If you don’t want to read my nonsense, scroll down to the bottom.
It’s been a long time since I setup my home network. My last router was the R7000 which served its purpose for about nine years. This time, before following the same setup I have done for the last 15+ years, I was curious about the latest trends and ensure I don’t miss out on something new. Everything that can be wired, is wired. I set certain devices on the network with a static IP (video scalers, Memcard pros, raspberry pi’s, arcade units, game consoles(do they still need static IP addresses these days to allow with specific ports to the forwarded?) I have a bunch of gigabit switches, primarily in one room that houses most of my stuff.
Why am I looking into changing?
About a year ago we changed to Verizon fios and they gave me a router, which I scoffed at since “I don’t need the router my service gives me for free” (and yeah, this one is actually a free one, I declined it and told the installer I don’t want one and he left it) a G3100.
After my R7000 kicked the bucket at 2am after a poorly done firmware update - oops, I needed a new router and almost ordered one on Amazon, but figured I would use the free one in my home until I did research. I was immediately blown away. How crap this was so much faster than my other router. I was getting download speeds 5-10 times faster. The only issue it apparently can only do 10 static addresses, which is not enough.
Didn’t want to waste time reading? This message is entirely too long.
This prompted me to see what was available these days. I saw 6ghz networks? CAT8? I didn’t even know we had CAT7?! Mesh networks (even though I really don’t care about wireless, it can be bothersome to drop my network right outside my house) would this help my small devices receive a signal tucked away behind a cabinet? My needs are about 80 or so devices at a time, let’s say about 20 devices with static ip addresses, but that could be a lot more. My plan is the gigabit (900ish Mbits) are there faster switches than a gigabit, and does it matter? I do have a network that is not attached to the router, that simply has older consoles hooked up to shared networked drives for game images.
Anyway, what router do you all recommend? Do I care about mesh? Should I upgrade switches and wires? What is the deal!? What’s the new and upcoming network trends that everyone is excited about?
The latest trend is Ubiquiti, as you can easily remote manage it from an app. Many other companies have followed suit. I’ve used the Snap AV products for years, as they have their OVRC app to manage all this, as well as a wattbox for remote rebooting, incase I loose internet, or just a fresh reboot weekly.
It sounds like your cabling is fine for what you use. The latest trend in wireless, is Wifi 6, and just use POE switches for access points to get your wireless needs. This also frees up resources for a router, to just be a router, instead of going the all in one route. Also, this future proofs your setup, as with the changing wifi standards, you just program new access points as needed, instead of having to rebuild your entire network again. D-Link makes some solid access points, for reasonable, as well as their managed 1200 series switches have been bulletproof for me. Ubiquiti has APs, as well as managed switches, again, if you wish to switch to their eco system.
Good to hear cables haven’t changed. I remember telling people over 20 years ago that CAT 5 cables and CAT 5e cables were ridiculous because no one was transferring over 12MB per second, lol. When I did my last setup I put in CAT6, but it seems there was not reason over CAT5(e). Good to hear that I don’t need CAT 8. Although, I am sure there are some use cases.
CAT 8 is ridiculous. By the time you would need CAT 8 it would probably be better to run fiber optics in the house. I’m looking to run Ethernet soon and will run either CAT 6 or CAT 6a depending on the difference in price but I could get away with CAT 5e easily for current needs I just want to be ready if I ever go to to multi-gig service.