Suitable Infinity Router suggestions

Couple of questions if I may?

I want to replace the poor Home Hub 3b with something better. According to SSIDer, the signal strength varies enormously and it drops the linked channel after a couple of minutes. The interface is rubbish too plus believe it or not, the HH3 is reported not to handle multiple wireless connections very well! You can say that again as wireless conncetions sometimes dont show as connected via the interface!

So, anyone using BT Infinity, can you suggest an alternative, reliable wireless router? Preferably dual band, delivering a minimum 300mbps wirelessly, at least one gigabit port.

Also, does anyone find having the router plugged into a surge protected extension lead to be detrimental to performance? I read an article from 2 years ago, the writer stating VDSL routers should be plugged direct into a wall socket not, an extension. Thoughts?

Overall, Im quite impressed with my Infinity 2 connection. Im now outside the so called 'training period' and a phone issue caused Infinity to disconnect. I reported the fault as I had done many, many times on adsl but ISP \ phone provider \ BT said there was no fault. Well, the engineer who called around 2 days later spent over 4 hours trying to find the fault before actually doing so! He said there was a fault on the phone side in the exchange.

Hopefully he's right. Anyway, as a consequence, I've been doing speed tests. This morning, my speed is 54Mb for a line rated to deliver a max 54.5Mb!

Edited by deleted (Wed 10-Apr-13 13:44:23)

Check on the BT Forums and you'll find lots of suggestions, both in the Infinity sub-froum http://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Infinity/bd-p/BTInfinity and the other BB http://community.bt.com/t5/Other-BB-Queries/bd-p/Oth...
There was one partiuclar long-running thread with lots of suggestions, but I can't find it right now.

(HH3B is not perfect but has been fine for me)

When you say a minimum of 300 Mbps wirelessly, what do you mean?

300 Mbps as advertised on the box, or actual tests showing 300Mbps speeds.

If the later then you are restricting your choice to the absolute latest AC kit.

Thanks for the suggestions both.

Have looked on the BT Community forums and TBH, its full of 'experts' who while well meaning, are just self appointed. They seem to dismiss criticisms of the HH3 which is imho, absolutely awful.

As regards speed, no Im not looking for ac rated kit but something upto 300mbps on both bands if dual band ie 600mbps.

BTW, if this is in the wrong forum, can the mods move it to a more suitable one?

I have an ASUS RT-N66U which pushes upto 450 Mbps on both 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz bands. Obviously you need suitable adapters to even get close to those kind of rates.

I paid about £150 for it though. It's pricey but it's a great bit of kit. There's a firmware project by a bloke called Merlin who's putting a lot of effort into it too. Not to mention a load of releases by ASUS.

As per StephenTodd the HH3b has been 100% reliable for me too but there are a couple of minor points I would change given the chance. I have defended the HH3b myself as it just takes a bit of work to configure it correctly but I have no allegiance to BT at all. If there as an issue you can be sure I would mention it.

Consider how many customers BT have that will be using a HH3 and how many legitimate posts there are in the forum

If you are looking for a 300mbit wifi router you should be exclusively looking at 5ghz.
The Asus rt-N66 has already been mentioned and this is probably THE best choice around at the moment.
It is available for around £110 online.

Regarding the socket - Are you talking about the phone connector to the modem?
If so I would avoid anything apart from a direct connection to the master socket?

Edited by smouty (Thu 11-Apr-13 08:31:54)

I use an Apple Airport Extreme - 450mbps wireless. Just connect it to the supplied modem.

http://www.apple.com/uk/airportextreme/

http://blog.macplaza.co.uk/2012/05/using-an-apple-ti...

Edited by deleted (Thu 11-Apr-13 09:00:55)

In reply to a post by smouty:

As per StephenTodd the HH3b has been 100% reliable for me too but there are a couple of minor points I would change given the chance. I have defended the HH3b myself as it just takes a bit of work to configure it correctly but I have no allegiance to BT at all. If there as an issue you can be sure I would mention it.

Consider how many customers BT have that will be using a HH3 and how many legitimate posts there are in the forum

If you are looking for a 300mbit wifi router you should be exclusively looking at 5ghz.
The Asus rt-N66 has already been mentioned and this is probably THE best choice around at the moment.
It is available for around £110 online.

Regarding the socket - Are you talking about the phone connector to the modem?
If so I would avoid anything apart from a direct connection to the master socket?

Thanks. The reasons I think the HH3b is rubbish are because the thing doesnt hold linked channels ie say 2 + 6 for more than a few minutes. Once dropped, it doesnt pick up the dropped channel again.

Even the 'experts' on the BT forums say it doesnt handle multiple wireless connections very well.

Frequently, devices connected wirelessly dont show in the Manager interface. Referesh and they still dont show.

I could go on but I think my point is made.

In reply to a post by underzone:

I use an Apple Airport Extreme - 450mbps wireless. Just connect it to the supplied modem.

http://www.apple.com/uk/airportextreme/

http://blog.macplaza.co.uk/2012/05/using-an-apple-ti...

Thanks.

Is this only suitable for Apple products though?

I also have the Asus RT-n66u and it is a great router. The wireless performance is particularly impressive.

You can also add customer firmware (I use Merlin) to add even more features.

In reply to a post by wobblyheed:

Is this only suitable for Apple products though?

No, it's just a router.

And having had one, in my opinion it's a long way from being the best value for money on the market.

I'd go with smouty and suggest the Asus RT-N66U; it's what I currently use and it's excellent.

If you want the very best wifi N speeds then buy a top rated AC router as they will have high powered transmitters which give you great wireless speeds on all bands and obviously you have the option of using AC wifi as well. The top 2 AC routers are the Linksys EA6500 and the Asus RT-AC66U, both are highly rated with excellent wifi coverage. Not cheap at around £160 but like with most things in life you get what you pay for. I've got the EA6500 and its a dream to use.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linksys-EA6500-Dual-Band-Wi-...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-RT-AC66U-Diamond-Dual-B...

Other cheaper alternatives to consider are the Asus RT-N66U, Netgear WNDR4500 (N900) or the Linksys EA4500. These are also very good but will cost you at least £100.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

Other cheaper alternatives to consider are the Asus RT-N66U, Netgear WNDR4500 (N900) or the Linksys EA4500. These are also very good but will cost you at least £100.

I have the Linksys EA4500 and it is quite smart (the remote access and the Smart WIFI app for Android are really neat). The smart router software isnt really to my liking though - it reminds me of the ISP branded routers with everything dumbed down or hidden.

The media server is quite good if you don't use it seriously.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

If you want the very best wifi N speeds then buy a top rated AC router as they will have high powered transmitters which give you great wireless speeds on all bands and obviously you have the option of using AC wifi as well. The top 2 AC routers are the Linksys EA6500 and the Asus RT-AC66U, both are highly rated with excellent wifi coverage. Not cheap at around £160 but like with most things in life you get what you pay for. I've got the EA6500 and its a dream to use.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Linksys-EA6500-Dual-Band-Wi-...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-RT-AC66U-Diamond-Dual-B...

Other cheaper alternatives to consider are the Asus RT-N66U, Netgear WNDR4500 (N900) or the Linksys EA4500. These are also very good but will cost you at least £100.

Thanks. I have been reading reviews for the asus routers. Im happy to pay upto £150 - £160. However, with top end ac rated routers is I'd need to update usb dongles to match to get the best use out of them.

In reply to a post by wobblyheed:

However, with top end ac rated routers is I'd need to update usb dongles to match to get the best use out of them.

Not really, you could continue to use wifi N only with the Asus RT-AC66 (backwards compatible) and believe me, the wifi N coverage on this router blows the competition away and then one day if you decide to upgrade your wireless clients to AC, you wouldn't need to buy a new router. Like i said, the transmitters in the AC routers are much more powerful than the b/g/n versions and as a result, you will find far superior coverage on all wifi standards (b/g/n/ac) compared to previous generation routers.

Yes, I completely agree. They are WAY more powerful and there is no reason to spend over £100 and not get AC support - it'll have much more life in it that way.

In reply to a post by smouty:

Thanks. The reasons I think the HH3b is rubbish are because the thing doesnt hold linked channels ie say 2 + 6 for more than a few minutes. Once dropped, it doesnt pick up the dropped channel again.

Even the 'experts' on the BT forums say it doesnt handle multiple wireless connections very well.

Frequently, devices connected wirelessly dont show in the Manager interface. Referesh and they still dont show.

I could go on but I think my point is made.

Sorry but I don't agree regarding the wifi. It is doing what it is designed to do and sticks closer to the 802.11N standards than some routers. When using N mode are you using WPA2 only?
Can you see my point about configuring the router correctly?

The HH3 is a 2.4ghz wifi router. It is not recommended to use 40mhz mode on 2.4 ghz due to congestion but if you are in the lucky situation where you are in a relatively clear area then another router may help but I would definitely only consider 5ghz if higher throughput is a primary requirement.

If you are interested there is some background here - http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-fea...

In reply to a post by smouty:

In reply to a post by smouty:

Thanks. The reasons I think the HH3b is rubbish are because the thing doesnt hold linked channels ie say 2 + 6 for more than a few minutes. Once dropped, it doesnt pick up the dropped channel again.

Even the 'experts' on the BT forums say it doesnt handle multiple wireless connections very well.

Frequently, devices connected wirelessly dont show in the Manager interface. Referesh and they still dont show.

I could go on but I think my point is made.

Sorry but I don't agree regarding the wifi. It is doing what it is designed to do and sticks closer to the 802.11N standards than some routers. When using N mode are you using WPA2 only?
Can you see my point about configuring the router correctly?

The HH3 is a 2.4ghz wifi router. It is not recommended to use 40mhz mode on 2.4 ghz due to congestion but if you are in the lucky situation where you are in a relatively clear area then another router may help but I would definitely only consider 5ghz if higher throughput is a primary requirement.

If you are interested there is some background here - http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-fea...

Fraid we'll have to agree to disagree on the HH3 but thanks for the comments again. Lots of people who stick with it are those who really dont know any better or how to optimise home networks.

As I have said, many of the experts on the BT forum acknowledge the HH3's poor wireless qualities and other failings. Its signal degradation a mere couple of metres away is quite amazing considering BT push it so much. As for configuring the HH3, well, there's not an awful lot to configure, is there.

Would you mind providing a link to the BT forum thread you mentioned or your username on that forum.
Cheers.

In reply to a post by billford:

In reply to a post by wobblyheed:

Is this only suitable for Apple products though?

No, it's just a router.

And having had one, in my opinion it's a long way from being the best value for money on the market.

I'd go with smouty and suggest the Asus RT-N66U; it's what I currently use and it's excellent.

Seconded, I've just swapped from an Airport Extreme to an N66U in the last two days, and I now get 5GHz service in areas where the Airport Extreme didn't provide coverage!