# Best router for Roamio + Mini



## lunacy (Nov 20, 2006)

I am looking at getting a new router for my in home network. I wanted to see what successful setups people on here had. I have searched and found people having problems with certain models, but I would really like to see whose setup is working great and what hardware they are running.


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## Tico (Dec 10, 2002)

Best router I have ever owned:

http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-Band-Wireless-N900-Gigabit-Router/dp/B006QB1RPY

If you want to future proof yourself a bit I reccomend the Wireless AC version:

http://www.amazon.com/RT-AC66U-Dual...=UTF8&qid=1391399731&sr=1-2&keywords=rt-ac68u


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## AAinCal (Dec 21, 2013)

I'm assuming you mean wifi not wired, since I don't think people are having trouble there. I had an Asus RT-N56U (not the N66U mentioned above) that i could not get working with my Roamio no matter what. It worked fine with everything else including the N-adapter attached to my Premiere. I now have a Netgear R7000 (Nighthawk) that works nicely with the Roamio.


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## dahacker (Jan 14, 2004)

lunacy said:


> I am looking at getting a new router for my in home network. I wanted to see what successful setups people on here had. I have searched and found people having problems with certain models, but I would really like to see whose setup is working great and what hardware they are running.


Any $20+ router will work fine for wired since it is primarily the switch part you are using. Are you looking for a budget recommendation or something that will rock? For budget, I would snag a used Actiontec MI424wr Rev F or above off eBay from someone leaving a FIOS area. It includes MoCA 2.0 and pretty much no one with FIOS here has any problem with Tivo networking. I've got 30 plus devices in my MI424wr rev E driven network and it all works perfectly.

I second the above ASUS recommendations at a mid level price.

I seem to remember some guy here with a $500 Cisco home router setup with terrible Tivo problems, so I'd skip that.


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

AAinCal said:


> I'm assuming you mean wifi not wired, since I don't think people are having trouble there. I had an Asus RT-N56U (not the N66U mentioned above) that i could not get working with my Roamio no matter what. It worked fine with everything else including the N-adapter attached to my Premiere. I now have a Netgear R7000 (Nighthawk) that works nicely with the Roamio.


I happen to be using the Asus RT-N56U router you mention with absolutely no problems at the moment. The one problem I did have when I first installed my Roamio and Mini were centered around green switches I have in addition to that router. But as a wired path between Roamio, Mini, and the outside world, it, along with another router/access point, has been running quite well.


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## lunacy (Nov 20, 2006)

I will be running a wired connection for the Roamio and Mini, but everything else (non-Tivo), and an old series 2 will be running wifi. So that will be a feature I need.



AAinCal said:


> I'm assuming you mean wifi not wired, since I don't think people are having trouble there. I had an Asus RT-N56U (not the N66U mentioned above) that i could not get working with my Roamio no matter what. It worked fine with everything else including the N-adapter attached to my Premiere. I now have a Netgear R7000 (Nighthawk) that works nicely with the Roamio.


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## Ziggie (Jan 20, 2004)

I love our ASUS router, but our TiVo could not connect to it.


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## lunacy (Nov 20, 2006)

Sounds like ASUS might be one to avoid with a Tivo with the criteria of no potential headaches.

I have been looking at a Linksys EA4500 or a EA6500(refurb $99 at linksys.com)

So, anyone hear anything bad about those in regards to Tivos?


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## takeshi (Jul 22, 2010)

There are many good routers out there. I also use the Asus RT-N66U and would recommend it. If I was buying today I'd be looking at the AC version as well.



lunacy said:


> Sounds like ASUS might be one to avoid with a Tivo with the criteria of no potential headaches.


Consider specific routers versus entire brands.


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## Ziggie (Jan 20, 2004)

Tico said:


> Best router I have ever owned:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-Band-Wireless-N900-Gigabit-Router/dp/B006QB1RPY
> 
> ...


Tico, can you please tell me... what is the difference between these 2 units? What is "wireless AC" actually?


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

Best router is ASUS RT-AC68U. end of discussion. absolutely no problems with it.


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

Ziggie said:


> Tico, can you please tell me... what is the difference between these 2 units? What is "wireless AC" actually?


Basically it is gigabit speed over the air.


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## falc122727 (Jan 21, 2004)

The way my house is wired, I prefer a wired only router, along with wireless APs. They don't make many wired only routers anymore, but I recently found one I love, that is working great with my Roamio and Mini, and still maintaining excellent throughput across the rest of the network. Check out the Mikrotik RB750GL Router and RB260GS Switches. I've had a great experience with them and you'll see great reviews at Amazon.

For wireless I use a Ubiquiti UniFi Long Range AP, which is the best wireless I have ever used at home. Haven't tried it on a TiVo though, as all of mine have been ethernet.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

My Netgear R6300 has been working great for some years now


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## Ziggie (Jan 20, 2004)

vurbano said:


> Best router is ASUS RT-AC68U. end of discussion. absolutely no problems with it.





vurbano said:


> Basically it is gigabit speed over the air.


Thank you both! :up:


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## patrickthickey (Sep 4, 2002)

falc122727 said:


> They don't make many wired only routers anymore, but I recently found one I love, that is working great with my Roamio and Mini, and still maintaining excellent throuhgput across the rest of the network.


I use a ZyXel 110, which is a wired firewall with 5 GigE ports. I think I paid 350 for it. It has many features we do not need, but as a firewall it performs stateful inspection and it more configurable overall.

In my experience, wireless is problematic and I use it only for our small number of smart phones and one tablet.

The Tivos are much happier, in our environment, with hardwired.


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## poppagene (Dec 29, 2001)

dahacker said:


> For budget, I would snag a used Actiontec MI424wr Rev F or above off eBay from someone leaving a FIOS area. It includes MoCA 2.0 and pretty much no one with FIOS here has any problem with Tivo networking.


I would second this recommendation for the ease of moca.


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## CraigK (Jun 9, 2006)

vurbano said:


> Best router is ASUS RT-AC68U. end of discussion. absolutely no problems with it.


I have an ASUS RT-AC68R (the retail version of the 68U) and likewise have had no problems at all. I've had TiVo Series 2, HD, and Roamio all hooked up to it both wired and wireless without any issues.


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## shrike4242 (Dec 1, 2006)

vurbano said:


> Best router is ASUS RT-AC68U. end of discussion. absolutely no problems with it.


The firmware's been a bit wonky at some points since release, though it's getting better.

I'm probably going to upgrade my RT-N66U to an AC68U once the 802.11AC standard is fully ratified, which should happen this year.

I also have to put in another recommendation for the RT-N66U, as I've had one for almost two years and it's a workhouse of a router.

I have 2-3 laptops connected to it, 2 smartphones, 3 tablets, 5 Tivo units over MoCA, multiple gaming consoles (PS3, X360, Wii, OG Xbox, PS2, GameCube) and a HTPC connected via a wireless bridge and the router has never had any real issues. I've shuffled a couple of terabytes over the weekend from Tivo to Tivo while other stuff was being done and it's not complained once.

For either the N66U or the AC68U, I strongly recommend using the variant of DD-WRT from RMerlin on forums.smallnetbuilder.com: 
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/forumdisplay.php?f=42

RMerlin is constantly evolving the firmware, is always responsive to questions and works directly with ASUS on a number of FW-related issues he runs across.

ASUS wireless devices forum:
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/forumdisplay.php?f=37


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## mjgraves (Oct 11, 2003)

Some years ago, after some dreadful experiences with voip implementation using various Linksys & Netgear devices, I completely gave up on consumer routers. I moved to an open source software called m0n0wall (http://m0n0.ch/wall/) running on a single board computer, in my case a PC Engines ALIX. Netgate.com is an excellent source for such systems.

This combination is a bit more costly, running about $200 to get started, but it's been an absolute joy to use. Extremely stable, flexible, with wonderful support from the user community.

We have had zero issues with our Tivo systems on this network. We've had (3) Tivos Series 2, (2) TivoHD and most recently a Roamio Plus+ Mini. Since moving to the Roamio we've been streaming Netflix SuperHD (1080p) over our Comcast internet service.

http://www.mgraves.org/2014/01/recent-thoughts-edge-network/

The m0n0wall/ALIX combination lets me maintain traffic shaping that supports video streaming, music streaming and multiple voice calls over the same connection with zero suffering of any service.

For those who need more control or depth than m0n0wall supports there's pfsense (http://www.pfsense.org) which is also open source and runs on similar SBCs or any PC with two NICs.


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## shrike4242 (Dec 1, 2006)

For anyone interested in the RT-N66U, Amazon has a white-colored version for $99, today only:

http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66W-Dual-Band-Wireless-N900-Gigabit-Version/dp/B00FK1E46U/


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

Might want to stay away from any that feature the "green" functionality, which is seen in some newer residential switches not so much in home routers. That is a marketing gimmick to save on electrical use but that little feature can cause big headaches.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

eboydog said:


> Might want to stay away from any that feature the "green" functionality, which is seen in some newer residential switches not so much in home routers. That is a marketing gimmick to save on electrical use but that little feature can cause big headaches.


There was an issue when the Roamio was first released when connecting to a green switch. But they corrected it.


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> There was an issue when the Roamio was first released when connecting to a green switch. But they corrected it.


That's good, Tivo's ethernet issues aren't the only network devices that have had problems with them.


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## mhalladay (Feb 12, 2007)

vurbano said:


> Best router is ASUS RT-AC68U. end of discussion. absolutely no problems with it.


I also upgraded to the RT-AC66U version of this router last year, when I was having random network problems - most likely due to gradual addition of devices such as Onyko AV receiver, Roku, smartphone and tablets. My guess is that the older router was just choking on the level of throughput..

My Roamio, Mini, and old Series 3 HD are all hard-wired either directly to the RT-AC66U (or thru a Netgear 5-port gigabit switch), and I'm having no problems with either Tivos on the network or any other wired or wireless device.

Highly recommended.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

mhalladay said:


> I also upgraded to the RT-AC66U version of this router last year, when I was having random network problems - most likely due to gradual addition of devices such as Onyko AV receiver, Roku, smartphone and tablets. My guess is that the older router was just choking on the level of throughput..
> 
> My Roamio, Mini, and old Series 3 HD are all hard-wired either directly to the RT-AC66U (or thru a Netgear 5-port gigabit switch), and I'm having no problems with either Tivos on the network or any other wired or wireless device.
> 
> Highly recommended.


+1


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## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

I'm thinking it may be time for me to upgrade to a new router. Not really for Tivo purposes as I'm mostly on MoCA, but more for general wireless usage in the house. My current router is a Netgear wireless G router - I honestly don't even remember how old it is - likely about 10 years. It works fine most of the time but firmware updates have ended and every once in a while it seems to hang (starts working fine again after a cold reboot). 

My inclination would be to go with a new AC router, but I have 5.8 Ghz cordless phones throughout the house, so my question is whether those might interfere with the AC band. Does AC use a ~5 Ghz band? I'm thinking it might not be worth buying an AC router if it's just going to drop down and use the N band due to interference. Thoughts? Obviously been a long time since I shopped routers.


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## Tico (Dec 10, 2002)

Loach said:


> I'm thinking it may be time for me to upgrade to a new router. Not really for Tivo purposes as I'm mostly on MoCA, but more for general wireless usage in the house. My current router is a Netgear wireless G router - I honestly don't even remember how old it is - likely about 10 years. It works fine most of the time but firmware updates have ended and every once in a while it seems to hang (starts working fine again after a cold reboot).
> 
> My inclination would be to go with a new AC router, but I have 5.8 Ghz cordless phones throughout the house, so my question is whether those might interfere with the AC band. Does AC use a ~5 Ghz band? I'm thinking it might not be worth buying an AC router if it's just going to drop down and use the N band due to interference. Thoughts? Obviously been a long time since I shopped routers.


Check this out:

http://bradsfavorite.com/avoid-interference-5-ghz-wifi-5-8-ghz-cordless-phones/


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## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

Tico said:


> Check this out:
> 
> http://bradsfavorite.com/avoid-interference-5-ghz-wifi-5-8-ghz-cordless-phones/


Helpful - thanks!


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## dahacker (Jan 14, 2004)

Loach said:


> I'm thinking it may be time for me to upgrade to a new router. Not really for Tivo purposes as I'm mostly on MoCA, but more for general wireless usage in the house. My current router is a Netgear wireless G router - I honestly don't even remember how old it is - likely about 10 years. It works fine most of the time but firmware updates have ended and every once in a while it seems to hang (starts working fine again after a cold reboot).
> 
> My inclination would be to go with a new AC router, but I have 5.8 Ghz cordless phones throughout the house, so my question is whether those might interfere with the AC band. Does AC use a ~5 Ghz band? I'm thinking it might not be worth buying an AC router if it's just going to drop down and use the N band due to interference. Thoughts? Obviously been a long time since I shopped routers.


What devices do you have that can even use AC wireless? Don't waste your money unless you have specific plans and needs for it. Just get a quality N router. Anything that isn't moving in the house like Tivo should be wired period.


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## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

dahacker said:


> What devices do you have that can even use AC wireless? Don't waste your money unless you have specific plans and needs for it. Just get a quality N router. Anything that isn't moving in the house like Tivo should be wired period.


Fair point - honestly not sure any of our laptops or tablets are equipped with AC. And yes, all of our stationary equipment is wired via Cat 5e or MoCA. So I guess buying an AC router is a future-proofing move for most people?


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

I haven't used a consumer grade router and switch for quite some time, granted most of the equipment is getting dated but runs rock solid. The disadvantage is fans, routers and switches have fans!

I'm using a 
Cisco 1921 router - online 4 months - reload due to a sw upgrade
Cisco 3550xl switch w/PoE - online over a year - restarted due to a power outage
Cisco 1242 A/P (x2) - dependent upon the switch for power but up over a year too

What I can say is my network is rock solid, but I'm using dated equipment I'm only running a 100Mb/s network which I have found to be sufficient for what I'm doing. 

I don't have issues with devices having problems connecting to my A/Ps, (they only run A/B/G) and when they are connected the signal is always rock solid. I connect my work laptop to my wireless network and use a VoIP phone while using Webex and never have a problem.

I understand that most (all?) of the new consumer grade stuff is all gigabit ethernet which is fine but from where I am standing it looks like manufacturers are putting out cheap junk so fast they never properly test the equipment and simply replace it with the next router/switch that they can push out the door and make more money on.

I guess the point is, before you rush out and buy the latest and greatest thinking that you really must have Gigabit ethernet or that new N or AC wireless router, does the current equipment meet your needs and is it stable? If it does why not leave it alone and not buy the new equipment because it hit all the new fancy buzzwords.

oh, don't forget your home ethernet wiring, Gig ethernet requires Cat5e or better to run (Cat 6, 7 or whatever else is out there won't buy you any more performance but will cost you more $$)


just my $.02

-TL


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## Tico (Dec 10, 2002)

Time_Lord said:


> I haven't used a consumer grade router and switch for quite some time, granted most of the equipment is getting dated but runs rock solid. The disadvantage is fans, routers and switches have fans!
> 
> I'm using a
> Cisco 1921 router - online 4 months - reload due to a sw upgrade
> ...


I can buy a LOT of consumer grade stuff for what you paid for yours. 
And if you buy the right consumer stuff it really does work good. My Asus has only been rebooted for upgrades. Rock solid for probably 10% of the cost of your setup.

And I have wireless N And gig everywhere.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I've had the same experience with Asus and Dlink. I only need to reboot for a software update. My GFs Dlink router I setup for her has been up for several years now without issues.


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## vsbdtv (Nov 2, 2006)

Recently setup a Mini to go with my Roamio and started experiencing lots of stuttering and lost connections. From trying different cables etc was able to narrow it down to my Asus RT-N66U router. I upgraded the firmware on the Asus to the latest versions, and the problem actually worsened. Even tried the Merlin firmware version to no avail. When I replaced the RT-N66U with an old Linksys WRT300N I had in the attic, the problem disappeared. The RT-N66U had been very good for wireless, but I think it's LAN connections are not reliable, at least in my case. All of the Tivo equipment was plugged in to the RT-N66U directly.


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