Hi guys, I am looking to upgrade from my current router as I am receiving weak signal in my room which is quite far away from the router. Usually around 50-60% of full speed I get. Therefore I am looking for a router with high gain and must be stable also because my current router on and off need restart which is very frustrating. Preferably with good QOS which limits user by MAC instead of by application.

PS: My current router is a ASUS RT-N14U.

This post has been edited by berrycoo~: Mar 7 2018, 10:49 PM

ASUS RT-AC1300UHP

Can get below RM500 at lazada with vouchers
price range is RM500++

Do you use this router? Because I would like to know the following regarding this router:

1. Does its QOS support rules for MAC?
2. The antennas are 5dBi each right? Will 4x5dBi or say 3x9dBi provide better coverage for the house?
3. Does it provide up to 1267mbps by using both bands?
4. Is the router firmware stable? Do I need to restart often? As I leave my router on 24x7

u need to describe "the house"...

how many storeys... how long, low wide...
where will router be placed.
what devices... how many... posiiton... ethernet or wifi...
what speed u use now...

there is no one big universal power router to serve all houses, all purposes...
give details, poepl can comment, suggest.

Please ensure your room is on the same floor as the router before buying one with high-gain antennas.

no I'm not using this router.

check the specs here:
https://www.asus.com/my/Networking/RT-AC130...specifications/

1. yes

2. AFAIK the high gain omni directional antennas will make the coverage further but narrower but I'm not sure if it's the same with the AC1300UHP... there's some pics on the net showing this but I couldn't find them now

3. yes

4. from my experience with asus routers yes they are stable. no you don't need to restart often... unless there are 50 people in your house and 30 of them torrent 24/7 and 10 of them run xunlei and god knows what the rest are doing and there's no bandwidth control applied or something crazy like that


you may also consider improving the wifi on the receiving side, i.e your pc or laptop. which one is it btw? you can either buy a powerful usb wifi receiver (like Tp-Link Archer T4UHP) or buy a wireless access point that can be used in client mode - one of the advantages of this second option is you can connect a long ethernet cable (one end to your pc) and place the access point at a spot with stronger signal. For example if your pc is in your room, you can use say a 8m flat ethernet cable (so that it can easily run under your door, hide under the carpet, etc) and place the wireless AP outside your room.


plus like AVFAN said, you need to describe 'the house' in detail

1. 2 storey house, approx 30x60 build up
2. Router will be placed in the front end of the house on ground floor, which is in the living room
3. Currently facing problem on my desktop, as wifi adapter is weak as well. My room is at the back end of the house on second floor. So basically is from 1 end to the other. I think the total number of devices will be around 10.
4. Using Unifi 50mbps

My room is on different floor. If thats the case what kind of antenna should I be looking for?

For point 4, yea someone in my house is torrenting chinese show most of the time but not as hardcore as you said

At first I thought of changing my adapter but then again might as well change the router so I wont the problem for other devices. I have tried wireless AP with a TP-Link AP before. But for me seems like not very stable as my device cant connect to the AP most of the time and will revert back to the original router but not sure if its my TP-Link AP problem or not.

This post has been edited by berrycoo~: Mar 8 2018, 11:18 AM

your problem is a typical "i hv bad wifi in my house".
countless threads, countless users struggle with it, with no obvious WIFI solutions.
factors are yr internet speed, distance, barriers, router, and device n application use.

fortunately, i have a lesser problem of such albeit similar.
.. your house is wide but not tall... i dun think it is worse than mine in terms of wifi reach.
.. 50mbps is fine but will help if u can upgrade to 100mbps.
.. becos of losses, base 100mbps can still give u decent net speed at the furthest corner.
.. better router will help, so will the pc wifi adaptor.
.. front lower right (left) to back upper left (right) will be the most challenging.
.. theoretically, the "balloon" coverage can be reshaped by tilting the antennae backwards to reach higher, but... i find it rather useless.

i am using asus rtac1300uhp; pc with asus usb-ac55 adaptor; 100mbps.
couldn't get good results with original 2.4ghz pc, but the 5ghz adaptor changes everything

router front lower left, pc back lower left, 55ft, 2 walls, wifi... this test is with 2 other devices doing heavy stuff:


with router at front lower level, all devices at same level are fine, great speed.
upper level, 5ghz devices can get 70-80% of the speed, except for the worst blind spots - these, u must avoid... move yr pc, table, bed, etc.
2.4ghz devices will get about 50% of the speed, which is good enough for most purposes.

i do not know if a router double or triple the price will do a much better wifi job or it will be a point of diminishing returns.

my router been on for 2.5 months... 24/7, latest firmware, no reboot.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Mar 8 2018, 03:48 PM

from what you described, that is not using a wireless ap in client mode
sounds like repeater (wifi extender) mode?
client mode is when you plug an ethernet cable to the AP, and the other end of the cable directly to your pc/laptop. basically it becomes like your usb wifi receiver. when doing this it is best to disable your built in or external wifi receiver.
which tplink AP did you use btw?

Bro, your problem is very common. Most of the people are complaining that they are having bad WiFi in their house but if you really want the best wifi system, you have to invest a lot. By buying those so called, "high gain router" doesn't really help much in most of the circumstances, there will still have slow wifi problems due to interference from your neighbor's wifi. In terms of stability, most of the Asus router will do a very good job, but ofc not those cheap ones.

Second, never ever put your router in the front of your house, put it at the center point of your house in order to get equal signal strength from your router to every corners of your house. If you can't change the setup, then get yourself a few APs around your house. Connect to the AP whichever is close to you so that you can get good speed.

Lastly, I would recommend you to get TP-Link Archer C3150 or Asus AC1300UHP if you want a cheaper option. Both routers perform quite well.

This post has been edited by mztang52: Mar 8 2018, 01:42 PM

So does this mean that using 5ghz bandwidth i can achieve higher speed when i am upstairs as compared to 2.4ghz? And I guess upgrading my router will improve the situation? As my current one doesnt even have external antenna

I am thinking of getting the ac1200g+ as that doesnt cost that much and is similar to the ac1300uhp. What do you think?

Ah my bad indeed that was repeater mode. So for client mode must connect ethernet to pc?

That time is was my parents who setup the fibre cable and they chose the living room as it is nearer and dont need to pull the fibre so far as there will be extra charges and I was still small that time dint know anything

Set up a few AP in repeater mode?

As for router, I am thinking of getting the ac1200g+ as that doesnt cost that much and is similar to the ac1300uhp. What do you think?

I will tell you now that the AC1200G+ is definitely not similar to the AC1300UHP. You are making the mistake of looking at the numbers only and not the router itself. The AC1300UHP is much better than the AC1200G+, in every aspect. 5GHz will be better than 2.4GHz as it will be less congested and not exposed to that much interference, but its coverage is less than 2.4GHz, so keep that in mind.

The router must be connected to the AP via Ethernet for the client mode. You must set up a few AP in client mode, NOT repeater mode.

2.4ghz has farther reach but losses are severe too.
for yr distance, 5ghz will get u more than 2.4.
but further than that, it will go to zero very quickly.

i dunno ac1200, but i suggest u do not save small money if buying new.
better spend a bit more so that u are covered now, as well as when u go 100mbps.

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4524140
Check out this router, should be able to do a good job for your case.
If you don't mind having a router without 5Ghz, you can consider TP-Link WR941HP. However if there are a lot of 2.4Ghz network surrounding around your house, I would really not recommend you to buy this router as it will only cause more interference and eventually degrade your network speed.

yes. imagine it like your usb wifi adapter, instead of using USB you use the ethernet cable, you don't have to install any drivers but you have to configure the AP first. like I said earlier, you could position the client mode AP outside of your room with a long ethernet cable.

Forget about using 5Ghz it's only good for small apartment.

To get stable wireless internet while making it simple and cost effective, just add a wireless AP. Some cheap router such as tenda F3 and Fh456 have the wireless AP feature built-in and It will allow you to play with the QOS limiting bandwidth by MAC. I have a 1 month used tenda Fh456 to let go cheap if you are interested.

The drawback with wireless AP is that you won't be able to utilize the 50mbps at 1 client when sharing. Anyway, investing in so called high gain router will not ensure you to utilize the 50 mbps as well when your room is at another end of second floor.

Consider having an access point running in bridge mode for those devices at the back end. Even a high gain router may not mean better connection at the back as each client needs its own high gain adapter which is costly. There are a number of options (WDS or wireless bridge) if you do not run cable from your primary router. WDS allows 'roaming' between the stronger signal router however at a cost of half the bandwidth. With 50Mbps you will not notice this.

Are there any options other than client mode? As I dont want to route cables here and there.

Add a wireless AP in what mode?

What do you mean by that I wont be able to utilize the 50mbps at 1 client?

Whats the difference between WDS or wireless bridge and client mode?

the longer u keep this issue open, the more confusion and "bright ideas" u will get.

i am glad i did not get exotic, do just something v simple.

really, my experience, just one good router, forget all the rest, yr house wifi will be fine.

it's not like it is a 3 storey 80x150ft footprint bungalow with 15 rooms.

all the best.

Honestly bro, just get one good router and it will be more than enough.

Totally agree.... TS house size is ok, just invest in a good router... Asus RT-AC86U is good enough, have smart switch to automatically switch between 2.4 and 5GHz... and can control QoS using MAC address. But Seeing TS previously reply... I think maybe not in TS budget

the other option is to buy a better router like the Asus RT-AC1300UHP
oh wait, shall we go to powerline adapter?


btw you only have to use 1 cable for your device if you want to use client mode.

I tried powerline adapter before. Langsung cant use in my house. Not sure if its because of 3phase wiring.

Ok ok then I shall get a better router. RT-AC1300UHP the best bet? Any other options I can consider?

This post has been edited by berrycoo~: Mar 9 2018, 07:20 PM

It’s the best bet. We can recommend you more expensive models but I don’t think you want to go any further.

your main problem is wifi lower corner to upper other corner.
these 2 areas in any house are most unlikely to share the same phase of a 3 phase power supply.
hence homeplug will do nothing.

other options will involve laying cables, or repeater, extender, access point - more equipment, work, more money, more headaches.

your house is similar to mine, quite typical actually.
no need to fret, wifi tech with good new routers are good enough for that.
higher priced routers can do the job but rtac1300uhp is good enough.
and very consistent: 55ft 5ghz


if u buy at shop, might as well take your unifi id/pw with u, get it set up there with latest firmware, go home plug n play, easy.
remember if yr pc does not have 5ghz, best tobuy a dual band adaptor as the same time.
then u see the improvement in total.

if u get into difficulties, can post in asus thread, many asus users can help u, if u need.
my experience is in post #6739.
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4382989/+6720?hl=ac55#bottom

Alright got it. Shall go for the AC1300UHP then.

I think from my router to my room should be slightly further at 60-70ft. But I guess that should be fine

Couple of points.

1. Is the present router working enough to keep you reasonably ok, forget about the wireless range for the moment? Say for clients connected near it?
2. If the answer to (1) above is true, then invest in a wireless range extender, many options are available depending on your budget.
3. Are you going to stay with Asus or consider other vendors? Some wireless extender/bridge/whatever to extend the range may be vendor proprietary so choose a vendor with good firmware and hardware support. A good router will NOT need a scheduled reboot and will run without issues for years rebooting only after a power failure.

Likely even with a high end expensive router the 5Ghz signal at your back room will have, if you are lucky, one bar signal. On 2.4Ghz its going to get interference from neighbours' wifi, your microwave and cordless phones. That is why mesh networks are coming onto the market to solve these issues but its too early to get them as (1) expensive (2) firmware are more like alpha builds (3) new technology

For many years had used the TM supplied router as a VLAN switch and had multiple routers handling wifi using a single SSID and devices auto connect the optimal access point (including one connected to the router LAN port to handle wifi as the wifi on TM router was not robust enough). These were hardware carried over from pre-streamyx and the routers (AirPort) got replaced every 8 to 10 years as the technology render them ineffective (first ones were b/g capable).

1. The present router is working ok if I am near it. Can get full speed. But my problem is that in my room the performance is quite on and off. At best can get 40mbps. Most of the time is 20-30mbps.
2. I tried using wireless range extender on a TP-Link WA901ND. Devices connect to it at first but after a while disconnects. And no longer able to connect anymore. Even tried flashing dd-wrt firmware but still same.
3. The router quite unstable at times. Having the need to restart few times a month.

On average, the 5GHz (non AC older devices as old as ones purchased in 2010) typically get almost 300M speeds and 2.4GHz devices typically 70-100M speeds or better (and this is like consistent stable numbers for years). When you mention 20-30M speeds its likely wireless interference from surrounding 2.4GHz wifi networks (assuming you are looking at router logs to see actual speed and not internet speed test which adds a lot more variables). Device disconnections probably from interference.

When you invest in a new router, try in your mind to think of it in two parts,

1. Connecting to TM modem and as a VLAN switch.
2. Wifi and devices need to have 5GHz connectivity

On wifi, that is where things get complicated. Its likely you will need another access point (whatever tech) to get good signal strength at the back simply because there are regulations on how much max power a router can transmit.

It'll be irresponsible of me not to throw Mikrotik into the hat. Not for everyone though.

A bit of configuration with Mikrotik/UNBT as a VLAN router and with a LAN cable move the existing router (as an AP) to mid point could be the cheapest solution. He needs to test how stable his existing router is in AP mode. Guess is its probably going to function a lot more stable without the heavy lifting required for routing.

Sorry TS, tumpang thread

Dear Sifus, need your advise for the following case

1. (3) 2 storey house, 22x70
2. Using Unifi 30 mbps

House A and C is sharing the same network currently, and House B will be sharing the same network in the future. Therefore, I'm planning to change House A router if necessary, and also getting a new router for House B.

its not hard to change new router for house A, just to remember your unifi ID and unifi password.
the current situation you are mentioned is pulling a long LAN cable from house A to house C through outdoor?
So now, you need to get another long LAN cable, just the length for house A to house B. Then buy a small 5-port D-Link or TP-Link network switch (for best is gigabit switch) then put it to house B.

Connect the LAN cable from the main router of house A to the network switch of house B, then put one new router in house B and connect to the network switch with LAN cable. The old LAN cable plug in the network switch too, then pull it to the router of house C.

-----------------------
Second situation, just pull another LAN cable directly from main router of house A to the new router of House B.

This post has been edited by junclj: Mar 13 2018, 12:16 PM

Hi junclj,

House A and C are connected. Will pull a long LAN cable from House A to B through outdoor as well in the future.

Is there any recommended router for House A and B?

Thankiu very much

How about Tp-Link TL-WR941HP?
it have 3x9dbi antenna and also amplifier,
the only cons is it dosen`t have 802.11AC

Blacktubi i pinjam your picture k

Depends on what you want to do and how many users there are. If nothing special, any router will do.

If you want to control bandwidth to the 2 houses, get something that can do that. I’d recommend a Mikrotik.

I have a similar setup in my house (UniFi 100). One cable to the neighbour on my left and a wireless link to the neighbour opposite my house. These 2 neighbours share my unifi connection. There’s another wireless link to the neighbour on my right. This is for load balancing and as a backup wan. They’re on unifi 50. I’m using an RB750Gr3 as my main router.

Are you charging for these?

This post has been edited by soonwai: Mar 13 2018, 02:35 PM

Nope, we're family. Around 5~6 user in one House, and yea i'm quite interested in Mikrotik as well, but RB750Gr3 doesn't come with WiFi right?

Cool, let's say 6 users per house. Total 18, no problemo. Yes, RB750Gr3 is router only with no wifi. It's the cheapest Mikrotik router-only router but packs some serious horsepower (by home user standards). Wifi, you can use back any old wifi router. Save some money that way. Personally I prefer to split my router and wifi as I don't see myself upgrading the router until TM goes above 500mbps. Wifi, on the other hand, gets upgraded a bit more often.

The setup for my house is little bit more complicated than usual. Each house has their own VLAN so we don't see each others devices. And one additional VLAN for management so I can connect to their routers for monitoring and config. You can do all that with Mikrotik, UBNT or Cisco, maybe even Asus BRT routers but for sure Mikrotik is the cheapest of the lot. You'll need to invest some time to learn to set it up though.

This post has been edited by soonwai: Mar 13 2018, 04:49 PM

So, for my case RB750Gr3 will be the main router (Backbone) and using back Mi Router to share WiFi in House A, and for House B i'll probably get another Asus N12HP router for House B as it has better WiFi coverage i guess, or do you have any router recommended just for sharing WiFi?

Should I use the same SSID or separately?

I am on Unifi 50Mbps and is now using Asus RT-AC55UHP router. It is working fine most of the time with no issue of connection lag, except when my brother kids comes home in the weekend.

On most days the router only has about 5 devices connected to a maximum of 7 devices.

Times when my brother comes back with his family, the router will see about 14-17 devices connected, due to my bro, his wife and the kids connecting to the wifi also.

That the time when the RT-AC55UHP start becoming slow. I do not think it is the line getting over saturated or bandwidth usage issue. As i have been monitoring the router WAN interface for some time and notice utilization is fairly acceptable hit about 60% on average. The issue is the CPU of the router staying at close to 100% all the time, the kids is all an avid fans of streaming video online (watching youtube mostly).

So if you are like me, expecting lots of devices connecting (in excess of more than 10), i would suggest getting a router with higher cpu clock rates or more cores.

So i am now on the hunt for a router with higher cpu clock rates and has more cores, to see if i can alleviate the issue of connection being laggy.

It would also help in your own selection criteria, to read up on some of the newer router features. Example like beam forming, MU-MIMO / SU-MIMO and etc. Those will help in choosing a right router for your home.

This post has been edited by Madgeiser: Mar 15 2018, 10:49 AM

Bro, I would recommend the TP Link Archer C3150 v2. Will definitely be more than enough for your entire household, plus the price is reasonable as well. See review here by bro Jjuggler: https://techmemasta.wordpress.com/2018/03/1...3150-v2-review/

Yes, that’ll work. Use the RB750Gr3 as the main router. Do all the heavy lifting here like bandwidth limiting if necessary. The WiFi APs can be anything. Use back the ones you have for sure. Of course I recommend Mikrotik for AP also but honestly any brand will do. hAP AC Lite is quite affordable, around RM250.

Currently I’m testing an Aztech FG7008GR. This thing has a few quirks but its performance is damn good. From the same spot where my hAP AC Lite, the Aztech beats it hands down in terms of signal and speed. It’s 2.4ghz 3x3 MIMO and 5ghz 4x4 MU-MIMO. In other words AC2400. Just not sure about stability. Will need more time to determine that. More info here: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4543383

This post has been edited by soonwai: Mar 15 2018, 07:11 PM

Do you mean by hAP ac lite RB952Ui, how's the WiFi coverage? 2 storey house should be fine right

Hard to say because WiFi depends a lot on your house’s layout, materials and neighbour interference.
hAP ac Lite: Low power. Only single chain 5GHz. It barely covers my entire house with 2.4GHz.
hAP ac2: Latest. High power. Dual chain 2.4 & 5GHz but not available here yet. This looks good. Even the CPU, at least on paper, is as good as the hEX.
hAP ac: CPU not as strong as the ac2. High power and triple chain for both 2.4 & 5GHz.

So I think, if you’re looking for an AIO, the hAP ac2 might be the better bet.

In my house, 20x70, double storey, brick walls, my old RB2011 is sufficient to cover the whole house with 2.4GHz. I use the hAP ac Lite mainly for the 5GHz for my room upstairs which is also my office.

This post has been edited by soonwai: Mar 16 2018, 01:29 PM

But as you said, ac2 is still not available here right. Perhaps I'll wait for it for my House B

Thanks a lot soonwai!