Best Wifi Router Recommendations

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  • #96186
    Profile photo of Mr. OldschoolMr. Oldschool
    Participant

    Hi,
    We are running an SQ-6 desk at my church, and we have a Netgear R6120 wifi router. From the beginning, we have had nothing but trouble with MixPad and SQ4YOU both having frequent dropouts. On any given Sunday, MixPad will “lose connection” about a dozen times during the course of an hour and a half service. The musicians are frequently complaining that their monitor controls keep getting booted off. I know this is a router issue. Clearly it doesn’t have a consistent signal, or can’t handle the bandwidth of several phones and an iPad. I also know from reading elsewhere that the apps are finicky about poor signal strength. So my question is:

    What is the best router for consistent quality connections with our system?

    Thanks for any help or suggestions.

    #96187
    Profile photo of Gardacus (Mike)Gardacus (Mike)
    Participant

    Hello mr oldschool

    Can you indicate the distances that need to be covered

    How many connections, or clients are needed?

    You may want to invest in a stronger router indeed, seen the router you describe.

    I’m using an ASUS RT-AC3200, six musicians and myself as engineer connecting to it. Evening filling band performances. No issues.

    It’s mounted in the bottom of my flip-up flight case. Transmitting both 2.4 and 5ghz

    2.4 if longer distance are required for a gig.

    Regards

    Mike

    #96188
    Profile photo of volounteervolounteer
    Participant

    There is no best , just what you choose for your situation and constraints.
    What made you choose that router? The price or the specs; or your needs ??

    It depends on your specific situation.
    Size location number of devices local interference yada yada matter.

    Are you using the netgear extender with it?

    https://www.digitalcitizen.life/things-consider-when-buying-wireless-router/

    #96189
    Profile photo of Mike CMike C
    Participant

    The two I use are a TP Link Archer C7 and Netgear R7000 Hight Hawk. Even though the Netgear is about double the cost of the TP Link I feel they just about the same performance when it come to controlling a mixer, sometimes I do feel I can get slightly bit more range with the Netgear.

    With the router up higher and a somewhat line of site between the router and my iPad I can get a sold 150 plus range.

    I do only use a 5g connection and will scan the area with a WIFI scanner app on my Android tablet to make sure I’m not on the same channel as something else.
    I also hide the SSID broadcast and feel I have a more connection without encryption.

    I set up my mixers up with a static IP as well.

    If your not already doing so I would highly recommend turning off the 2.4 broadcast on the router and only using the 5g. At least for now there is less traffic in the 5g band and the broadcast channels do not overlap like they do in 2.4, well channels 1,6 & 11 don’t overlap but those are always the first to get used by everything else.

    For the record I tried using a 2.4 connection one time and one time only and got the same issues you have.

    #96201
    Profile photo of Søren SteinmetzSøren Steinmetz
    Participant

    I have been using a few different kinds of routers and Access Points

    Old linksys with different firmware (DD-WRT) with few issues (old router with only 2.4G)

    Apple Airport Extreme, never had any problems except when in bigger venues

    Ubiquiti setup with Cloudkey, Unify switch and multiple Unify Access Points (AP-AC-Pro) with full coverage even in backstage rooms for my MP (MicroPort) helper to access his monitoring.

    Not often I use a router these days, but tried the Netgear Mike mentions, and it worked fine as well.

    One thing though:
    If you have 2.4G and 5G Ssids with the same name, I have seen clients jumping between the two bands and loosing the connection from time to time,
    sometimes around 1 sec, at other times until asked to re-connect to the wifi.

    #96202
    Profile photo of Mike CMike C
    Participant

    The two I use are a TP Link Archer C7 and Netgear R7000 Night Hawk. Even though the Netgear is about double the cost of the TP Link I feel they are just about the same performance when it comes to controlling a mixer, sometimes I do feel I can get a slight bit more range with the Netgear.

    With the router up higher and a somewhat line of site between the router and my iPad I can get a solid 150 foot plus range.

    I do only use a 5g connection and will scan the area with a WIFI scanner app on my Android tablet to make sure I’m not on the same channel as something else.
    I also hide the SSID broadcast and feel I have a more solid connection without encryption.

    Corrected some late night typing typos!!!!

    To also add at times I have had six band members all using the QU You APP while I’m mixing with one or two iPads with no connection issues.

    #96207
    Profile photo of Mr. OldschoolMr. Oldschool
    Participant

    Thanks for the replies, everyone.

    First of all let me clarify that, while I am pretty computer savvy, networking is not a strength of mine. My sound engineering experience stems from learning on the job, so to speak, but I have been doing this particular position at my church for 13+ years and have a good reputation for my “ear” for sound. This is to say that highly technical talk of networking or sound engineering can befuddle me. I would say I understand the sound engineering side better than the networking side by a wide margin, but just want to make sure people realize I’m homegrown.

    So going back to the questions some of you asked. Why do we have this router? Because the guy we bought the desk from included it. He never really hung around to observe how it performed once we got up and running, and the installation took place during quarantine, so he was not really here when we had congregants to speak of. He knows his sound equipment well enough, but he had no comment regarding the router.

    The router was originally installed back at the desk at the back of the sanctuary, maybe 25 feet from the platform. Howevere we were getting interference from a lighting transformer pack that was about 3 feet away on the back wall. When that was determined, we moved the router to the stage head on the platform. We had a backup cat6 installed along with the new board, and we used that to connect the router to the board. That places all of the musicians within a 15 foot range from the router, and my iPad about 30 feet diagonally across the room. During sound checks, I carry the iPad back about 50 or 60 feet down a hallway to our overflow room. If I stay in the hallway, the signal usually doesn’t drop any more than maybe once, but some days it is obstinate and won’t reconnect until I walk it all the way back to about 15 feet from the router.

    During our rehearsals and sound checks Sunday mornings, there isn’t usually as much trouble, but some days are better than others. Once we get people in the sanctuary, the iPad sometimes becomes unusable. There is no internet connected to the sound router, and the security key is privately only known by the worship team, so I know we aren’t getting extra people connecting to the router, and they would get nothing from such a connection.

    As far as other transmitting things in the room, we have two wireless mics, and a wireless heaeing aid system from Williams Sound that must be 20 years old or more. The only other wireless stuff would be the 4 or 5 internet routers we have in various locations throughout the church and of course everyone’s phones. Lastly, during our services, our security team uses walkie talkies.

    I have no idea if our router even has the ability to switch between frequency ranges, but I thought that 5g was a cellular protocol, not a wifi protocol.

    Digging through the settings on the board, it does appear that we have been set up with a static IP.

    Hopefully that gives enough information at least to start with. If there is more specific information needed, please ask away.

    Thanks again, everyone!

    #96208
    Profile photo of Andre SAndre S
    Participant

    Hey Mr. Oldschool,

    if you´ll get a new router, make sure it is 2.4 and 5Ghz. Then only use 5Ghz. 🙂
    If you use wireless stuff like Line6 products: those will jam the 2.4 Ghz range.
    Make sure there are no more than 8 devices connected to the router. A maximum of 2 mixpad apps and 6 (7 if there is only one mixpad apps) SQ4You apps.

    Cheers,
    Andre

    #96209
    Profile photo of Mr. OldschoolMr. Oldschool
    Participant

    Our worship team is typically 5 people, but can be bigger by one or two. I have MixPad on the iPad and on my phone, but I really only use my phone as a last ditch option because the controls are too small for me. Mainly I use it to monitor the wifi signal strength, which is where I have observed wild fluctuations. Hence my first assumption is that the problem is an inconsistent router. Is there any way around that limit to users?

    #96210
    Profile photo of volounteervolounteer
    Participant

    @Mr Oldschool

    Did you read the previous article on things to consider?
    Compare the items to your actual situation.
    Far better than us guessing based on your clues to what might be problems.

    Have you measured for interference from other things? like you found happening at that wall? You need to do that.
    Do you have the extender? Hallways and rooms cut down on range and can cause problems at that distance.

    You should be able to find a router that avoids problems if you think about your needs first then look at what options you have to buy to solve those.

    #96211
    Profile photo of Mr. OldschoolMr. Oldschool
    Participant

    I don’t think we have an extender.

    I have tried searching through the forums for previous threads discussing this topic and I couldn’t find anything that seemed applicable.

    Again, networking is not something that I really lnow much about. I don’t know how to measure for interference. I also don’t know what factors to consider or disregard in order to assess what our needs are. What I have been able to find so far is that the apps tend to bail out if the signal dips at all. Since I can see that the signal strength is fluctuating, it looks to me like that is a good place to start with trying to figure out why we keep losing connection.

    #96213
    Profile photo of volounteervolounteer
    Participant

    @Mr Oldschool

    This is more a communications problem than an SQ problem, so there may not be much discussion here.

    You need to learn how to check for interference.
    See what MikeC does above. Investigate that for your own use.
    There are also companies that will bring in the gear to do it for you for a fee.

    There are also many resources on the net, or basic intro books like the dummies series, that will be useful to you.
    You might want to search for routers and comms discussion groups to help fill in any gaps about comms devices.
    You really do need to learn something about comms to ensure you dont keep having problems.

    When you bought the SQ with the router did you specify any NFRs or just ask them to install ‘something’?
    Did they demo it was all working or did they just leave it there for you to use?

    #96214
    Profile photo of Andre SAndre S
    Participant

    Our worship team is typically 5 people, but can be bigger by one or two. I have MixPad on the iPad and on my phone, but I really only use my phone as a last ditch option because the controls are too small for me. Mainly I use it to monitor the wifi signal strength, which is where I have observed wild fluctuations. Hence my first assumption is that the problem is an inconsistent router. Is there any way around that limit to users?

    No, not for wifi connection, I´m afraid. You could take a look into the ME personal Monitoring Systems…but there´s a pricetag to consider

    #96215
    Profile photo of JgriftJgrift
    Participant

    This system is an excellent choice

    #96216
    Profile photo of Mike CMike C
    Participant

    During our rehearsals and sound checks Sunday mornings, there isn’t usually as much trouble, but some days are better than others. Once we get people in the sanctuary, the iPad sometimes becomes unusable. There is no internet connected to the sound router, and the security key is privately only known by the worship team, so I know we aren’t getting extra people connecting to the router, and they would get nothing from such a connection.

    That right there tells a lot.
    My guess is your connecting at 2.4ghz.
    When the building is still fairly empty at sound check things are OK, once everyone is there for the church service all of their phones are looking at your router and pinging it for a possible connection.
    If you would look at any of their phones the mixers router will show up on the WIFI device list.

    Blocking the router ID name from being broadcast (blocking SSID) will help eliminate
    a lot of that and going to 5ghz as well.

    I just looked up your router and it’s not so bad, it is a dual band (2.4g and 5g).
    To log into the router you need to know the routers IP address and the log in password, that password can be different from the WIFI network password.
    Once your in it’s browser based menu set that what we talked about will make sense when you see it.

    If you set up a hidden network you will need to manually input the WIFI network name into the iPad and Phones the first time connect, after that it should be on the list then. That is under WIFI other in the WIFI menu.

    Chances are there is someone at the church who could set it up for you.
    Have them look at these post for the set up info.

    There’s a good chances the router is still set to the default IP address of 192.168.1.1 and the default password is on the label on the bottom of the router.

    With your iPad connected to the router WIFI open up Safari and type in that IP address
    and see if it goes to the Netgear log in page.

    Don’t bother downloading Netgear APPs to set up the router do it all through the browser.

    If the password has been changed you can do a full hard reset and start over.
    There’s a recessed button on the back you need to hold in while powering the router on.

    I have no idea if our router even has the ability to switch between frequency ranges, but I thought that 5g was a cellular protocol, not a wifi protocol.

    Digging through the settings on the board, it does appear that we have been set up with a static IP.

    5g cell phone and 5g WIFI are two different things.

    What IP address is set on the mixer that would give a clue as to what the router IP address is, actually you can look on your IP and check that as well in the WIFI menu.

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