Reliable well performing router for a small office
June 16, 2015 9:34 AM Subscribe
Can you recommend a reliable router for a small office (25 people)?
We have a 50mbit connection to the office and the current router frequently requires a restart. It's it's a high end home router from a few years ago when there fewer people here. With every person frequently having two or more devices the current router just can't handle it anymore.
We're reasonably technically competent but not network admins. Our requirements are modest:
In this category I found:
We have a 50mbit connection to the office and the current router frequently requires a restart. It's it's a high end home router from a few years ago when there fewer people here. With every person frequently having two or more devices the current router just can't handle it anymore.
We're reasonably technically competent but not network admins. Our requirements are modest:
- beefy enough to handle 50-100 devices.
- good wireless support (802.11acn). Office is small enough to be covered by one AP.
- VPN support.
- port forwarding.
In this category I found:
- Mikrotik -- highly rated but missing all in one solution for wireless.
- Ubiquiti -- also comes positively rated but perhaps missing a good UI for configuration.
Ubiquity has awesome performance and specs but they are hard to program. Unless you specialize in this brand or make it your hobby I cannot recommend this router to you. There is no customer support other than a forum that is rather snarky to the non initiated ones...
I really like Peplink routers they are rock solid, very easy to manage and have awesome customer support.
There are tons of other routers on the market that have better spec's and bloggers rave about. But when it comes down to daily operations and reliability. You need stability, ease of use and a real human (US based...) who you can talk to if you need help.
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:15 AM on June 16, 2015
I really like Peplink routers they are rock solid, very easy to manage and have awesome customer support.
There are tons of other routers on the market that have better spec's and bloggers rave about. But when it comes down to daily operations and reliability. You need stability, ease of use and a real human (US based...) who you can talk to if you need help.
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:15 AM on June 16, 2015
Don't try to put all 50 - 100 devices on one WiFi network!
Hard wire as much as possible.
Whatever the spec's stay about how manny clients can be simultaneously connected, cut that number in half and consider it the absolute maximum.
Also being connected doesn't mean that the devices actually communicate. Most WiFi ap's can only handle 1 max 4 simultaneous connections. This means that others have to wait for their turn resulting in a poor user experience.
If needed you are better off installing multiple smaller WiFi AP's with limited range so only a few devices are connected to it. Make sure you spread the channels. Perhaps even turn off the 2.4 ghz band. 5Ghz had less range but more channels.
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:28 AM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hard wire as much as possible.
Whatever the spec's stay about how manny clients can be simultaneously connected, cut that number in half and consider it the absolute maximum.
Also being connected doesn't mean that the devices actually communicate. Most WiFi ap's can only handle 1 max 4 simultaneous connections. This means that others have to wait for their turn resulting in a poor user experience.
If needed you are better off installing multiple smaller WiFi AP's with limited range so only a few devices are connected to it. Make sure you spread the channels. Perhaps even turn off the 2.4 ghz band. 5Ghz had less range but more channels.
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:28 AM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sonicwall TZ 215.
Provides all of the things you are looking for, including VPN and Wi-Fi. They are now owned by Dell, though. There are also licensing costs for additional features.
posted by daq at 2:54 PM on June 16, 2015
Provides all of the things you are looking for, including VPN and Wi-Fi. They are now owned by Dell, though. There are also licensing costs for additional features.
posted by daq at 2:54 PM on June 16, 2015
I have a mikrotik wireless router at home, and I think it will do everything you need. It's been rock solid the two years I've had it.
The only caveat is that it's a little complicated to configure.
posted by Adamsmasher at 5:43 PM on June 16, 2015
The only caveat is that it's a little complicated to configure.
posted by Adamsmasher at 5:43 PM on June 16, 2015
I really like sonicwall, but their in-built wifi on the TZ series routers is SO BAD. I've had two different models at the last place i admined at, and it was a nightmare of going back and forth with their support who was convinced there were too many clients(under 40, usually under 20) or the config was wrong and sent me an avalanche of RMA units that always had flaky locking up wifi. It will seriously become unusable within hours if you have more than say, 5 people using it.
The solution that ended up being bulletproof rock solid and not even screwing up a single time ended up being the cheapest sonicwall for DPI firewall/routing functions, and the cheapest decently specced ubiquiti access point(unifi)
Ubiquiti makes good stuff but their support is goddamn useless. Sonicwall makes good stuff and has good support but their wifi is garbage(unless you buy their "sonicpoint" AP, which it always felt like they're just trying to upsell you to even in the software). The sonicwall software is reasonably easy to config and well documented, and the ubiquiti APs are pretty much set it and forget it. You'll probably get 90% of where you need to go with the included wizards on the sonicwall, and the unifi setup is about that simple too.
It irked me that i ended up needing two devices, but meh. It really can handle 50 concurrent people with solid non-laggy performance though which is impressive.
And yea, hardware outlay will be... $700?
posted by emptythought at 4:27 AM on June 17, 2015
The solution that ended up being bulletproof rock solid and not even screwing up a single time ended up being the cheapest sonicwall for DPI firewall/routing functions, and the cheapest decently specced ubiquiti access point(unifi)
Ubiquiti makes good stuff but their support is goddamn useless. Sonicwall makes good stuff and has good support but their wifi is garbage(unless you buy their "sonicpoint" AP, which it always felt like they're just trying to upsell you to even in the software). The sonicwall software is reasonably easy to config and well documented, and the ubiquiti APs are pretty much set it and forget it. You'll probably get 90% of where you need to go with the included wizards on the sonicwall, and the unifi setup is about that simple too.
It irked me that i ended up needing two devices, but meh. It really can handle 50 concurrent people with solid non-laggy performance though which is impressive.
And yea, hardware outlay will be... $700?
posted by emptythought at 4:27 AM on June 17, 2015
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It's very likely you'd be better off with separate wireless access points and a router, and probably would be better off using more than one wireless access point. Our Airport Extreme has a 50 user limit, and that's probably on the high side of what will achieve good performance.
If I were designing a network with your requirements I would buy something like the Edgerouter, and then at least 3 WiFi access points scattered throughout the office.
posted by doomsey at 9:49 AM on June 16, 2015