What do you think of the Linksys N900 (4500)?

[Little Moose]

Hello,


I think my linksys wireless G is dying. Yes, I still have one that's roughly 14 years old. its dropping connections wired (more often) or wireless, I barely ever can access it page. I'm losing more and more devices that are wired. On average I have to unplug it least once every day......sometimes multiple times. sometimes most of the stuff comes back to network...sometimes not. So, I've been reading about Router while learning the terms....I'm not a tech savvy person. most of my devices are G type, but do have least 3 devices that are type N. As far as I can tell no AC type devices. Last month I had to replace my modem, it was a 2.0 to an Arris sb6141


Below is a router I'm interested in. If you're an owner of one, do you like it? what are the pros vs cons you've noticed?
Thank you in advance


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IL7AKM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B007IL7AKM&linkCode=as2&tag=bestwireles03-20&linkId=GKP55GCUFF35CR4B&th=1

 

[nayr]

What kind of internet speeds are you paying for? That's not a horribly fast router, I'd look for something you can put OpenSource firmware on and use VPN for your IPCamera access.

This is a better candidate: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DES2FQW
then immediately flash this firmware onto it: http://tomato.groov.pl/download/K26ARM/138-MultiWAN/tomato-RT-AC56U-ARM--138-VPN-64K.zip

Research shows it'll run a VPN Server @ ~20Mbps which is more than most residental uploads.

 

[Little Moose]

I have Charter spectum, they claim 100Mbps

I've done speed tests on different pc's (wired or wireless) my pc (wired) ranges for download speed 6.13 Mbps to 20.46Mbps; upload 3.07Mbps to 3.22Mbps. Now the wireless doesn't make since to me since its usually faster now days (for the last month) ....I think this is because of my old router

 

[nayr]

Yeah you definitely want a faster router and to start migrating your equipment over to wireless AC.. all my gear is AC now and I can achieve 100Mbps on wifi from anywhere in my house (but I have 3 access points running)

no point in paying for internet you cant ever use because your network's a big bottleneck.

are you using external PoE for your IPCameras? another option is PoE Access points, if you put em on the celling in your living/dining/bedrooms you can get near Gigabit speeds on 5GHz

 

[Little Moose]

I have 3 cameras, Foscam FI9828W 1.3 Megapixel (1280x960p) 3x optical zoom wireless (mine are wired) outdoor PTZ IP Cameras. they're hooked up to blue iris that shows/records all the cams. they all have a power cord (12v). I'm currently researching to get more cameras of a different brand, I'm leaning towards Dahua. I'm saving $$ and when I sell a car I'll hopefully be ready to upgrade my network as well as my cameras. I think the security will have at least 10 wired out cameras and 1 wireless indoor (already have it. it watches the kitchen and a exterior door) by the time I'm done.

My current network has the dying outdated router that connect to a switch next to it and a hub that on the other side of the house (the cable runs under the house) then to another switch. now the hub I know is a type g and probably won't be able to use it after the upgrade, but can I use the switches with a type N router?

 

[nayr]

yeah the switches are fine, id say get a router that can do Wifi-AC and be your OpenVPN Server for remote viewing of your cameras.. then when your ready replace the switch with a PoE capable one so you only need one cable for each camera and can run them all off the same battery backup.. also if you want to add more access points to help with dead spots you can use PoE ones that help you avoid hiding them in a cabinet somewhere where radio signals suck

 

[Little Moose]

What kind of internet speeds are you paying for? That's not a horribly fast router, I'd look for something you can put OpenSource firmware on and use VPN for your IPCamera access.

This is a better candidate: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DES2FQW
then immediately flash this firmware onto it: http://tomato.groov.pl/download/K26ARM/138-MultiWAN/tomato-RT-AC56U-ARM--138-VPN-64K.zip

Research shows it'll run a VPN Server @ ~20Mbps which is more than most residental uploads.

I ordered it and it'll be here next week. I can't wait as I'm losing more stuff in the network, this time a camera that I know it works and its hard as hell to stay on-line. I've been resetting the router on average least 3 times an hour today. I have to copy anything I want to post or I lose it if it times out....major drag. I think it final leg is about to give. Hope it can give me just 1 more week

 

[nayr]

heh, you shouldn't need it but just incase that firmware has a feature that will reboot the device automatically at a set interval if the hardware starts becoming flakey.

WiFi is prone to all sorts of problems and does not scale at all, Cameras are basically WiFi jamming devices with the amount of data they are trying to send non-stop.. the more video streaming you do over Wifi the crapper it becomes overall.

I had to wire up all my AndroidTV's to the network because even with a really nice wireless network they would struggle too often, especially when everyone was watching something different.

Start wiring up your cameras now, you can reuse the wire when you get better cameras and for each one you take off the wifi the more wifi speeds will be avilable for the devices that really are wireless (ie battery powered phones/tablets/laptops).. Ive got nothing on Wifi that cant be wired in some way and the speeds are awesome.. despite my many dozens of network devices.

 

[Little Moose]

heh, you shouldn't need it but just incase that firmware has a feature that will reboot the device automatically at a set interval if the hardware starts becoming flakey.

WiFi is prone to all sorts of problems and does not scale at all, Cameras are basically WiFi jamming devices with the amount of data they are trying to send non-stop.. the more video streaming you do over Wifi the crapper it becomes overall.

I had to wire up all my AndroidTV's to the network because even with a really nice wireless network they would struggle too often, especially when everyone was watching something different.

Start wiring up your cameras now, you can reuse the wire when you get better cameras and for each one you take off the wifi the more wifi speeds will be avilable for the devices that really are wireless (ie battery powered phones/tablets/laptops).. Ive got nothing on Wifi that cant be wired in some way and the speeds are awesome.. despite my many dozens of network devices.

I didn't know that. Thanks for letting me know. All my outside cameras are wired. They can be wireless and we tested it wireless when we got them in '14, but the signal seemed unstable and timed out a lot. My other half said something about the wireless being the problem, so the cameras were wired along with the pc that has the BI. Most of my network is wired, if I had to guess I'd say 95-99% wired in. mult. tv's, ps3, wii, all wired in,...well not plugged in unless the network or Internet is needed. the external hard drive and printer wired in. I have battery powered phones, one is wired in, but it was one of the first things to go down in the network. My other half left me with big shoes to fill tech wise when he went to a nap since he couldn't sleep the night before and never woke up. I'm planning on all outdoor camera be wired....our estimate was 8 -10 cameras. I might have one in the garage, but haven't decided yet.

The wireless cam I have is turned off now and on the opposite side of the house from the router. It was set to motion to record. when I used it, it was on at night or I'm away watching the kitchen mainly because I got kitten and wanted to see if and what she got in to plus it watched another door. It also busted 1 of my kids going in the kitchen at night, eating food with their fingers, and putting the food item back. I will hook up this camera after I get the new router. Other then that there are 2 pc's that are wireless. one is usually off. My cell phone flip type is over 7 years old, my kid barely uses his phone, mostly texting. he uses the wireless pc if he want to watch something. That's it for wireless. had a few other items but they left with my other kid and they were removed from the router (the MAC).

 

[nayr]

eek, sorry for your loss.. my other half would just junk and toss out all my equipment if I just up and left this world behind with only her to manage it.. I applaud your determination to fill their shoes.

who'm i kidding, she'd just sell the house and split w/my insurance payout to an island in the south pacific, at least thats what I'd do in her position.

lost my best friend that way 18 years or so ago, for everyone left behind its like getting hit by a train.. but really its not a bad way to go, hope I am so lucky.

 

[Little Moose]

He owned his owned pc repair or as he called it computer disaster recovery business. kinda how we met. I had a windows me and you guess it, it was a piece of shit, always breaking down. I met him on a different site so when my pc acted up I call him. he fixed it not just patch it up where it might work for month. he sold me a newer used pc, then later build the pc I use now. All the pc's here, he built. I remember him complaining on how hard it was to find an employee that knew what they were doing. I knew it was bad with my very limited experience, but now I know its far worse then I thought.

My other half was only 41. no known health problems. He had a physical a month before his death after a er visit. he didn't want to be there so they put him in a padded room and said he was stressed and depressed. they didn't check his blood pressure for 12 hours after him getting there. They wouldn't listen to me or his mother that we both thought something was going on with his heart. He was put on an anti-depressive for over a month that he was abruptly taken off by our doctor's nurse practitioner. I remember asking her is that safe? cause I don't want to wake up and he's dead next to me in 3 or 4 days. She swore it was safe ,but 4 mornings later, I woke up to him dead by me. Here's the kicker, they didn't do an autopsy like we requested/demanded and they 'lost his samples.' so for his cause of death: unknown/natural. that still doesn't make since to me. This destroyed my family. getting hit by a train is putting it mildly, I couldn't think for over a year and still have problem to this day and still very depressed. I hope I am so lucky to go as peaceful he did.