I just upgraded my internet to 250mbps/50mbps and I want a nice router to handle the ~8 devices I stream to in the house. I have a motorola MB86000 modem. i7-3770K CPU @3.5GHz 8GB RAM. (99% of my movie files are ~1GB in size .MKV). I have an average of 2 friends streaming from me in the evenings. My Computer and router is in a room separate from the main TV (Roku UHD) that streams by about 20 feet (more TV’s in other rooms farther but the little kids don’t care yet)
I had an ASUS Rt-N12D1 that showed an avg down speed of 99mpbs and up of 10mbps. (I am back to using this one until new purchase)
I bought the Netgear Nighthawk R7900P from costco 3 days ago that pinged at 299 down (forgot to write down up), but the PMS would not work remotely regardless of hours of tweaking, dancing, porting, and ultimately putting the B**** back in the box to return (Plex is my lifeblood- total deal breaker if I cant stream directly) it relayed my server and was slower than my old router-boo!
Summary: I would like advice on tried and true routers that will make my movie streaming maximize the new speeds available and give this mama a smile
I use a Netgear R7000 that I love. No idea why your later model didn’t work.
(But I’ve also modified the router with custom firmware - not required though - it should work with stock)
I had to upgrade both modem and router last year after going from 50/5 to 150/20. (I have same model modem you do).
If you’re not strong in the ways of networking geekdom, there are plenty here that might be able to help.
That Nighthawk is an excellent router.
I have one installed for my network and performs great.
Did you properly Port Forward your PMS in the router tables???
@jjrjr1 said:
That Nighthawk is an excellent router.
I have one installed for my network and performs great.
Did you properly Port Forward your PMS in the router tables???
oh yeah. double and triple checked it. Tried porting to 32400 and to a range as others had suggested. Reserved the IP address for just the plex server, double checked that it wasn’t double NAT, dmz’d IP address, static IP, sooooo many different tries- and all failing to enable remote access.
I did. That was the kicker. It would show my public IP but not the static IP that was reserved for the PC, so would not show the port. But I couldn’t seem to fix that. I followed both Plex’s guide to porting and 3 other walkthroughs that I could find and it wouldn’t change. But it DID stop my DHCP server. A few times actually. Which is super fun to try to figure out BTW. Personally feel setting a router should not be this hard. All my routers in the past have been virtually plug and play. GRRRRR sooo frustrated. If a router cost 200.00 why is all this tweaking required?
My router is an Asus RT-AC87U flashed with DD-WRT. I have never owned a better router.
It is quite possible that the DD-WRT firmware makes the router better and is part of what I like as there are some negative reports about the Asus RT-AC87U running stock firmware.
It is rock solid and I have never (in the year or so I have owned it) had to even reboot it to cure a problem. I do reboot it every two weeks or so just because that is part of my regular maintenance procedure. Everything on my network gets restarted it that maintenance cycle.
I do not use remote access but I do not see any reason why it would not work well. I have tested it just to be sure it works and it did work but I really share my library with no one outside my home so no long term testing has happened.
I stream only wired but the wireless devices I do have seem to never have problems. I just believe streaming is best done wired and I actually find comfort in wires running around the house, I do keep them off the floor.
The bottom line is that while there may be better routers than the Asus RT-AC87U out there I see no current need for any dubious improvements to my network.
@Elijah_Baley said:
My router is an Asus RT-AC87U flashed with DD-WRT. I have never owned a better router.
It is quite possible that the DD-WRT firmware makes the router better and is part of what I like as there are some negative reports about the Asus RT-AC87U running stock firmware.
It is rock solid and I have never (in the year or so I have owned it) had to even reboot it to cure a problem. I do reboot it every two weeks or so just because that is part of my regular maintenance procedure. Everything on my network gets restarted it that maintenance cycle.
I do not use remote access but I do not see any reason why it would not work well. I have tested it just to be sure it works and it did work but I really share my library with no one outside my home so no long term testing has happened.
I stream only wired but the wireless devices I do have seem to never have problems. I just believe streaming is best done wired and I actually find comfort in wires running around the house, I do keep them off the floor.
The bottom line is that while there may be better routers than the Asus RT-AC87U out there I see no current need for any dubious improvements to my network.
but when you go to settings on PMS does it show that remote streaming is enabled? I don’t want to get a router without knowing it would work for my needs. I agree that that router looks awesome, but I thought the nighthawk would be too and have been proven wrong.
@Elijah_Baley said:
My router is an Asus RT-AC87U flashed with DD-WRT. I have never owned a better router.
It is quite possible that the DD-WRT firmware makes the router better and is part of what I like as there are some negative reports about the Asus RT-AC87U running stock firmware.
It is rock solid and I have never (in the year or so I have owned it) had to even reboot it to cure a problem. I do reboot it every two weeks or so just because that is part of my regular maintenance procedure. Everything on my network gets restarted it that maintenance cycle.
I do not use remote access but I do not see any reason why it would not work well. I have tested it just to be sure it works and it did work but I really share my library with no one outside my home so no long term testing has happened.
I stream only wired but the wireless devices I do have seem to never have problems. I just believe streaming is best done wired and I actually find comfort in wires running around the house, I do keep them off the floor.
The bottom line is that while there may be better routers than the Asus RT-AC87U out there I see no current need for any dubious improvements to my network.
but when you go to settings on PMS does it show that remote streaming is enabled? I don’t want to get a router without knowing it would work for my needs. I agree that that router looks awesome, but I thought the nighthawk would be too and have been proven wrong.
It does if I turn it on which I did when I tested it. My test consisted of enabling remote access and having a friend in Kansas (I live in Tennessee) stream a movie. The streaming to him worked fine and after the test completed I disabled remote access.
I’ve a stock Asus RT-AC68U and it works great. No issues the few times I’ve streamed remotely. Most of my devices are wired, but the 68U provides very good coverage for the phones/tablets/etc that are wireless. No problems handling my 100/10 Internet service, nor the 300/30 I had previously.
You should be able to make things work with most any router, it’s just a matter of settings. If you think you have router setting issues I always recommend you revert to a DMZ setup and make sure everything else works. Once you get everything else working (eliminate other potential problems) you can then start to lock down the connection on the router.
That said, you couldn’t pay me to use a Netgear router. We used to send them out with demo equipment and had nothing but problems. I’ve used ASUS routers for years starting with the RT-N16. I now have a mix of RT-AC66 and RT-AC68. The stock firmware is solid but I do flash ASUSWRT-Merlin which is a branch of the stock firmware.
If you like to be a bit “risky” you can get refurbs of these routers on newegg for less than $100 (keep your eyes on them and watch the prices change). I’ve used the refurbs without issue, YMMV.
I cover a large 2 story home with two of these (one on each floor and one in AP mode) and a detached workshop with a third (also in AP mode). They just work…
I’ve got external access working through double NAT via my FIOS router and my AC68. If you haven’t assigned a fixed IP addresses for your Plex server, make sure you do that. It will simplify a lot.
I did. That was the kicker. It would show my public IP but not the static IP that was reserved for the PC, so would not show the port. But I couldn’t seem to fix that. I followed both Plex’s guide to porting and 3 other walkthroughs that I could find and it wouldn’t change. But it DID stop my DHCP server. A few times actually. Which is super fun to try to figure out BTW. Personally feel setting a router should not be this hard. All my routers in the past have been virtually plug and play. GRRRRR sooo frustrated. If a router cost 200.00 why is all this tweaking required?
I don’t understand the bolded comment above? Canyouseeme.com will show you if the port is open on your public address. That is all. It cannot (and should never be able) to see your private address of your Plex server.
I personally use an old Linksys 1900AC and it works perfectly (even with my gigabit internet upgrade I got a few months ago).
Well we have different experiences (About 180 Out).
With this info it’s tough to make a choice… LOL
I have heard however, that the Asus routers are also outstanding. I have no personal experience with them.
I do however have experience with Linksys and those belong in the trash can IMO…
With all that said, PMS issues have never been exacerbated by the router. (Except for a TimeWarner Combo modem router which TWC deliberately modified the firmware to make it useless.)
To each his own. I gave up and now use the provided router the cable company leases out. Just some things I loose the fight for… But for the most part I’m happy. The WiFi could be a little better but all-in-all it’s good. Does it’s job.
@NewPlaza
Really??
Your ISP supplied router works better than your Nighthawk??
Surprising… Wish I had your cable company.
Time Warner uses Technicolor Modem/Routers and they deliberately had the firmware modified to prevent Port Forwarding and disable the USB port. This also included the user purchased TWC certified modem/router.
I learned this lesson the hard way (Very expensive lesson… LOL)
Thank you all for your input I put an order in for the ASUS- since I’ve had good experience with em in the past
update: Modem arrived and truly plug and play!! Decided to continue to use the port function for remote streaming and that went smooth as butter as well Much better experience than the nighthawk!!!
I put an order in for the ASUS- since I’ve had good experience with em in the past 