ChiefsPlanet - Misc I'm going to stab Comcast in the face...

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I'm going to stab Comcast in the face... (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=332241)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie (Post 15101419)

Have you guys noticed the need to make your ISP switch your router out every so often? I wonder what type of life those things have until they started to act wonky. I've noticed lately my router (I'm a dumbass and rent it from them) goes down way to often. It's about 3 years old now.

I would say 4-5 years is the life of one purchased from your ISP. Planned obsolescence? With Century link, they were a 5 year switch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by displacedinMN (Post 15101469)

I would say 4-5 years is the life of one purchased from your ISP. Planned obsolescence? With Century link, they were a 5 year switch.

Wow, that's really good.

I went through wireless routers every 18 months (or less) for more than a decade until I switched to Ubiquiti.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 15101481)

Wow, that's really good.

I went through wireless routers every 18 months (or less) for more than a decade until I switched to Ubiquiti.

Exactly. The only way to avoid swapping out routers twice every 4 years or so is to go with a prosumer setup. Ubiquiti is great.

Of course, now that we have AX and 6Ghz bands coming, everybody is going to be obsolete for a bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie (Post 15101419)

I wouldn't ever use an ISP router. They're almost always inferior to what you can buy yourself in terms of both performance and security and they're often quite a bit more expensive.

That being said, consumer routers fail a lot more often than you'd think. Power supplies especially tend to start failing after 2-3 years, whether you're talking about Netgear, Linksys, or any of those. The resulting voltage fluctuations cause all kinds of weird symptoms on the router - wireless drops, random reboots, interfaces going down and coming back up.

The other issue with most consumer routers is that the companies only update firmware for a couple of years at most. Some of the bigger name companies have been known to stop updating after just ONE YEAR. Not only is that not good for advanced performance and stability but it's a huge security issue.

Right now, the strongest recommendation I can give for somebody that doesn't want to dive into a higher-cost prosumer solution is to get something like Asus and look for 3rd party firmware - I use RMerlin which is built on the original Asus codebase but with newer binaries, which makes it more secure and stable. Plus Merlin has been supporting his codebase for a long time, it's not inconceivable for him to support some router lines for 6 or more years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 15101619)

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Really there is no excuse for me not to have a top of the line router. My shitty router cost me a $1500 pot the other day when it inadvertently went down on me at 3am although that could just be shitty internet service but no reports of outages. It's been happening more and more frequently, although still rather infrequent.

I also sometimes have issues with one of my devices not being able to connect to the internet but every other one will be able to. Then 1 hr later it connects just fine and it happens to another device. Still infrequent but it happens enough for it to be a headache. Maybe that is a troubleshooting thing but I just want the router once it's set up to not have to worry about it.

I think one of the selling points of the router is it allows me to get this "bundle" from my ISP & TV provider. Part of the deal is I have to rent the router. I guess I could rent it and just not use it ROFL

Just be prepared, at least if you have Comcast if you have any issue at all and you use your own equipment, they will blame your equipment every single time, it will always be your fault.

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 15101610)

Exactly. The only way to avoid swapping out routers twice every 4 years or so is to go with a prosumer setup. Ubiquiti is great.

I was burning through Linksys, Netgear and TP-Link modems every 12-16 months and the overall performance was always sub-standard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 15101610)

I've been using AmpliFi for a couple years and have been very happy with them. Other than occasionally restarting the access points, no issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider (Post 15102897)

I've been using AmpliFi for a couple years and have been very happy with them. Other than occasionally restarting the access points, no issues.

I check for Firmware updates every quarter, which as you probably know, can be managed from an iOS or Android app, which is incredibly convenient.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 15102912)

I check for Firmware updates every quarter, which as you probably know, can be managed from an iOS or Android app, which is incredibly convenient.

On Amplifi, I don't even have to do that. They push the firmware updates out as they are ready. Just get a notification that one is available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider (Post 15102954)

On Amplifi, I don't even have to do that. They push the firmware updates out as they are ready. Just get a notification that one is available.

Wow, that's cool! It sounds like your model is newer than the Amplifi model I have from 2016.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 15102989)

Wow, that's cool! It sounds like your model is newer than the Amplifi model I have from 2016.

I bought mine in 2018.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider (Post 15103017)

I bought mine in 2018.

Yeah, I figured that was it. Thanks!

:thumb:

Quote:

Originally Posted by htismaqe (Post 15101619)

I wouldn't ever use an ISP router. They're almost always inferior to what you can buy yourself in terms of both performance and security and they're often quite a bit more expensive.

Meet The XB7
Billed as a third-generation gateway, which carries the model designation of CGM4331COM, the XB7 supports dual-band 802.11ax (WiFi 6) and is equipped with four Gigabit Ethernet ports, two telephone ports and MoCA 2.0, a coax-based home networking platform that handles data speeds up to 1 Gbit/s

That being said, consumer routers fail a lot more often than you'd think. Power supplies especially tend to start failing after 2-3 years, whether you're talking about Netgear, Linksys, or any of those. The resulting voltage fluctuations cause all kinds of weird symptoms on the router - wireless drops, random reboots, interfaces going down and coming back up.

The other issue with most consumer routers is that the companies only update firmware for a couple of years at most. Some of the bigger name companies have been known to stop updating after just ONE YEAR. Not only is that not good for advanced performance and stability but it's a huge security issue.

Right now, the strongest recommendation I can give for somebody that doesn't want to dive into a higher-cost prosumer solution is to get something like Asus and look for 3rd party firmware - I use RMerlin which is built on the original Asus codebase but with newer binaries, which makes it more secure and stable. Plus Merlin has been supporting his codebase for a long time, it's not inconceivable for him to support some router lines for 6 or more years.

I use a old Netgear C-7000 is a few years old (intro'ed 2015) and has been updated 33 times. Never had an issue.

Any AC to DC power adapter should be swapped out when tests bad or has fluctuating voltage when tested. I have a device to test which I use for phone chargers that cost about $20

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider (Post 15102954)

On Amplifi, I don't even have to do that. They push the firmware updates out as they are ready. Just get a notification that one is available.

Most manufacturers do that actually, even the cheap ones. The thing is, it's not always a good thing. Many times new firmware fixes old bugs but introduces new ones.