apple 5th gen air.exp bge'd to wndr3800, adequate?

[adrianjt]

hoping for advice regarding current hardware setup.

kids (x4 all with phone & laptop) frequently complain internet is laggy.

Current setup is wndr3800 flashed with 1.11.0 as gateway & wired DHCP to (optus cable) CG3000 modem.

Most users (kids + Mum) seated in one large room adjacent to wndr3800, connecting wirelessly using 5ghz (or 2.4).

Wifi Analyser used select best bands.

QoS up+down enabled.
Users (who are not given admin rights by school to their laptops) forced to use opendns.
Gargoyle also used to impose time restrictions.

Ethernet from wndr to apple airport extreme 5th gen (bge mode) in my office, I use ethernet. My speeds mostly ok.

In an effort to boost internet speeds for kids will adding (via ethernet) something like airport extreme 6th gen or linksys AC1900 on the other side of the large study help much?

Any (other) advice greatly appreciated.

ps Can I also run a VPN?

Intending to migrate to nbn in 4-6 months

thanks
adrian

[ispyisail]

Turn off QOS for a test

I'm my experience poorly configured QOS is worse than turning it off.

There are so many variables you really need to isolate then one by one.

- Total internet speed
- Wifi issues
- Router CPU
- Torrents
- Virus
- etc etc

[fifonik]

I'd start with checking three main suspects:
- WAN (just check BW usage on gargoyle when they said something not good)
- Router CPU
- WiFi. wndr3800 is not the best for WiFi with many devices, imho

[adrianjt]

thanks for the advice & suggestions

it's often complaints about several second+ delay in pages loading. they have surface 4 that school maintain, ie i don't believe we have virus (i also run malware and bitdef. free on the macs)

As there are 7 laptops, a desktop, two 'smart' tvs, ipad, 7 phones, two printers, with at least 2/3 of that running wirelessly off the wndr3800, now, knowing that it is a bit slow, i will turn off wifi on it & offload most of that to airport extreme 6th gen (which I have not yet purchased but at <$100 seems like low cost upgrade and i like the simple interface. if not enough improvement will then look to update wndr 3800 and for any other bottlenecks

I will also monitor bw usage alot closer

thanks!
adrian

[adrianjt]

moved to new thread as subject not relevant... hope thats ok

Apple bad move. Still a bit of a crusty fanboi; se, ci, fx... wan/lan thruput is abysmal. I can see why they dropped the product.

Either, WRT1900acs, good, known, affordable or... (drum roll)...

WRT3200acm, extra $$ for sanity... probs worth $150-$200 over 2years, (B&H $370... not for sale in Oz?) tho doesnt seem to be in wide use, however some (very?) encouraging comments in a nearby thread... Would hate to brick it of course...

Could run more ethernet - keeps the kids tethered when watching vids & gaming I guess.

Any feedback on WRT3200acm greatly appreciated.

cheers
Adrian

[ispyisail]

I would look very close at your router CPU load

Overloaded CPU will cause all kinds of problems



I would recommend the wrt32x