What's new

Best router for home theater setup with 3D, Netflix, Hulu+, etc. (1 Viewer)

Edwardorange1909

Auditioning
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Messages
2
Real Name
Edward orange
Many people complain that downloads from Netflix are interrupted or lost! Would like as many Comcast users to comment on what Router they have and any problems or solutions that corrected their problems. I know about Netgear NDR3700, Asus N56U as being many peoples favorites. Would like feedback on these two or any other recommendations one might have. I have 2 computers, HP printer, 3D TV, and Bluray player that could be using the wireless connection. No kids so I would be watching TV or on computers but not at same time. I don't know if comcast has different quality modems that would help with bandwidth?



Any Help Out There??
 

DaveF

Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2001
Messages
28,670
Location
Catfisch Cinema
Real Name
Dave
Are there lots of WiFi networks in your area? Maybe you’re in a dense city, or even a closely packed suburbs. It’s not normal for home WiFi to have lots of dropouts.

Is your internet service fast enough?

How old is your WiFi router?

How big is your house and how far is the TV from the wife router?

If you’re in the suburbs and have fast internet (anything more the 5Mbps down), it might be a simple matter of getting a new WiFi router. If yours is from your cable co and is several years old, contact them and ask for a new replacement. If you own your router, buy a new one.

If your house is big and the wifi router is at the opposite end from your TV, you should get a range extender or even upgrade to a mesh network.

If you’re in an urban area and are being clobbered by dozens of nearby WiFi networks, make sure you’re using the 5GHz range. If that’s not enough, looking into your options for running Ethernet or using a MOCA system or even Powerline Ethernet.
 

Chris Strnad

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 18, 2000
Messages
83
Location
CLE
Real Name
Chris
Regardless of what you do end up doing, do yourself a favor and put your computing and network resources on a reasonable battery backup that does automatic voltage regulation (like APC Back-UPS Pro). Surge strips do nothing to protect you from the natural variability of what's coming from the wall outlet. Those little wall-wart power adapters aren't going to hold up in the long-term.

I do IT for a living and I'm a very strong proponent of network hardware performing a single function wherever possible, so my preferences will be overkill (but very robust) for single-user home use. For reference, my setup is an old Intel Atom-based PC running pfSense as my gateway/firewall, an old Dell PowerConnect 2724 24-port gigabit switch, and an EnGenius EAP600 dual-band Access Point. (I also have a vmware server that handles services like DNS & DHCP, but could be handled by pfSense. Everything is in the basement, with the AP centrally-mounted on the ridge-board of the 2nd-floor attic; yay for Power over Ethernet injectors.)

In a nutshell: Copper is king. Wire as much as you can. If that isn't feasible, limit the length of the radio link (distance to wired AP), minimize line-of-sight obstructions, and keep the number of radio hops to zero (stay away from range-extenders, signal multiplication is bad!)

There are apps for iOS/Android (like Wifi Analyzer) that will show a graph of what wifi signals are present at any given position. This can help you determine AP placement and coverage. If you find that you're in need of additional APs for better coverage, you want to start looking at office wifi equipment as most average home wifi gear isn't designed to be in a multi-AP environment. You will get drops as the client device bounces between APs--it's one reason why office/industrial wifi gear and home mesh equipment are more expensive and frequently involve a separate controller.

If I had to suggest office-level network gear, EnGenius and Ubiquity offer good value for money.
 

theJman

HW Reviewer
Joined
Dec 9, 2015
Messages
249
Location
New Joisey
Real Name
Jim
Many people complain that downloads from Netflix are interrupted or lost! Would like as many Comcast users to comment on what Router they have and any problems or solutions that corrected their problems.

Is your concern that Comcast is throttling Netflix? It wouldn't surprise me if they were - I'm stuck with them as well, so I'm all too familiar with their shortcomings - but if that's your issue a new router won't help I'm afraid because the problem is upstream.

About a year ago I upgraded my old (as in 10 years old) Linksys WRT router to their new WRT1900ACS, but it turned out to be a POS and nowhere near as good as the classic models. You might want to avoid that one. Asus, Netgear, D-link, Synology, there are a lot of companies making routers today, so options abound.
 

Josh Steinberg

Premium
Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2003
Messages
26,250
Real Name
Josh Steinberg
I didn't think Netflix got throttled anywhere. I remember there being a minor news story when it was revealed a few years ago that Netflix pays the different internet service providers directly for better access to bandwidth. I figured that this was the reason that Netflix always works for me, 24/7, in perfect quality no matter what time of day I watch it, while other services like Hulu, HBO Go and Vudu can have minor issues during peak times.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,710
Messages
5,121,093
Members
144,146
Latest member
SaladinNagasawa
Recent bookmarks
0
Top