I'm very happy with the eero APs I got a few months ago. Super simple to set up, auto-adjusting, auto-updating, auto-meshing. We have a big house and a lot of neighbor interference, and these are the first APs I've ever had that "just work".

The problem is most of the router companies have now locked down their update mechanisms on newer hardware, per FCC request... (the FCC wanted to prevent bumping the wattage, but easiest path was to lockdown updates).

Asus was really nice for a while, one of the more open mfg's, my AC3200 unfortunately came out after the lockdown, and is unsupported... would love to get back to tomato-usb or similar.

Anyone know how Eero is?

I have owned three consumer routers the last three years, all of which required a reboot every few days in order to stay responsive. My problem with consumer routers isn't speed, easy of setup or need for mesh networking, but reliability.

I currently have a rock-solid Mikrotik hAP ac lite [1], which has not been rebooted once since I installed it in February. However, it only has an internal antenna, and devices in another room are constantly dropping out, so I'm considering something else, if I can retain the reliability.

[1] https://routerboard.com/RB952Ui-5ac2nD

Option 4: Use Ruckus equipment. I plan to switch from Ubiquiti equipment to Ruckus equipment because I was able to purchase a used Ruckus Zoneflex 7982 off eBay for $90 and I understand that it would allow me to use only 1 AP where I currently use 2.

Option 4: Ubiquiti now has their own consumer mesh networking router/AP called AmpliFi (https://www.amplifi.com).

Why bother? My ISP gives me a decent router with built-in wifi. The wifi is N, but I wanted AC, so I bought a Netgear and put it in access point mode. Took all of 30 seconds.

If you don't trust your ISP provided firewall/router then you probably have bigger problems. Both big ISPs in my area offer to turn the router into a bridge-mode device I can plug into a box running pfsense if I desire it, but frankly, that sounds like a PITA. Their routers work well enough. I think going forward we will just buy access point, not routers. The router problem has been solved for a long time.

>Abandon all consumer grade gear. Just get Ubiquity stuff.

I'd argue Ubiquity is really consumer stuff, just small business friendly. Their performance, price, stability, etc isn't that much better than a Netgear in access point mode. They just have a java-based controller which is handy for managing multiple AP's. Inside, they're kinda crappy.

>Google just released their routers (like last week), which support automatic mesh networking when you use multiple.

Google wifi is actually a latecomer. You can get residential friendlier Ubiquity-style solutions via Orbi or Eero, which is what Google is copying here. I believe Google's 3-pack beats both on price currently.

edit: modems and routers are completely different cases/devices and performance/stability are different than money saving. Regardless, my ISP doesn't charge me for my modem, so there's no incentive for me to buy my own.

After I had fiber installed at my grandmother's apartment in Shanghai, I found a backdoor in router that China Telecom provided. It was similar with Verizon in the US where they have your wifi password and remote access for various things. Then there was Cablevision that turned every router that they provided to people in my area into an access point without permission. Beyond having creepy backdoors, ISP provided routers are junk. There is no good reason to use them.

As for Ubiquiti being consumer grade, it is like an Intel Xeon E3. It is the same chip that is used in consumer stuff with enhancements for reliability. For instance, Ubiquiti equipment supports grounding via STP Ethernet. It generally supports some variant of PoE and is meant to be mounted on walls and ceilings. There are even outdoor models. It also does not require a reboot on every change. In addition, there is a team of engineers working on making the firmware better and their customers are able to report problems to them. Then there are firmware features like VLANs, policy based routing, BGP, ping watch dogs and other things not found in stock firmware of consumer grade equipment.

> Then there was Cablevision that turned every router that they provided to people in my area into an access point without permission.

Comcast does this as well - if you are leasing the Comcast modem then you are putting out a pair of APs. One of them is a public Comcast hotspot. I think you can request that it be turned off however.

It is probably better in the long term to just buy your own modem, router, switch and AP. ISP provided equipment is always subpar in comparison to what you can buy from Newegg and all in one units are bad in general.

Absolutely - I think Comcast charges like $10-15 per month for the privilege of polluting my airwaves with their access point. You can pick up one of their "approved" modems off eBay for like $50, so it pays off in a handful of months. You tell them some hardware ID number, either a MAC address or same idea, and they can auto-provision it for you. Takes literally 5 minutes and you're online.

Right now I have a Cisco DPC3008, which I can't really complain about. I have a Buffalo Airstation Extreme 1900, which has been good so far apart from its minute-long reboot times. I thought I was getting a DD-WRT router though, didn't realize the standard version did not have a supported DD-WRT build.

I have to admit though - when a contractor ripped out the sidewalks and took out my cable, I was glad that my neighbors were running the hotspot. Took almost 3 weeks to get back online.

This.

In Germany, Kabel Deutschland can and does regularly update your cable modem remotely. There's a even a list of "censored websites" pushed down to your own router. They provide a Fritzbox but it's slightly more locked down (feature-wise) than normal so you can't even use it to a full potential.

I bought an Airport and stuck it behind it to at least isolate our home network from this backdoored mess. Good to know that Ubiquity provide a reasonable replacement.

FWIW, your cable modem downloads a configuration file from the ISP every time it boots up. That's just how DOCSIS works.

You're probably paying a monthly rental fee for the router/modem from your ISP. There's a good chance you'll save money in ~12 months or so if you buy instead of rent.

I used to get charged $10 a month for router/modem. Owned my cable modem now for 4 years with no problems and my router for 3. They have more than paid for themselves.

It's not that I don't trust my ISP provided router/modem combo - it's that it was a pile of crap. They almost all are!

Bought my own modem + router and saw my speeds go from ~40mbs to 120+mbs. Upload speed also saw a similar scale increase.