Hi, which would be the better option? Price wise they are not hugely different. Ubiquiti with wap will be about $75 more. I mostly play Xbox multiplayer. We have about 15 devices using wifi. Internet speed is 125down/5 up.
An Archer C7 is, at this point in time, is overpriced at any price. Good mid-range, multi-core, ARM-based devices are generally available in the US$75-125 range that far outperform the single-core, MIPS-based Archer C7
The EdgeRouter X, from what I understand, is a decent mid-range router, but will need an AP. That AP will likely cost you as much or more than a good, mid-range, multi-core, ARM-based all-in-one. From that linked result, I wouldn't expect it to be suitable for more than around 200 Mbps with SQM.
Edit: Sorry, I had completely the wrong link there before!
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Excuse my ignorance but what would an example be of a mid-ranged multi-core arm-based router? Thanks!
I would call an EA8500 and any other IPQ806x, e.g. R7800, a good mid-range multi-core arm based router. If 2x2 wifi does it for you, an IPQ401x like an EA8300 would also be in the club.
I use a cheap EA6350v3 (IPQ4018) as an access point with an Edgerouter X and would recommend even that over an Archer C7 as long as 5GHz is more important to you than 2.4GHz. The EA6350v3 2.4GHz was noticeably less performant than an Archer C7 for me, but the reverse is the case for 5GHz, and by a wider margin.
Especially if you buy used, an EdgeRouter X with a cheap "throw-away" all in one can still be economical and versatile. It is very small in size, has low power draw and it can be used with any (multiple in my case) all-in ones to add wired wireless access points with extra remote switch ports. My Edgerouter X (dual core / four threaded MIPS) is good for ~185 Mbps with CAKE SQM. I've not personally tested, but it is widely reported to get around ~ half a Gig with software NAT and near full Gig with hardware NAT (which OpenWrt supports for the MT7621). If you go that route, I found the easiest way to get OpenWrt on it was to download an old OpenWrt build from a German site that got me past the EdgeOS signature check, then flash a current OpenWrt build and good to go.
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I run the IPQ4019-based EA8300 units as APs. They are a three-radio device, which makes them better suited for wireless-mesh backhaul. Other than that, the performance is likely similar to the EA6350v3 or other ipq40xx-baased devices. I concur that the 5 GHz wireless performance is better on the EA8300, even at 2x2, than it is on the Archer C7v2. I didn't measure 2.4 GHz as carefully as basically only IoT and guest devices use it (and, in many places, is so crowded that it is close to useless).
Software flow offload (or hardware NAT) prevents most fine-grained control of the packet streams, such as SQM. If you've got a "clean" line without upstream buffering or a fast line that you're nowhere near saturating at any time (or your ISP doesn't claim as "up to" then deliver half or a quarter of that when everyone is home in the evening), then it is a potential way to get some more routing/NAT speed out of a router with integral switch.
It's a matter of perspective. I consider a device in the EdgeRouter X class as "cheap 'throw-away'" (compared to something like the ODRIOD H2 which can route, NAT, and run SQM at close to gigabit symmetric rates) and the all-in-one units as APs as a mid- to long-term investment. I don't see 802.11"next" becoming available at a reasonable price for APs for at least 3 years, nor in much past top-end phones and laptops for the same period.
Edgerouter X is a solid unit for 125 Mb ISP speed. If the ISP increases in the future would require replacing the router. Of course it has no wifi, but if you're running all your games wired you could put the non critical wifi users onto any sort of AP, and then SQM the port leading to that AP so they don't use all your bandwidth.
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