I give up. New Router Time; Recommendations?

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
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I have given up on my Archer C7 V2. Tried various things to fix it between a topic on reddit, and this one here, including disabling 5GHz, installing kmod-ath10k-ct-smallbuffers, deleting WAN6 (IPv6). It is back to dropping 2.4GHz multiple times a day. I am really starting to think it just has a hardware issue that can't be fixed.

So I give up, and am ready to buy a new router, and from having spent time with you openwrt geniuses, I trust you as much as anyone. That said, if I buy a new router, I might just see how it performs out of the box before flashing it with openwrt.

Usage scenario is probably nothing special. Streaming (Netflix, youtubeTV, Disney+, etc), Plex (local server), lots of gaming, video calls, and lots of devices as follows:

Modem: ARRIS SURFboard SB6183

Internet Provider: Comcast

Monthly Data Usage: 1-2 TB

Wired Devices:

  • 3 x PC
  • 2 x TCL TV
  • 1 x Chromecast

Wireless Devices:

  • 1 x Roku Ultra
  • 1 x Chromcast
  • 4 x Laptop
  • 2 x Amazon Echo
  • 3 x Echo Dot
  • 1 x Echo Tap
  • 1 x WeMo Smart Plug
  • 4 x iPhone
  • 1 x Apple Watch

I'm more than happy to drop a few hundred $ on this for something super reliable. I'd also say I really don't care a lot about 5Ghz, as I need the range of 2.4Ghz. Definitely turned off a bit from TP-Link, but no other preferences, albeit, I have no expertise here.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

EDIT: Thoughts on ASUS Routers such as the RT-AC3100 which claims to have excellent coverage?

EDIT 2: House is about 3000 sq ft, 3 floors which all need wi-fi, and router will be on top floor.

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Linksys EA8300 and MR8300 have dual boot failover partitions, really nice to get out of trouble.

256MB flash and 256 & 512 MB ram respectively, ample memory for additional features.

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3

R7800 is still king in my book. VERY well supported by OW. At least one of the active developers has one and it is also great recovery via tftp. You will need a switch if you need all 5 wired devices connection as it only has 4 ports. GS108 is 8 and around $40 news. Highly recommend metal case but that's just me.

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4 is all I need on the router itself; have a patch panel & switch in basement. Thanks for recommendation. Will check it out.

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Thank you, will check them out.

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In your position I'd consider separate devices. Something like a RPi4 for the router, then an entry level 'enterprise' AP (e g. ubiquiti or tp-link EAP) on each floor.

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Hey @darksky, have you tried (or know anyone who has) building & running an image based on latest snapshot, with linux 5.4.x kernel, and DSA? Does it work on the Netgear R7800?

I'm in the same boat as the OP. Trying to build & run an image, targeting Linksys WRT1900AC V1, based on latest mwlwifi drivers. The wifi is super flakey. And it seems the mwlwifi drivers aren't gonna get any love anytime soon... So, I'm looking to jump ship, to the Netgear R7800.

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The ipq806x target (of which r7800 is a member) has not switched over to DSA yet, it's supposed to happen in the near(ish) future and DSA drivers are available, but right now it's still using swconfig based drivers.

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I build my own from master all the time but I don't know what DSA or swconfig-based-drivers are...

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What is your ISP speed today, and what do you think it will be in the near future?

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I've been through a number of routers, including the C7 and a Linksys WRT3200ACM. The only one that has worked flawlessly so far is the Netgear R7800, so here's another vote for that device.

12

Picked up an Open Box Netgear R7800 on ebay last week.
Built and flashed an image from snapshot (OpenWrt SNAPSHOT r14530-90853439a1)
Everything is working well & stable so far.
Good performance.
I'm happy so far.
Good bye Linksys.

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give also a try to nss drivers, huge boost in performance freeing up some cpu resources for other things
as of today, they seems also stable.

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I'm also close to replace my C7's (2 x v5, 1x v2). I've played with both CT (FW last update 2019/02)
http://www.candelatech.com/ath10k-10.1.php
and non CT (FW last update 2016/08)

firmware/kmod-ath10k but neither is rock solid.
Of course I had tried the smallbuffer CT verion, too.

As suggested in

I also limited the 2.4 GHz wifi to 20MHz.

I've been running various openwrt snapshots in the last few months, currently running
Firmware Version OpenWrt SNAPSHOT r14545-0cfdc7d446 / LuCI Master git-20.266.50415-6044084
Kernel Version 5.4.66

At one point I opened a issue to the CT version:

but there seems to be little hope for a fix.
No offense intended, I understand that this would take some serious debugging, even with all the data sheets and firmware source code available, and then in the end it might turn out to be a HW issue which could be hard to circumvent.

It's just unfortunate that a once popular openwrt device, is so hard (impossible?) to get stable.
Since the high data rate is the suspected culprit I'm experimenting with limiting the 5GHz channel width to 40MHz, which also limits the throughput to ~25Mbyte/s.

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Seems like I can't edit my OP again, but just a quick update that I've bought a Unifi Dream Machine, and I'm very happy with it. 2.4GHz Range is the same as Archer C7 V2, but without the drops! 5GHz range seems to be slightly better. Covering my whole house without an additional AP.

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