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Question

Dual Band Wi-Fi Router for 1600+ Sq ft House under $100

Aug 25, 2015 11:32AM PDT

Hi,
I need to buy a Dual Band WiFi router that catches throughout my house.

I will need good signal strength through 2 floors of 1600 Sq Ft each. The Router will be centrally located on the lower floor but there are a number of thick walls in my house.
I also use my Router's Network to Stream HD Movies locally to my Chromecast so I prefer a GigaBit Router.
USB Ports are an added bonus for me and will be helpful.
Please suggest which Router I should buy to completely fulfill these requirements.
The ideal budget is lower than 100$...

If the budget is not large enough for the criteria, I can also consider buying a router that would work on 1 floor only but I need very good Signal Strength over 1600sqft with couple of thick walls here and there.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
I would never suggest any for this.
Aug 25, 2015 6:14PM PDT

The issue is that you can never be sure of coverage based on the router alone. It's placement, absorption and more sets the coverage. All routers use the highest output legally possible so there is no router that is stronger than the next.

What router do you have now? Maybe we can improve it.

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I have a D-Link 2750U Router + Modem...
Aug 26, 2015 10:42AM PDT

Have a Dlink 2750U Router + Modem..
Also have 2 access points set up..

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That's 3 WiFi hotspots. Can be messy. Why?
Aug 26, 2015 10:58AM PDT

Let's get a look at 802.11n 40MHz OFDM. Here's the picture.


This means that you are going to get overlap with 3 such spots in the same home. Look and see what happens when you pull those back to 802.11g and use three channels. No more overlap and possible garbling the other hotspot's packets.

I'd do that before I buy more gear.