nbn HFC Router Upgrade under $200 That Is Good for 3 Concurrent Gaming Devices

pingas123 on 03/11/2022 - 11:11
Last edited 03/11/2022 - 12:01 by 1 other user

Hi, I am looking for a router to replace my family's crappy Sagecom F@St 5366 TN. We are a family of 5 and 3 of us game concurrently (2 PCs, 1 PS4) and parents usually stream Netflix or so from time to time.

We live in a half of a duplex that was built in 2005, and Sagecom has a decent coverage over the house with some blindspots, especially upstairs.

Looking to replace the Sagecom as the ones gaming including myself complain about ping spikes and everyone suffers through disconnects, especially in the hotter months.

House is running NBN HFC 100/20 and the modem is in a weird spot so can't move things around freely + no ethernet ports only Telstra phone ports.

Thinking about buying the ASUS RT-AC68U but I am not sure if it's still good in 2022 and if I should buy a newer model. Plus I would like to see if could install Merlin (if it's even worth installing for my needs) because I like the customisation options. ASUS routers just seem reliable and more customisable compared to what I've seen with Netgear and TP-Link.

Would any router with good QoS features do the trick? Or is it just Optus being Optus in my area? I am very tech literate but I am not super well versed with networking, so hit me with your best explanations.

FYI, my computer is directly connected to Sagecom via ethernet and I still experience spikes from time to time, and whenever someone is downloading a large file, my ping just tanks very hard.
Plus, one PC is running with a Wifi 6 PCIE network adapter so while a Wifi 6 router would be appreciated, it's not mandatory as I am pretty sure that PC is the only device in the household with Wifi 6 capabilities

Appreciate your help and recommendations.

Computing Broadband HFC nbn Wireless Router

Comments

  • lordsnipe on 03/11/2022 - 11:53
    +1

    I don't have any hardware suggestions for you, but a router which supports OpenWRT and the SQM addon (https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/traffic-shaping/…) may help with ping spikes when your internet connection is congested.

    I just recently (yesterday) implemented a NanoPi R4S and put OpenWRT on it with SQM. Time will tell on how reliable it is. The NanoPi is probably not suitable for you as you require wireless.. which you also need to set up a separate wireless AP if you went the NanoPi route.

    As for ASUS reliability, my AC3100 has worked well although it dropped 2.4Ghz awhile ago, and seems to be a fairly common issue. It's now relegated being to 5Ghz wifi AP and a network switch for my study.

    Edit: Any router is supports CAKE QoS is the same as OpenWRT+SQM. Some ASUS routers with Merlin support CAKE but not all, so you may have to do some research.

    • pingas123 on 04/11/2022 - 15:05

      Hmm CAKE QoS.. How would I set that up according to gaming needs if the stock ASUS QoS already has a gaming setting?

      • lordsnipe on 05/11/2022 - 10:19
        +1

        I believe CAKE is only supported with Merlin with some of the supported ASUS routers, so stock ASUS QoS is likely something different.

      • lordsnipe on 05/11/2022 - 12:10
        +1

        https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat
        This tester may be useful in determine whether the stock QoS is doing the job you want it to do.

        My results with no SQM with 100/20 NBN HFC:
        Unloaded latency: 11ms
        Download active: +17ms
        Upload active: +5ms

        Download speed: 93.3 Mbps
        Upload speed: 16.7 Mbps

        My results after enabling and tuning SQM on my OpenWRT NanoPi R4S:
        Unloaded latency: 12ms
        Download active: +0ms
        Upload active: +0ms

        Download speed: 89.0 Mbps
        Upload speed: 16.6 Mbps

        • pingas123 on 05/11/2022 - 21:55

          So I ended up buying the RT-AX56U and installing Merlin on it. Prior to doing that I tried the bufferbloat test and got 13ms down and 3 up. Enabling it under Merlin and running the installer using the script in this GitHub Page and I get similar results. Could you help out with further setup for gaming? This whole area in networking is new to me and would like some guidance.

          Edit: I managed to get it working by adding my download and upload speeds and now I get 0ms up and down, however my download speed went from ~100 down to ~85 down.. I guess it worked?

          • lordsnipe on 09/11/2022 - 21:45

            @pingas123: Yep sounds like it .. enjoy! Hopefully the ping spikes for you are now gone.

  • scrimshaw on 03/11/2022 - 12:00
    +1

    I spotted the ASUS RT-AX56U for $169 (normally $200) on Amazon, it seems they are price matching Bing Lee.

    Cheap router that will do Wifi6 and support Merlin. You can price match it against JB Hi-Fi and use gift cards, if you have some.

    • pingas123 on 03/11/2022 - 12:04

      That's a good deal. How does it fair against the ASUS RT-AC68U? Plus it has only two Antennas, which I am worried about.. I should have mentioned this in the OP but how do I direct these antennae for optimum coverage and range?

      Plus the ASUS RT-AC68U has gone to ~$140 a few months ago on Amazon

      • scrimshaw on 03/11/2022 - 12:05

        ASUS RT-AC68U

        AC68U is Wifi5 since it's an older model.

        You could pay $247.03 for ASUS TUF Gaming AX5400. It's much beefier and has 6 antennae.

        If you are worried about range rather than absolute throughput (bandwidth) you should buy 2 AX56U and pair them together in AIMesh. This will eliminate deadspots in your house. Will cost you more obviously.

        Routers don't have to be the same model when using ASUS AiMesh— I was previously using AX88U paired with a DSL-68U (a much older ADSL modem router)

    • pingas123 on 03/11/2022 - 14:08

      Does JB Hi-Fi price match Amazon or were you referring to them price matching Bing Lee?

      • scrimshaw on 03/11/2022 - 14:15

        Sorry, I meant Amazon was price matching bing lee. However Bing Lee appears to be out of stock

        They do appear to have just one left on their ebay store. See if you can buy it — you can apply a coupon on it making it $154 (Free shipping with eBay Plus)

        https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/165296816714

        • pingas123 on 04/11/2022 - 15:46

          Really eyeing out the AX56U now with that deal + running a TP-Link router I found as an AP if need be.
          Thanks for posting the deal!

  • xdigger on 03/11/2022 - 19:02

    Anyone has any idea if the Google Nest router is any good for multiple gaming sessions on NBN HFC? Cheers.

  • orbz on 03/11/2022 - 20:03
    +1

    OP you could try a second hand Telstra Smart Modem Gen 2 from Gumtree etc.

    Why? (Based off my experience, NBN HFC non-Telstra):
    1. Cheap ($20-50)
    2. Reliable (have had long periods without restarts or significant WiFi problems)
    3. Good range (using it a double storey house, WiFi in the middle of ground floor). Reaches essentially every corner of the house, but naturally a bit weaker in the furthest spots, but internet still works reasonably well.
    4. I do not get ping spikes

    Aside from that not much significant customisability on this unit - plug and play.

  • pingas123 on 04/11/2022 - 15:08

    Does it have QoS settings for my gaming needs + low latency?

  • Void on 05/11/2022 - 13:59

    GL.iNet Flint? Has OpenWRT by default with access to the fully featured GUI.

    If you really want the absolute best you could run a pfSense box for ~$100 (Optiplex, Elitedesk, etc.) and then run it into a TP-Link EAP610 or Ubiquiti Unifi 6 Lite. But Wi-Fi AP prices have just been skyrocketing due to supply issues so I doubt you'll find one in your budget.

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