A few days ago we had a power outage (7 hours), when it came back on i noticed my internet was not working. I tried resetting the router but that did nothing, so i called my provider and he walked me through a few things over the phone. My old WIFI router is dead (Linksys E2500) which he informed me is a Dinosaur. I asked for advice on another thread on buying a new one, but was told it would be better to open my own thread. Thanks to PatM so far, he told me to look at the Asus RT-AC68U, which he bought. I googled it, and it looks pretty impressive, but do i need something that good in my 1 bedroom apartment? It would be a bonus if everything worked better(faster), but i am also looking at future functionality and above all SOUND. Any suggestions on what to buy so i am set for years to come. My home Network consists of a Modem (ZHONE) which i plug the wifi router into, they sit on my computer desk in my bedroom. I have an ethernet cable plugging into my laptop there on the desk. I run another ethernet cable from the router to my Cisco 2960 switch in my living room. To it i have my Naim Core, NDS and Panasonic smart TV plugged in. I use an ipad to control the Core,NDS. The ASUS is listed at Walmart for $157.00 with tax, so affordable to me, but i am looking to the more informed for suggestions before i go shopping.
I suggest get your broadband router… set it up for your LAN, disable its wifi, and then get more capable Wi-fi solutions like EasyMesh products, BT Whole Home wifi discs or Ubiquiti wifi products. These will usually be a lot more effective than bundled wifi router products, and the ones I mention are consumer plug and play. You would typically have two or more nodes, APs or discs, and ideally you would Ethernet wire at least two of them back to the switch ports on your broadband router. You will then more likely have a really stable, wide coverage, high bandwidth, wifi solution that all of your family can use concurrently without minimal impact on each other.
Set the discs, APs or nodes so they overlap like the Olympic rimgs within your house /garden.
With regard to your broadband router, especially one with a modem built in, I would definitely use what is offered by your ISP as that should be compatible with your DSL cabinet and the protocols it is using. That can make a huge difference in throughput and reliability.
I am not sure I need all that Simon, I live in a 1 bedroom apartment,the router is at most 20 feet away and through one interior wall.
Ahh ok then fair enough… then I would use your ISP device as that will be optimised for your broadband…
If using fibre, then you will have a fibre NTE (or OLT) and connect into the ‘WAN’ port of a router… you will have more options here. I would be inclined to look at the Ubiquiti router and a single access point… very reliable and largely plug and play, and can offer more advanced authentication methods should you need.
Thanks, but some of those terms are above my head, (NTE) I don’t know what that is. What do you mean by fibre, is that what runs in the wall?,because I am in a high rise apartment building. My modem plugs into the wall with what looks like a telephone connection/cable.
An NTE/OLT is what your service provider gives you if you have full fibre… one side is fibre, the other is Ethernet, and you connect to your router.
So if it means nothing, you likely don’t have full fibre, what do you have, Superfast via the twisted pair/ phone line? It sounds like it. If so I very much recommend you use your ISP modem router.
Yes the wire coming from the wall looks like a phone line, then an ethernet cable connected the modem to my old wifi router. Currently i have the modem connected directly to my laptop,but need a wifi router to get my i-pad to work.I also had the router hardwired to my 2960 switch, which connects to my core, nds and tv. Currently i have no internet radio, but i can play music off the core. When i google Ubiquiti router, they look more like switches. Maybe i will just go with the Asus that PatM recommended. 
just bought this one to replace one of my internet provider
very satisfied !!!
Thanks, that one definitely looks like a beast, and future proof. I live alone though, so I am not sure I need something that powerful, or do I? 8k video is probably the future standard, although I am still using a Panasonic plasma 1080 P,until it dies. 4k on my i-pad would be cool without all the buffering.
Ubiquiti make a whole load of products that work together. Their routers are called gateways (the original term for a router!), and the basic one is the USG, and it’s excellent, it does L7 inspection and intrusion detection.
If not using your ISP product, which if you are not technically literate here I absolutely would advise, I would use these. I would tend to steer clear of consumer bling products from the likes of Asus, Netgear and others. The quality of the code in my experience is often questionable. I have ended up binning many ASUS, Netgear and Linksys products over the years due to interoperability issues.
I’m not sure I agree with that Simon, ISPs (well the ones in the UK anyway) tend to give out cheap rubbish. I’m with Talk Talk and the router they provide just won’t sync at anything more than 14Mb whereas the Billion 8800NL R2 I bought myself connects at 16Mb and with a bit of tweaking the noise margin I’ve had it at almost 18Mb, though that wasn’t very stable. OK only a 2Mb difference but that’s a 15% boost in speed compared with the ISP supplied router and when speeds are as low as we get here every little helps. A 3rd party router also has all of its functionality exposed unlike the usual ISP routers which are horribly locked down.
I plan on still using the provided modem, if that is what you mean. My providers tech guy said to call him when i get the new router,and he will walk me through setting it up. Maybe i am confused here, but it seems like you guys want to set me up with entire new networks or something,lol…but i just want a new wifi router that i can more or less plug in, sounds as good or better than what i had before.
Thanks Pat, so are you saying the Asus you recommended also replaces the Modem provided by my ISP? Essentially, it would eliminate the modem they supplied me with when i got their service initially?Look at that, i am learning what some terms mean.
Well it depends… if with a quality ISP like BT or Sky the routers are highly capable and often far more advanced than off the shelf alternatives… certainly with BT. It’s in the ISP’s interest to have a capable and supported device, rather than a cheap piece of bling from the big river… and yes I do have some professional experience in this area…
The router is designed to communicate with the service provider to give optimum performance, really important with VDSL, as well as provide diagnostic information.
So yes, I should qualify my response, if with a quality ISP like BT, then absolutely use their latest routers such as SmartHub 2.
I would suggest if your ISP provides you rubbish, for goodness sake get a better ISP… they are not all equal and you pay for what you get.
And if more than 300 metres from your VDSL cabinet I can’t stress strongly enough to use a quality ISP and their modem router for max performance. Off the shelf products and poor modem routers are unlikely to be fully optimised with your cabinet VDSL protocols and you may suffer a performance hit of 20 to30% and worse still if your router is substandard then you will be performance limited banded to try and tease a reliable connection your modem router.
I am not familiar with Zhone, but seems to be quite prominent in your part of the world. I see Zhone also do a whole home wifi that might be worth investigating. I assume you connect your Zhone to your home LAN switch? Perhaps your Cisco 2960., and you can plug your wifi access point (s) into the switch . if so it sounds a good setup.
The OP is in a small one bedroom apartment in a high-rise in Ontario guys. Let’s keep the advice relevant and proportionate…
Best
David
David, please lets focus on NQ’s issue …please follow the thread…
NQ is looking for a simple effective wifi solution for his apartment that connects to his current equipment and Zhone modem/router. His previous modem/router/wifi has failed.
This is about keeping it simple, and therefore I suggest effectively utilising what he has.
Try a single Eero mesh wifi router. You can expand them if you need to. It’ll work great in a one bedroom apartment.
I agree and it may be Zhone offers such a solution, as that is the make of his modem router that his ISP has provided.
https://dasanzhone.com/product/mesh-2100/
But such a home mesh system may be an overkill for a single bedroom apartment…
I think I might be tempted with a single Unifi access point… such as this. I understand Naim have used this products in certain installations.
NQ let us know what you decide to do…