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rax200 vs rax120 vs rax 80 vs rax75
Someone please help me pick one that is best for my home. I will have about 15 devices connected in a two story house as well as outdoor cameras, streaming 4k movies and xbox live gameplay., Thank you in advance.
I always prefer to go overkill but we can't tell you which one to pick. Basically you need to determine what exactly you need based upon:
1.House size
2. House materials.
3. Type of devices connected
4. amount of devices connected
5. Budget. Sad but has to be said.
6. Goal. If you want the fastest absolute speed on a single device, a single router is great. if you want the best overall coverage over the whole house, mesh network might be a better choice.
You can go to the router page and there's options on the left that let you filter the results.
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/default.aspx
4 Replies
I always prefer to go overkill but we can't tell you which one to pick. Basically you need to determine what exactly you need based upon:
1.House size
2. House materials.
3. Type of devices connected
4. amount of devices connected
5. Budget. Sad but has to be said.
6. Goal. If you want the fastest absolute speed on a single device, a single router is great. if you want the best overall coverage over the whole house, mesh network might be a better choice.
You can go to the router page and there's options on the left that let you filter the results.
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/default.aspx
1.House size- 2000sq ft
2. House materials.-Sheet Rock inside/Brick Vinyl Siding outside
3. Type of devices connected-6 TVs, 7 smart speakers, xbox console, 2 DVRs, 6 Media Streamers, 1 Thermostat, 5 Cameras
4. amount of devices connected- See # 3
5. Budget. Sad but has to be said.-Willing to pay whatever to get bes/fastest per device
6. Goal. - Connect 1 Xbox, 1 TV and 1media streamer via CAT 8 and other devices via WIFI
1.Is the 2000sqft all one level?
2.Sheetrock/wood is mostly ideal. hvac and foil lined insulation can cause dead spots.
3. thats a lot of smart tv's to be connected over wifi. Gaming and streaming is going to be your biggest resource users
4. again, thats a lot of streaming devices
5 &6. best/fastest can be 2 different things. I've got a RAX200 but for my wifi I use my orbi setup. The RAX is fastest but what use is 400-600mbps on my phone or tv? 20-40mbps is good for most 4k devices if its a reliable signal. I use the RAX as the primary router and use Orbi as my wifi as it provides more coverage over my house and less dead spots. My house is 3200 sqft total.
Plus I don't currently have any wireless AX devices so the only benefit I get is from wireless AX is its concurrent broadcasting.
Basically I'm stating that every usage case is different. If a single router solution is ideal for you, go that route. As much as I think the RAX devices are great, I think in 6-12 months, they'll be even better with firmware updates. The wireless AX routers don't provide a whole lot more range so if your current router is broadcasting far enough with high enough bandwidth for a single device, the RAX devices should be fine. If you're struggling with dead spots or going far enough, then a mesh solution might be best.
Only other thing to add is if budget truly isn't a problem, orbi is releasing a wireless AX solution. It isn't on the market yet but its an option.