modem Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Hello everyone, Quick question. What is the best 802.11n / Wireless-N router out there on the market that has removable antennas? Also, what is the wireless-n router with the highest gain antennas built in?? A client of mine has a office in a house that is about 100 years old that was renovated to accommodate the office space. It looks like original wood, plaster, etc were all kept in place with all of the walls, etc. The current setup is a Netgear WNR1000v4 router sitting at the front desk with the cable modem on the lower left side of the building. The owners office is upstairs on the second floor on the upper right side of the building. She is having connection issues with 1-2 bars showing, connection drops when using Quickbooks, etc. I confirmed the poor quality of signal when using WiFi analyzer on my phone. Once I proceeded up the stairs, the signal immediately dropped like a rock. Because there is no ethernet wiring in the office, and the computers are only using Wireless-N (Dell Inspiron 15 laptops), the best call would be to get a higher gain antenna/router as well as better positioning it. Before I proceed with this job, I'm looking for advice on a specific router that would preferably have a removable antenna (man I miss the old WRT54 days!) that I could swap out for MUCH higher gain antenna's from NewEgg. Also, because this small business has 5 other offices in the region in similar setups, I would like to roll this same setup up to each other office if applicable to solve other office WiFi issues. Currently the ISP in all other offices is Frontier with the basic modem/router w/built in wireless which is causing performance and range issues. Feel free to give me a list of the best routers possible! Due to the restrictions above, wireless AC routers are obviously out. Thanks! Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted January 21, 2016 MVC Share Posted January 21, 2016 Why can you not just get Ethernet run to where the office space is? Can you not use powerline adapters to get a connection to the office space from where the main router is? And then run an actual AP in the office space? I would then run 5Ghz to min interference if their laptops support it.. Better gain antennas doesn't seem like a good fix for bad wifi coverage to me. The normal best fix for coverage is get an AP in the area the clients are.. Mando 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597243770 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted January 21, 2016 Veteran Share Posted January 21, 2016 Pretty much what budman stated. Your best choices are to wire the computer if it is that critical, use a power line adapter, or get an ap and wire it close by...perhaps in the ceiling. If it doesn't reach well enough, who is to say that the next one won't reach. Don't know how the building is situated, nor do we know what could cause interference in the building. Instead of buying something that may or may not work and potentially wasting money, why don't you design a solution that you know will work? Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597243856 Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmeunit Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I got some Powerline Adapters recently and love them. I had an older finicky 802.11n adapter that wouldn't go above 65Mbps, and with the Powerline adapaters I get 400-600Mbps depending on where it is in the house. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597244134 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted January 21, 2016 MVC Share Posted January 21, 2016 ^ exactly then you use that to connect an AP to give wifi in that specific area you need wifi coverage in. Now it would be better to run a wire, should be able to get a network drop in for less than $200 for sure.. There are people that run wire for a living!! You say you need a wire from here to here, they tell you how much. You pay them and everyone is happy. This really should of been on the list of things to do to make a building office ready. Powerlines are great when don't own the property like an apt or house you rent and your landlord is a ASS and will not run wire, or let you run wire.. Then sure 400-600 mbps is next best thing. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597244250 Share on other sites More sharing options...
modem Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 Right now, the client is laying out what they want done and I'm doing research. The office is a 100 year old house with three PC stations inside. The front receptionist desk, a desk, office/dr area behind the receptionist, and an office upstairs on the second floor, opposite the side of the house as the receptionist. The client stated that they would not want to run ethernet wire. Powerline may be an option, but I have not used that before and don't want to test it on them and still not meet their need. I was looking at repositioning the router to a more centralized location, and using higher gain antenna (9dbi or so) to boost the current bars from 1-2 upstairs, to 3-5. SNR was -80 at spots in the upstairs office, while it was -35 to -40 most everywhere else on the first floor. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597246656 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) Well, powerline adapters if you buy from known brands are tested and stable well working technology. Just test to make sure that both power points are on the same power circuit or whatever or they may not be able to talk to each other. but as long as they can, they'll work fine. The bigger issue with powerline adapters is that they can't be used in research or medical institutions with strict demands on the quality of the power signal, since a lot of the new high bandwidth ones put out to much noise on the powerlines(illegally much according to EC standards, and that's as far as neighboring houses) but for most this won't have any real effect, and medical and research institutions have isolated and filtered power for their equipment anyway so the whole thing is mostly inconsequential. If you're going with wireless. you need to make sure the AP has a strong transmitter as well(though again, legal limits) as just a high gain antenna alone won't necessarily help, it'll have more help for incoming signal. After all you have to remember that wireless is a two way street. And also you need to remember that a high gain antenna isn't receiving more signal because it's bigger. Being bigger and being high gain, means it shapes the signal differently and more concentrated. you still have the same amount of power, but you're sending it to a smaller area, or receiving from a smaller area. This is important to remember when you set it up if the signal is on the edge. As someone simply bumping into the router/AP and moving an antenna could potentially kill the signal or at least significantly reduce it. This is a problem you wont have with powerline adapters. Honestly getting a set of powerline adapters and setting them up to test is cheap and will tell you right away if they work or not. and is the fastest and safest and most stable solution. Just put big yellow tape on them and write in big bold black letters "DO NOT REMOVE!" Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597246744 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted January 24, 2016 MVC Share Posted January 24, 2016 "The client stated that they would not want to run ethernet wire." I always love these sorts of statements - when did the client become an networking expert and knows what is required or not required to accomplish the actual goal? Like buying a car but saying but I don't want an engine.. To provide wifi you need AP, to provide best wifi you need multiple AP in the proper area - to get AP where you need them you have to run a wire.. Does this office have a dropped ceiling? If so then running wires is childs play to get the AP where you want it in the office area for best coverage. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597247192 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 (edited) on a house that age its almost certainly gonna be stone plaster walls, and real hardwood roof members/floor beams, forget about wireless after about 1 wall seperation from AP. Your only option is going to be based around powerline adapters, optionally with models with APs included in the plug. If multiple devices need access in each area you can always throw in an unmanaged switch in each room to serve connections to the network from each powerline adapter, with the ability for it to also serve a wireless extension. Ideally a discrete install of cat5/6 thru floors or under floorboards would be better tbh, powerline adapters are a god send but aint bombproof, ive had to resych mine a few times, networking goes wonkey, it doesnt state any errors with plugs, would be a pain to support remotely. Granted ive only had experience of the Trendnet and TPLink models. BT do a range here in the UK, not tried them yet though. Edited January 24, 2016 by Mando Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597247204 Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmeunit Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I've been using the Zyxel PLA256KIT for about 3 or months with no issues. I'll see the "sub 100Mbps" lights come on from time to time, but no connectivity issues, and it's typically when I'm not online and just walking around the house. One machines is online all the time serving media and such, through Plex and other stuff and haven't had any problems with that. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597247344 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted January 25, 2016 Veteran Share Posted January 25, 2016 What I would do is run a wire on the outside of the house to the floor where it needs to go. (comcast and other cable company installers do this quite a bit). Poke a little hole, run the cable, and, after it has been installed and tested, fill the hole with some rtv sealant (can be clear and can be picked up at most hardware or auto parts stores). Use wire molding to help hide the wire when inside the house (can be picked up at most hardware stores), this is passable as neat and clean as well as hidden. If you run it along the floor or along the base molding you might be able to make it somewhat seamless. They come in different shapes and sizes so you would have to get something that works with the decor...it can be painted to match if needed. Installing surface wire mold: Circaflex 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1286510-best-wireless-n-router-with-removable-antennas/#findComment-597248870 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts