Streaming Router Recommendation?

[WoodieSC]

My wife and I are making the break from Spectrum cable and going with Roku and x, x, x, x, x...

Surprisingly, we found that, thus far, we've only found a few shows (that only I watch) available on YouTube TV versus anywhere else, so for the time being this is a no cost/month scenario ($80 for three Roku Streaming Sticks #3820R). I'm sure we'll add some other services, just haven't used it enough to determine which ones fill the voids.

However, when I rework my Spectrum Internet package, I'm going to need a new router. My current Netgear has both 2G and 5G Wi-Fi, but they only go up to 150 Mbps and 300 Mbps, respectively. The new Spectrum speed is 300, so a new router is called for.

It would also be nice for this new router to have a bit more range than my old one, which basically stops at the back door. I don't think I want a mesh system, but an range extender or two to cover new outside cameras might be good. I can add the cameras to their own extender/access point so they don't interfere so it's not imperative to include them on this now.

What router(s) are recommended as a streaming router? No gaming done here, just TV's, laptops and cell phones, and able to handle from 2-4 of each occasionally.

Thanks.

[adamb61085]

About to upgrade mine as well to a netgear Orbi. It has the ability to expand as much as needed. My parents did this when they built their poolhouse to get internet out there for streaming. Not very knowledgeable about them but best buy walked Dad thur everything he needed and it works great. He has signal all over his house and outside that he has never had before.

[WoodieSC]

Adam, that Orbi was one that I'd put on my list, just don't know much about it yet.

Thanks.

[codeman216]

Orbi is good. I went with an eero system from Amazon. Get mesh and not extenders(trust me from my 8 years telling customers their extender is the problem and their internet from the provider is doing what it’s supposed to). Extenders can extend your network but can’t carry the speed as well as a mesh system plus you are changing networks when you go to the extender even if you set them up with the same SSID. Mesh is seamless.


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[Chuck the Duck Slayer]

Dropping spectrum and going with fiber now that they are bringing it to the neighborhood. I'm sure I'll upgrade as well but I might go with unifi dream machine se for future proofing my home network and expanding the system as needed.

[JBtflo]

Extenders effectively cut the speed in half, you want a mesh system. Without fooling with a wired backhaul, if you get a mesh with three wireless bands you will get better throughput than those with two as the back end data is dedicated on one of the bands. The most common is a tri-band configuration, with one 2.4GHz band and one 5Ghz band for fronthaul use, and one 5GHz band for backhaul use. The backhaul is the main wifi router communicating among itself with the home wifi satellite nodes that extend the network range, the front haul is your connected devices.

Something like this TP-Link has three bands.

[WoodieSC]

Dropping spectrum and going with fiber now that they are bringing it to the neighborhood. I'm sure I'll upgrade as well but I might go with unifi dream machine se for future proofing my home network and expanding the system as needed.

I had no idea of what that was until I just looked it up. You're really going top shelf, eh?

We've had fiber optic in this area for 10-12 years or more. Fortunately, I was able to get them to run a stub line down near my house so the distance to the house from the connection terminal is only about 100 feet, which helped a lot.

Orbi is good. I went with an eero system from Amazon. Get mesh and not extenders(trust me from my 8 years telling customers their extender is the problem and their internet from the provider is doing what it’s supposed to). Extenders can extend your network but can’t carry the speed as well as a mesh system plus you are changing networks when you go to the extender even if you set them up with the same SSID. Mesh is seamless.

Extenders effectively cut the speed in half, you want a mesh system. Without fooling with a wired backhaul, if you get a mesh with three wireless bands you will get better throughput than those with two as the back end data is dedicated on one of the bands. The most common is a tri-band configuration, with one 2.4GHz band and one 5Ghz band for fronthaul use, and one 5GHz band for backhaul use. The backhaul is the main wifi router communicating among itself with the home wifi satellite nodes that extend the network range, the front haul is your connected devices.

Something like this TP-Link has three bands.

You guys are talking a new language here, but I'm getting the gist of it. I had originally intended any extenders/access points to be solely dedicated to the exterior cameras on a different channel, but you're bringing up good points on the mesh system. I'd just never really thought about it since I never expected my wife to embrace streaming vs. cable. Now she's gung-ho and looking forward to kicking Spectrum out the door.

The exception is that it appears I can save a bit of money with their mobile package, especially for the first year, so we'll see.

I guess the only challenge (assuming something like the Orbi mesh system) is whether to go with the 2-Pack or 3-Pack. If a system's specs say it will cover 5000 sf (the 2-Pack Orbi), how close is that to reality? Is it worth the extra $137 (as of today's prices) to go with the 3-Pack and 6000 sf?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear...?skuId=6479678

Thanks!

[rp]

We have the Orbi and use units as a satellite from the base.

Our house has thick plaster walls with coats of lead paint and a huge chimney in the middle and exterior brick. All this cuts down on the inside use and outside internet use is tough.

Anyway, the Orbi works well for us.

By the way, after multiple trips from spectrum and a few outside internet gurus, one spectrum fella recommended the Orbi.

[Ligma]

TP Link Decos. App is super easy to use and they're easy to setup. I love them and I've got 500/500 throughout the whole house and even at the very end of my driveway outside I'm still getting like 40/40.

[willyworm]

Another vote for Eero mesh over "extenders". We have the 3 pack and it covers our 4500ish sq ft home seamlessly. Even provides great coverage out in the yard and we're on 2 acres.

The 600M connection is pretty reliable. Most devices use a wired connection, where possible, via a Netgear gig switch directly downstream of the router. Other devices on wifi have great reception. When I walk thru the house I can see signal drop and rise as it jumps from one eero puck to another.

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[CofC Waterfowler]

My wife and I are making the break from Spectrum cable and going with Roku and x, x, x, x, x...

Surprisingly, we found that, thus far, we've only found a few shows (that only I watch) available on YouTube TV versus anywhere else, so for the time being this is a no cost/month scenario ($80 for three Roku Streaming Sticks #3820R). I'm sure we'll add some other services, just haven't used it enough to determine which ones fill the voids.

However, when I rework my Spectrum Internet package, I'm going to need a new router. My current Netgear has both 2G and 5G Wi-Fi, but they only go up to 150 Mbps and 300 Mbps, respectively. The new Spectrum speed is 300, so a new router is called for.

It would also be nice for this new router to have a bit more range than my old one, which basically stops at the back door. I don't think I want a mesh system, but an range extender or two to cover new outside cameras might be good. I can add the cameras to their own extender/access point so they don't interfere so it's not imperative to include them on this now.

What router(s) are recommended as a streaming router? No gaming done here, just TV's, laptops and cell phones, and able to handle from 2-4 of each occasionally.

Thanks.

If you have Apple phones spend the extra coin and get an Apple tv

[turbo]

Mesh.

I have the Deco stuff. It works just fine.

[Whaler_Dave]

Eeros and the latest Apple Tv.

[willyworm]

Oh and fuck Apple

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[WoodieSC]

OK, mesh it is. The only issue is to settle on a basic two unit vs a better three unit system, and the brand.

Thanks for all of the info.

[WoodieSC]

Well I picked up the Eero 6+, 3 pack. It’s only a two-band, but for our current and foreseeable requirements it will more than suffice. I suspect my current Netgear two-band router would be able to handle a good portion of the higher speeds, but it wouldn’t compare to the mesh system. So now I just need to get things installed.

Thanks for everyone’s help.

[willyworm]

Setup is surprisingly easy and the Eero app is quite intuitive.

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[WoodieSC]

Setup is surprisingly easy and the Eero app is quite intuitive.

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I just need to figure out how to clean enough stuff off my iphone to download and run the app to set it up.

[willyworm]

If your pics are backed up in the cloud then you can prolly delete most of em. They there's unused apps.

Or you can throw that buddy in the trash and get an Android. I mean, until Elon launches a mobile platform that defies Leftist.

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[WoodieSC]

I’ve been downloading all of my pics from the cloud to an external drive, because, as I understand it, any pics I delete from my phone also gets deleted from my synced laptop. Once I finish that this morning I’ll delete many of them from the cloud, and try to find the trash bin to fully delete them vs them sitting there for the standard 30 days. That should do it.

It should be easier to delete things in bulk from the phone, but I haven’t found it yet.

Most of the apps I’ve downloaded can’t be deleted. The only option given is to delete them from the Home page…??? Any tips there?