Electronics

[Stargazer77]

I've noticed the Wi-fi signal on my Chromebook jumping between very low and very high a lot lately.  This never happened before so I'm thinking my router is reaching the end of its usefulness.  It's probably about 5 years old I would guess.  I was browsing routers online and noticed there are many expensive (to me) routers (150-200) and also inexpensive routers (40-50).  I saw the low-end ones on Walmart's website.  Are these routers effective or should I be buying a more expensive one?  My old router is nothing fancy, just a plain old Linksys.  I would like to buy a new router before the old one completely dies.

[betteb]

I got this one ( with a little help from my sister, who is also my geek) and I'm very happy with it. Strong signal and range enough to cover my 1600 sq feet easily.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IL72CI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

[Nuttmeg]

I have used this router for two years. http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wi-Fi-Gigabit-Router-WNDR4300/dp/B008HO9DK4/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qi...

Window 10 comes to market in about 30 days. You may want to wait to see which products make the cut.

[gardenman]

The number 1 best selling router on Amazon is only $19.99 and gets rave reviews. As long your Internet connection is under 300 mbps (and it almost certainly is) a cheaper router like that should be perfectly adequate and easy to replace\upgrade in the future if needed. The router is the TP Link TL-WR841N.

[Mayfayre]

I had years of good use out of this D-Link DIR-655:

http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Wireless-Extreme-N-Gigabit-DIR-655/dp/B000LIFB7S/ref=sr_1_1?s=electroni...

I would recommend it. 

[chickenbutt]

I'll tell you one that I would NOT recommend -

A while back, after some problems with an older router, and finding that if I had one brand modem and another brand of router it was harder to get help with issues, I decided to get the ATT router/modem unit that they offered at their ATT stores (it's my ISP).

What a total POS that thing is.  I'm always having to unplug and plug it back in because it just drops the signal.  As soon as I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of it I'm thinking about not only changing the hardware, but changing my ISP. 

I've been trying to find out if other people like Charter for internet.  That's what we have for cable and it's always been pretty decent.   But I'm just so OVER att at this point.

[Nuttmeg]

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@chickenbutt wrote:

I'll tell you one that I would NOT recommend -

A while back, after some problems with an older router, and finding that if I had one brand modem and another brand of router it was harder to get help with issues, I decided to get the ATT router/modem unit that they offered at their ATT stores (it's my ISP).

What a total POS that thing is.  I'm always having to unplug and plug it back in because it just drops the signal.  As soon as I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of it I'm thinking about not only changing the hardware, but changing my ISP. 

I've been trying to find out if other people like Charter for internet.  That's what we have for cable and it's always been pretty decent.   But I'm just so OVER att at this point.

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I use this site for information about cable, and internet. A link to Charter internet/TV forum http://www.dslreports.com/forum/charter

[chickenbutt]

Thanks, Nutmeg!  I'll check it out.