/
This is precisely the hassle that dual-band WiFi hardware is designed to solve. These routers have extra antennas that allow them to broadcast at both frequencies simultaneously.

[M A V I C]

I'm thinking of this one: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/106986/n...bit-router

[silvarios]

M A V I C wrote:
Sounds like marketing spin - get people thinking that they have to be "simultaneous" dual-band when the only one I've seen branding it that way is Netgear.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/06/a...t-so-much/
This is precisely the hassle that dual-band WiFi hardware is designed to solve. These routers have extra antennas that allow them to broadcast at both frequencies simultaneously.

I think there is some confusion here. You do need simultaneous dual band to make things work as I described. It isn't marketing spin. Many 802.11n routers can do 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, not both, and there are many lower end 802.11n routers that can only do 2.4 GHz. You want a router that can handle both at the same time.

As an example, I have an older 802.11n Express that can handle 2.4 GHz or 5GHz, but not both simultaneously, a cheap 802.11n CrystalView router that can only handle 2.4 GHz, and a Vizio router (used to have a simultaneous dual band Extreme as well) that can handle both at the same time. That's the difference in specs. Most people assume dual band means simultaneous, but that's not always clear cut.

Here's tidbits discussing the Express become simultaneous dual band and a brief recap of when the 802.11n Extreme and Time Capsule made the same switch over.
http://tidbits.com/article/13058

[silvarios]

Oh, and read the comments for that ars article you posted. Bunch of people are making the same distinction as I about making sure any router you choose is actually simultaneous dual band as many routers are only either/or with their support of frequencies. I don't think AC has the same problem, but picking an 802.11n router can be tricky because of the varying support.

[M A V I C]

silvarios wrote:
I think there is some confusion here. You do need simultaneous dual band to make things work as I described. It isn't marketing spin. Many 802.11n routers can do 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, not both, and there are many lower end 802.11n routers that can only do 2.4 GHz. You want a router that can handle both at the same time.

As an example, I have an older 802.11n Express that can handle 2.4 GHz or 5GHz, but not both simultaneously, a cheap 802.11n CrystalView router that can only handle 2.4 GHz, and a Vizio router (used to have a simultaneous dual band Extreme as well) that can handle both at the same time. That's the difference in specs. Most people assume dual band means simultaneous, but that's not always clear cut.

Here's tidbits discussing the Express become simultaneous dual band and a brief recap of when the 802.11n Extreme and Time Capsule made the same switch over.
http://tidbits.com/article/13058

As the ars article points out, "dual band" means it's capable of doing both 2.4GHz & 5GHz at the same time. I've been searching for dual band routers that are not capable of doing both at the same time, and other than how Netgear is trying to market that there are some, I haven't found them. I just looked for a CrystalView and didn't find one that was marketed as dual band. The only Vizio router I found, is marketed as dual band and can do both frequencies at the same time. http://store.vizio.com/xwr100.html

For the Airport Extreme, the model from 2007-2009 could only do one frequency at a time. Using the wayback machine for 2008, it can be see the model wasn't marketed as dual band http://web.archive.org/web/2008032317053...specs.html