Apologies if this has been discussed before. Looking to buy a new Windows 11 laptop in the upcoming sales and they come with Wi fi 6 built in so I think it’s time to upgrade my Router. I normally go for Netgear as a reputable brand and the Nighthawk seems to be their new model.
Any recommendations as to a decent router (uk)
Btw I plug my ethernet cable from ndx 2 directly into router rather than downstream switch not sure if that’s best but seems to work for me
If you plug your NDX 2 directly in to a router port (recommended) then the type of wi-fi the router supports will not affect streaming performance.
If you use the NDX 2 in wireless mode it may offer an advantage.
That said, if wi-fi is less than optimal with your laptop and you do purchase a new one, it may improve the experience with your laptop.
I have run various netgear routers but switched away to ubiquiti. This was due to buggy firmware which required regular resets to factory state and an industrial design that looked most at home in darth vader’s house. Currently run an amplifi hd router and very happy with it.
Not at all there are a myriad reasons to upgrade, facilities, speed, stability etc. Its not just about bandwidth.
Agreed. Nothing wrong with my existing router just quite a few years old so I was thinking of upgrading for better security and Wi Fi 6. Naim kit always connected over ethernet. Wouldn’t be heavy file downloading etc. Just normal web browsing
I upgraded my home network recently to WiFi 6, check out the ASUS RT-AX86U and RT-AX82U routers. Easy to setup, fantastic coverage and performance. I picked up both routers to pair in an AiMesh network, works great.
I’m no expert here but I would say that over the years the Netgear Nighthawk series has appeared quite regularly in networking problem threads. I don’t doubt that there are also plenty of them out there working properly too, bit I can’t help being a but suspicious of them.
Thanks Aren. I was just checking whether Asus is Chinese. I have a beef about buying Chinese when they gave the world Covid 
but I see it is Taiwanese
I did. If you feel I should have interpreted it differently then I apologise.
As far as router goes, I really would recommend the modem router that comes with your ISP, certainly if you have a quality (non bargain basement) ISP as they will be optimised for your service and access connection.
If you really want wifi 6 (802.11ax) and remember many client devices don’t support it yet, but if starting out it’s good to future proof… the BT wifi discs are popular and effective with BT ISP and other ISPs… and they offer a wifi 6 variant now.
Have just done something similar.
My 12 years old Asus router is not as good as it was, still worked and provided near faultless operation for 25 connected items in the network but now needed resetting from time to time and sometimes switching off and on again. Reach is also not quite as strong as it was for some reason. I guess, like many electronics, performance does degrade slightly over the years. When the on/off button broke (!) I figured it was time to get a replacement.
I did plenty of research and was umming and ahhing over whether to update with something similar or switch to Mesh style network. Key was that I like to have some things hardwired via ethernet, so wanted at least 4, ideally 6 ethernet ports.
Turned out that old router was kind of futureproofed with it’s built in abilities and still did most everything I needed, bar age related issues, so I’ve gone a similar route and bought another Asus, an AX-88U, as I feel it’s going to be able to cope for years to come what with wifi 6 capability etc. It’s similar to old one in operation but better in terms of coverage, has been faultless since I set it up and, as mentioned, my old Asus router can be added to form a Mesh network, to give better signal in garden. Delighted
We’ve been using an antiquated Apple AirPort Extreme with an Express to extend the network for donkeys years and it’s getting really slow. So a few weeks ago we splashed out on a Netgear Orbi. It was a little challenging to get working right and after a few weeks it all went wrong and nothing I could do would get it working. So it went back and the Apple stuff went back in, but seemed slower than ever. It rather put me off Netgear and we could never have something black and covered in aerials.
This thread got me thinking again and after reading good reports about ASUS (thanks Jamie!) I ordered a pair of Zen WiFi AX yesterday, which arrived today. Other than the instructions bring a bit rubbish it was far easier to set up than the Orbi. A nice thing is that both boxes are the same, so they both have three LAN ports. It’s all up and running in basic configuration and is really zippy. The only thing I really need to do is to assign an IP address to the Qnap nas, to make it easier to copy music from the iMac. I’ve looked at the manual online and it looks relatively straightforward. Fingers crossed it will stay working!!
That’s good. Maybe I got a Friday afternoon one.
My ageing Apple AirPort Extreme still works fine. Maybe you use too much granite cleaner near it HH! This is my iPhone talking to the internet via it.
We have one of those Nighthawks from Netgear, and another hard-wired access point in the loft (also servicing as a switch). I can’t remember their model numbers, but they work really well. I got both mid-range models for little money second hand from the usual place for used stuff – there is always someone who needs the most recent model and then offloads their previous gear… A bit like in the world of Naim… Back to routers, I can recommend Netgear – we are happy with their performance, and they cost us little money. What’s not to like… 
Been using the Netgear Orbi 850 Mesh system, with two sats for about 15 months. Its worked brilliantly for me. 750 down 650 up consistently. One sat went out of sync once after a reboot once but was pretty easy to fix.
I run my main system in the Living room all off a satellite via an EE8 with no problems at all.
I know that you are are in the UK, not sure if this router works for your ISP, but it is rock solid & fast for me (US), I am on a 1 gbps internet.
For modem, I use this one:
Silly question (from me): I assume you know the difference between a modem and a router? Apology if you do.
I upgraded last year to the Asus RT-AX88U works great I get full strength signal every where in my house.
I use an ASUS ax11000 with an ax92 in aimesh, and the speed is stable on the house, a Speedtest on iPad in my living room gave this.
We are plusnet and I couldnt get Netgear Nighthawk modem router to work with it. ASUS worked straight out of the box pretty much, and easy mesh.
