Killer 1535 best wifi-router

Need a new wifi-router to match a killer 1535 card. I was think about a tp-link ac-1900 (c9). Has some really great reviews, especially the range which is very important. Noticed the killer card supports mu-mimo. What are your opinions on getting a router with mu-mimo ( Archer c2300 or Asus
RT-ACRH13
45 bucks on Amazon)? Don't understand how you can have a mu-mimo 2x2 1267 mbps but 5 GHz max 867mbps? Seems worthless to have the mu-mimo? What would you suggest? Need a stable connection supporting about 6 devices running at the same time with the best range possible.
Thank you

 

The Qualcomm QCA9984 based Netgear R7800 and Synology RT2600ac are probably the best performing devices in regards to 5Ghz performance/range.

The QCA9984 also coincidentally happens to have a proper working MU-MIMO implementation unlike Broadcom based models like for example the Netgear R8500, most Asus models and many others. It also supports HT160 for much higher bandwidth if you have an HT160 card like the Intel 9260ac also sometimes rebranded as the Killer 1550. On HT80 I get around 600-640 Mbps down in transfers from my NAS to laptop and with HT160 I get ~930 Mbps which is near Ethernet limit.

With the Netgear RAX80 (newer gen Broadcom chipset) router during tests using its USB port with my Samsung T5 SSD (basically allows you to bypass Ethernet limit) I could hit 1,120 Mbps in transfers to my laptop in HT160, 15ft away, one floor below the router.

Also MU makes no sense on a 3 antenna device as most clients have dual antennas and for two dual antenna devices to work in parallel you would need 4 antennas on the router. In standard operation a router switches between active clients one by one in a round robin fashion. When MU-capable clients are added (to a supporting router) it will split pairs of mu capape clients into groups and and connect to each pair simultaneously during the connection rotation. Also in the 802.11ac spec MU only works on downlink.

Ok now having said all that, all those above fancy features probably won’t be of much use to you. HT160 is nice if you have a NAS or gigabit internet and you do tons of transfers. As for MU-MIMO it won’t make too much of a difference unless you have tons of devices and that to if most of them support MU only then will it help. To use MU you need at least two MU clients and preferably a QCA9984 chipset based router with 4 antennas.

Now in practical terms and for an average user a decently priced 3 antenna router without MU like the Netgear R7000, Linksys WRT1900AC or Asus AC68U (AC66UB1 is the same router with different casing and much cheaper) will be fine. Or any similar models from other vendors. You will be just fine with gaming on those even if you are competitive.

Sometimes the R7800 can be found for ~$120-150 or so which is a decent price as well. Paying $200-300+ for a router may not be worth it as it’s for diminishing returns, unless you have some specific needs (ie link aggregation, PLEX server etc). I get the latest routers as I test for Netgear but as a consumer I wouldn’t pay more than $150-200 for a router.

 

The Netgear R7800 is my choice as well.

I bought a factory refurbished on Amazon about 18 months ago and it still works perfectly.

It's now paired with Killer 1550 wireless cards in a desktop and notebook.

Amazon currently lists a new R7800 at $159.95(US) while Newegg has it for $229.99

A new 3rd party seller on Amazon has it for $158.95(free shipping and no US tax)

I use Voxel's firmware.

 

I'd suggest getting the R7800, I got two (one with official firmware and one with OpenWRT) and they have fantastic coverage. One was bought brand new and the other one refurbished(Amazon) - both are still working great after a year from purchase.


What is your budget btw?

 

Thank you everyone fore the great information and advice. I just purchased a R7800.

 

Congrats! One of the best routers and easiest to configure out there. I have the Netgear Nighthawk X10 (R9000)

 

To get the best performance the R7800 should be paired with an Intel 9260 or a Killer 1550 wireless card in a notebook or desktop.

When first installing the R7800 you my get a prompt asking if you'd like for optimal settings to be selected for you;I suggest you do it.You can later tweak settings if needed.

Also try selecting a 5ghz channel between 36 and 48.Use a program like inSSIDer(free version) to find best(least used) channel.

The newest Intel driver v20.100.0.4 works well if you install a 9260(1550).

Using Cloudflare DNS IP4 and IP6 addresses also helps but you may need to do a dns speed test if your area does not work with cloudflare..

My theoretical data link speed averages to about 1300 Mbps

 

I can say, with some experience on the matter, that just about any router will work fine, except for TP- Link. I don't know what the difference is in their firmware or their implementation of some of the same radio chips that other brands use, but TP-Link is, by far, the problematic brand. That's not to say that the vast majority of TP-Link routers don't work fine with our devices, because they do. Even the ones that used to crash when some Wi-Fi adapters connected to them have been fixed with recent firmware. But if a user tells me that they are having mysterious issues with throughput just stopping, or only certain devices connecting but not being able to access the Internet, and swapping the router fixes it, it's almost always either an ISP-owned device, which was probably in three house fires and a flood, or a TP-Link router. It also never fails that if I Google that issue with that model of router, our name only rarely comes up, if it comes up at all, which tells me it's not a compatibility issue.

-- Anthony with Killer Networking

 

Had a TP-Link range extender before, worked like crap. Never touching that brand again.

 

Just got the r7800 up and running. This thing is amazing! Blows my old tp-link c2600 away. Never knew what a bottleneck my old routers have been. Even the iPad loads up instantly! Could not be happier. Thank you for the excellent advice.

 

Thanks. I will be changing my TP-Link router tomorrow.

 

Glad to hear you are happy with the recommended purchase.

With the R7800 and Killer 1550 using
Voxel's R7800 firmware
5ghz channel 36
Intel Wireless driver 20.100.0.4
200 Mbps Spectrum Internet service
Cloudflare DNS

I was able to download the 81GB Destiny 2 game from Blizzard battlenet at up to 30 MB/s plus transfer files across devices on my home network between 80 MB/s and 105 MB/s.

 

I am using a Linksys WRT 32X flashed with OpenWRT LEDE without issues with the same Wireless card.