Help chosing a Wifi Router please

Air port extreme, it's the best Wi-Fi router I've ever had! It never drops the signal, like my old linksys. It handles 3 iPads at 5.0GHZ, 2 Apple TVs, smart TV, 2 IPhones, wireless thermostat, MacBooks, printer etc.. Without dropping, and constant AC coverage for the ones that use it. Dual bands work beautifully, and it does its job in a big Apartment, w/o any signal booster. It can also hook up,to your printer directly, so you can print stuff off your IPads and iPhones, super easy! You can find them on sale right about now like on MacMall, and similar authorized apple re-sellers. Good luck.
Just checked your Sq Footage, you should be fine, I have 1245, it works even in the hallway and on the other side of the building. And you can even hide your ssid, so no one will know your signal is out there. And make it super secure.

This ^

The new Airport Extremes are awesome. Much improved over the previous gen AirPort Extreme (flat version) I had before. You can get them used on eBay of refurbished like the previous poster mentioned. I still feel at $199 it was well worth the price. With 802.11ac, I'll be keeping it for a while...

If you want something ridiculously simple (and I used to be the guy that tweaked his router settings) I will second the airport extreme. I am rather happy with my older 802.11n (last of the flat) model. New ones are supposed to be even better, especially with multiple devices.

Netgear also makes some highly rated AC routers if you are so inclined. My net is under 300 megabit, so I don't find I need anything quite that speedy (read: expensive).

But if you son is a real gamer he will coax. Tell that n00b what's up (only kidding)

There are a few good routers on the market but I will give another +1 for the airport as its great in its simplicity.

Help chosing a Wifi Router please

Depends how much you want to spend. If you don't care and want one of the best I suggest the Asus AC2400 RT-AC87U which will run you around $300. This is the one I have for my family and it is awesome, super fast and we have about 50 or more devices connected to it from phones, tablets, TVs, blu Ray players, game systems to home automation. Anything that uses a wifi. I think of a wifi router personally as a brain for all your devices. Your 50 or so devices rely on this one device technically. If you get a crap router you get crap performance out of it. IMO it's one thing you shouldn't mind spending some money on, after all it does give all your devices connectivity, and possibly connects your whole house if you have home automation products. My 6 plus gets about 130 Mbps on the 5ghz ac band, pretty quick. Anyway, Just my 2 cents.

pdxmatts said:

Thank you for all the replies. I forgot to mention that we have an Xfinity/Comcast modem and I believe that the package we have is Blast at 50mbs speed. Does that negate the speed of the router? Will we never get higher than 50mb's?

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I believe you won't go higher then your internet plan offers but I'm not positive.

You cannot get faster than what the ISP is providing.

Suggestions:
1- Get Apple Airport Extreme AC (fastest and latest available) - handles pretty well the frequencies independently, and allows you to set up a couple of networks so you can distribute your devices between the two network, or use it for visitors.
2- Call Xfinity and ask for an upgrade. I had 12 Mbps in 2012 and was paying about $60 per month, they doubled the plan to 50Mbps in 2013 and lowered the rate to $53m then they upgraded to 105 Mbps for the same price after I agreed to a promotion to have HBO and digital cable $70.

I was on the Xfinity 50 Mb/s package and was only getting 30 Mb/s max, like you. Turns out the modem they gave me was DOCSIS 2.0, which can only go that fast. Contacted Comcast and they gave me newer modem that pushed my speeds to 55 Mb/s - more in line with what I was paying.

Now, your router is the main issue. 30 Mb/s should not be causing a problem (although, if you're like me and want to get every Mb that you're paying for - ask Comcast for a DOCSIS 3.0 modem).

One of the main advantages to an Apple router is that they're easy to set up. But I don't have a problem spending 20 minutes (if even!) extra to set up another router so I wouldn't spend so much.

http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-...gabit-Router/dp/B006QB1RPY/ref=zg_bs_300189_4

This one has really good reviews - I would get this.

wordoflife said:

I was on the Xfinity 50 Mb/s package and was only getting 30 Mb/s max. Turns out the modem they gave me was DOCSIS 2.0, which can only go that fast. Contacted Comcast and they gave me newer modem that pushed my speeds to 55 Mb/s - more in line with what I was paying.



Now, your router is the main issue. 30 Mb/s should not be causing a problem (although, if you're like me and want to get every Mb that you're paying for - ask Comcast for a DOCSIS 3.0 modem).



One of the main advantages to an Apple router is that they're easy to set up. But I don't have a problem spending 20 minutes (if even!) extra to set up another router so I wouldn't spend so much.



http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-...gabit-Router/dp/B006QB1RPY/ref=zg_bs_300189_4



This one has really good reviews - I would get this.

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That's actually the one I used to have. I upgraded to the other one I posted above. Overall that one is a great router, no issues. Just upgraded because the family has many devices and it was getting slow.

Buy your own modem, don't rent.

pdxmatts said:

The modem I have is an Arris Tm822

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Well it's DOCSIS 3.0. The other issue with the way Comcast does it is that if the source is split up too many times the signal is not so good. I know people who couldn't use Comcast because in their neighborhood because of this issue.

I thought you might've just been using an older modem but its probably a what I mentioned above.

pdxmatts said:

What's the difference between AC and N router?

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AC is the next generation of wireless, after N. It's faster basically. But chances are, most of your devices aren't AC compatible, unless they're very new.

Meltdownblitz said:

Asus AC2400 RT-AC87U

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were you able to phone call handoffs working on your 87u?

Allograft said:

were you able to phone call handoffs working on your 87u?

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What does that mean?

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pdxmatts said:

What's the difference between AC and N router?

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Yes, most devices are not compatible yet unless they are quite new as someone else said. Do a google search, it'll tell you the difference in wifi bands. Basically it's like usb 2.0 vs 3.0.

Meltdownblitz said:

What does that mean?

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With your Mac on Yosemite and iOS 8 iPhone, are you able to the phone handoff feature as part of Continuity? It's got to be something in the settings as to why my phone handoff won't work on my 87u because it works when I'm on other routers

Allograft said:

With your Mac on Yosemite and iOS 8 iPhone, are you able to the phone handoff feature as part of Continuity? It's got to be something in the settings as to why my phone handoff won't work on my 87u because it works when I'm on other routers

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Funny how you kinda guessed I had a mac lol. I don't think it's the router though, make sure both your phone and Mac are on the same Apple ID or iCloud, can't remember which. But yes works just fine.

pdxmatts said:

After changing some channel settings on my router, my Macbook Pro on 5ghz is pulling 59.08 mbps download and 12.58 mbps upload speeds, but my i6 on the same 5ghz is pulling 24.25 mbps download and 11.85 mbps upload speeds. Is there a reason why they are different?

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Is your MacBook plugged in via cat 5/6 or wifi? If on wifi then I'm not sure why your getting different speeds. If I took a guess I'd say probably because your MacBook has stronger bands vs a phone. However, I'm surprised your iPhone isn't running faster then that because I know it supports ac I don't think MacBook supports ac yet.

pdxmatts said:

Thank you for all the replies. I forgot to mention that we have an Xfinity/Comcast modem and I believe that the package we have is Blast at 50mbps speed. Does that negate the speed of the router? Will we never get higher than 50 mbps?

Edit: By the end of the year Xfinity says they will be doubling the speeds to 100mbps

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I have the same router and use the same Comcast X1 system at 50mbps. It does 2 desktops, two iPads, two Dropcam security cameras with ease. It even allows two people to FaceTime. I have never used the AirPort Extreme but the X1 modem does every bit of the promised 50mbps and on occasion a bit more.

Not sure if you will notice a speed increase by changing wireless modems.