Looking for a new router

[shadowdr]

I currently have a linksys EA 4500. It is fairly old even when I got it but now the ports are not running full speed. I currently only have three wired connections, one to my computer and one for the Nvidia sheild and the last to an Amazon firestick box. I have been getting stutters to my Nvidia getting speeds locked to 60 mbps or slower. I have been assuming that the player was capped as the Wifi was about the same if unplugged. This has been going on for awhile and I seem to have lost my 30 foot cat wire. Don't know why but it just didn't occur to me to just change to another port on the router but I did and I got 280+ mbps. I speedtest the computer and it seems to throttle at 230 mbps. I guess the ports are just wonky and the whole this is probably on it's way out. I need some suggestions on a new one so I don't make the same mistake again. I don't need expensive or powerful, just good enough to run my wired and phones printer and TV's from wifi. I also would like if it were not a complicated setup or program to navigate. I only get 300 mbps from my provider but I would like that on all the wired ports. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Janus67]

When I do research for routers I tend to check out small net builder, they do pretty in-depth reviews of them

 

[EarthDog]

I need some suggestions on a new one so I don't make the same mistake again.

What mistake did you make? It just seems like your router is dieing... it happens.

 

[shadowdr]

What mistake did you make? It just seems like your router is dieing... it happens.

Almost all the reviews are from 2011 or 2012 and I am guessing there has been some improvements since then. I can't say for sure but I think that the cap on that port was there when I first replaced it. I tried for what seemed like forever to find out what was wrong with the TV box and could never find any threads that had similar problems anywhere. It may or may not be dying because I know it has been going on a long time and I was not aware that all the ports seem to have a different cap.

Post magically merged: Apr 16, 2022

When I do research for routers I tend to check out small net builder, they do pretty in-depth reviews of them

Thanks, I will give it a browse but I am not sure it will help as it will probably be over my head.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

I have a D-Link DIR-880L Wireless AC1900 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud Router that I use, been running great, not hard to setup.
Also it is a good idea to power down for a few sec then power back on to clear any glitches about once a month.

 

[EarthDog]

For thr most part, any will do for the uses you stated. Any modern router has at least 1GbE ports which is way faster than your internet. I've run asus routers over the years and they are easy to setup, but nothing wrong with a mid-grade linksys/netgear/tp link. Just be sure the ports are at least GbE and it has wifi 6.

Worth noting, your current router appears to have 4x GbE ports so they should all be running the same speed....sure it's not crapping out?

Also it is a good idea to power down for a few sec then power back on to clear any glitches about once a month.

I can't say this has ever been necessary in my experience. If an outage doesn't reset it, I've run for months(at least on these asus routers I've owned) without hiccups.

 

[shadowdr]

For thr most part, any will do for the uses you stated. Any modern router has at least 1GbE ports which is way faster than your internet. I've run asus routers over the years and they are easy to setup, but nothing wrong with a mid-grade linksys/netgear/tp link. Just be sure the ports are at least GbE and it has wifi 6.

Worth noting, your current router appears to have 4x GbE ports so they should all be running the same speed....sure it's not crapping out?


I can't say this has ever been necessary in my experience. If an outage doesn't reset it, I've run for months(at least on these asus routers I've owned) without hiccups.

I guess it could be but I have had the same issue of the 60 mbps cap for at least two years. The kids were still here and I had two different wired connections adding our bedroom about the time and disconnecting the front bedroom. Seems like every time I would change the connections I would do a search for capped speeds and never found anyone else having the same issue.

 

[EarthDog]

Maybe it's been 'broken' for two years? Not sure what to say...

But your current router has GbE ports and you should be getting the full bandwidth out of them. Have you updated the firmware on your router? I'm assuming you powered if off/on?

 

[shadowdr]

Maybe it's been 'broken' for two years? Not sure what to say...

But your current router has GbE ports and you should be getting the full bandwidth out of them. Have you updated the firmware on your router? I'm assuming you powered if off/on?

There was never any firmware updates as the router was already a reuse of older tech. For a good while I could net even access the web based page after IE was replaced with edge. I ended up ordering the TP link AX 1800 AX21 based solely on price and reviews. It does use a quad core processor and if I could abide the router I have for so long it will be heads above the tech of the older one.

 

[EarthDog]

Awesome!

Post some pics up when you get it and share your experience setting it up!

Are you using your ISP's modem or your own? Regardless it supports the bandwidth of your ISP, right? In networking, like many things, it's only as fast as your slowest part.

EDIT: For giggles, I searched your router and found its firmware update page. Last one was from 2017. Not sure if you're on that one. If not, it may be worth a shot to upgrade it. Maybe if that returns the functionality it can be a backup or access point to the new router.

Linksys | Networking & WiFi Technology

Experience fast, reliable, secure and easy to use WiFi when you level up with connectivity solutions made for home, business, and enterprise from Linksys.

www.linksys.com

Firmware
Ver. 3.1.7 (Build 181919)
Latest Date: 7/12/2017
Download 16.0 MB

 

[shadowdr]

Awesome!

Post some pics up when you get it and share your experience setting it up!

Are you using your ISP's modem or your own? Regardless it supports the bandwidth of your ISP, right? In networking, like many things, it's only as fast as your slowest part.

EDIT: For giggles, I searched your router and found its firmware update page. Last one was from 2017. Not sure if you're on that one. If not, it may be worth a shot to upgrade it. Maybe if that returns the functionality it can be a backup or access point to the new router.

Linksys | Networking & WiFi Technology

Experience fast, reliable, secure and easy to use WiFi when you level up with connectivity solutions made for home, business, and enterprise from Linksys.

www.linksys.com

Firmware
Ver. 3.1.7 (Build 181919)
Latest Date: 7/12/2017
Download 16.0 MB

I can always keep it as a backup just in case, I have had lightning come in on the cable line. Fried all the network cards on the other computers and killed the Intel network on this mobo, fortunately it also had another Gigabyte network plug. I do own my own modem and it is not very old and supports all the speed that I get as my subscription is only 300 mbps. I checked the site and my router came with the latest update for my version 1. I will try and remember to take some pic's but network is not anything I ever needed to know before. Hopefully it is a stupid proof setup and I'll be good.