Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

goffredo

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 28, 2009
38
5
I'm seeking recommendations for a new WiFi router, to replace my venerable Linksys WRT3200ACM. That's the last router I bought, and boy, things have sure changed between then and now in the world of routers. $600 routers? That's a new thing. Anyway, the short story is, this is a small vacation home that needs to supply a guest wifi network for renters, has an existing wired Cat 6a network, and has some home automation devices that I need to monitor remotely.

I don't want anything fancy like mesh. I don't want to deal with anything complicated, and I'm not around to reset the router or make changes if something is acting up. I don't care about security because it's just a vacation rental: If I stay there I always hide behind my software VPN, and besides most of the smart home devices I have require UPnP to be enabled to work correctly (sigh).

Here's more deets if you care:

  • The wifi router will get internet from a Cisco DPC3216 cable modem from my ISP (Charter / Spectrum).
  • The wifi router will need to connect to the Luxul AGS-1016 16-port gigabit switch that runs my wired network. Each room has wired CAT-6a compatible gigabit ethernet ports in every room.
  • I had previously been using a Linksys WRT3200ACM for this job, and it worked fine, except it's old and getting kind of flakey.
  • House is in the USA, it is a small, two-story, stick-frame 900 square-foot condo. No concrete walls.
  • This is a 200-unit condo complex in a resort town, so there are numerous nearby competing networks.
  • House is used as an AirBnB, so the router needs to offer a solid guest network.
  • I live in a different country from this house. So it would be nice to have some way to remotely administer the router, in case something goes haywire and my property management company can't figure it out.
  • House has some smart home devices (Mysa thermostats, etc) that don't like 5 GHz, and that really need to have UPnP enabled at all times (sigh). I also have Sonos speakers, Apple TV.
Oh and obviously since I'm posting here, I have mostly Mac devices. :) But I believe, this shouldn't be relevant to the router.

Thanks for taking the time to read my question!
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,268
8,971
I have two vacation rentals. I use routers that I can remotely manage and I suggest you look for the same feature. I've chosen to put Amplify Alien routers in each, which are $379 each. Pricey, but good and easily managed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: goffredo

goffredo

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 28, 2009
38
5
… Amplify Alien routers in each, which are $379 each. Pricey, but good and easily managed.
Thank you for the suggestion, I will take a look at them. That seems like a lot for a router! But like I said, I haven’t shopped for a router in many, many years.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.