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Sales guy here, with a decent understanding of technology, but completely clueless on implementation. I currently have a Cisco E2000 business router, plugged into the old U-verse - both are located in my basement. I get decent enough wireless coverage but have 3 kids and at times have 6-8 devices connected to the network, including streaming music/tv, etc.

What I would like to do is setup a wireless network where my kids have one WIFI network (that i can set some parent controls on) - and my wife/I have a separate wifi network. I also work from a home office, and have my work station directly connected for optimal connectivity.

Any suggestions on a quality business class router that has enough horsepower to handle the needs?

@Cisco

12 Spice ups
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I bought a friend of mine one of these about 2 months ago, it’s awesome and very reasonbly prices (infact cheaper then my AUSU DSL Nu66)

The model I bought her was the Cisco RV215W Wireless-N VPN Router.

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I bought a Draytek Vigor 2830 Series about 2 years ago, possibly slightly overkill for what you need it for but I love the thing, rock solid, works well with my DSL modem and lets me do a few techie things like routing, nat, pat and and VPN.

It can also have several wifi SSID’s configured on it to do the sort of things you are talking about.

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A used SonicWall from ebay :o)

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Pick ip a Ubiquity EdgeRouter Lite . Easily handle whatever load you send at it. Also take a look at their UniFi Access Points , very affordable business class AP’s with a solid signal. The controller is software based (Java) so it can be run on just about any computer to program/control them.

Newegg’s lists the router for $119 supplied by Flytec Computers. I’ve purchased from them and had fast turn around every time. They have a 3 pack of AP’s for $191. The AP’s come with POE injectors and mounting hardware for walls and ceilings.

@Ubiquiti_Inc

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Bought myself one of these last month. R7000 Router by Nighthawk | NETGEAR . Way overkill yes, but future proofing for AC. Amazing performance and great range.

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MikroTik RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN . It’s the best bang-for-your-buck on entry-level enterprise gear (About $130 USD). They’re pretty commonly used amongst WISPs and tiny MSPs. It has a fairly decent web interface, as well as a fully featured CLI. But it’s definitely not for amateurs. If you can’t pass Net+ without difficulty, this isn’t a router for you.

Ubiquiti’s EdgeRouter Lite is my second choice. But again, it’s not for amateurs.

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Thanks guys! From what I have read before posting, The Ubiquiti products seem to be both powerful and very cost effective - plus doing a quick search you can scoop them up on Amazon and lucky for me I have a couple of Amazon gift cards I have to burn through!

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Let’s talk design here first:
The router & wireless AP are connected in the basement? Near an "outside wall?
Bad place if most users are not using the Wi-Fi in the basement.
You mentioned that your computer is wired. If the wired connection is not in the basement, then that may be a good place for one of the new Wi-Fi AP’s (ASUS).
Best option for the three kids is to run a new cable to their general area of use and install a second (ASUS) AP there. It can be mounted in the ceiling or on a table or shelf.
I recommend an ASUS dual band AP with built-in 4-port gigabit switch, supporting 802.11N and AC (2.4GHz & 5GHz).
This will last into the foreseeable future (three years)…

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Ubiquiti Unifi what I use behind a Cisco firewall. I can setup specific users and assign them to SSIDs to “throttle/shape” traffic. You could also use a cheap home router as your DHCP server with parental controls built in and turn the wireless off on it. The Unifi AP requires a DHCP server so that would be where your cheap router came in. I’ve had zero issues with my Unifi AP. With it being POE, you could mount the AP to the ceiling of the basement in the center of the house for excellent coverage since you’ll only have one wire running to it and it comes with the mounting bracket.

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I’ll second the Ubiquity EdgeRouter Lite. I use it at home and it has worked flawlessly. True that it isn’t as easy to setup as some consumer models but it has amazing features. The most current version of the software has a much improved GUI interface for all of your settings. The community support is excellent. And you can setup a standard SOHO image pretty quickly that will give you 2 subnets so your kids can be connected on one and you and your wife on the other. I love the controls that I’ve been able to implement around shutting off wifi and LAN connections for specific devices based on time of day rules so that my teenage son goes to bed at a reasonable time. Tons of QoS settings can be set to ensure VoIP works properly and built-in VPN allows secure access when working remotely. Combine this router with a Ubiquity AP and you are all set with multiple SSIDs and some very good control over your internal home network.

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If money is no object, and you need enough power to get great signal everywhere in your neighborhood (or just need to punch through Concrete/Rebar common in older houses) the Asus AC2400 is a monster. Not cheap, but It has the range and punch to work anywhere.

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The new 1.6 firmware for the EdgeRouter Lite has a GUI interface with a LOT more help than the 1.41 and earlier versions, so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to someone who’s already setup a Linksys router. $100 for $1000 of capability, now with a shiny new management page!

Since it is JUST a router, not a WiFi Access Point, you’ll need to add one or more of those to the mix. The UniFi AP’s of various flavors and configurations are fine, but if you don’t need the expanded featureset they may be more complicated than necessary. With just UVerse bandwidth (nothing around here more than 18Mbps down) you aren’t going to be overstressing any AP you have. Separating your wireless networks and having parental controls on one of them is going to be more complex than you think, and on a home budget, the OpenDNS option is the way to go:

Otherwise, you’ll need a web filtering UTM device, with VLAN’s to segment the network according to SSID. Really not something to do casually.

The ONE thing I don’t know how you would do from the web GUI on the EdgeRouter Lite is block port 53 udp lookups from the LAN side, to prevent bypassing the OpenDNS forwarders on the router. I bet it can be done now, I just haven’t tried it.

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I pretty much only use Asus routers at home. They are fast and reliable and very feature rich. I use a RT-N66u and love it.

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Depending on your wireless needs one of these should do the trick. You have 2 independent wireless networks plus with DD-WRT you have much better control than most consumer grade routers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162088

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162089

I’ve still got this older model personally and it’s the first router I’ve ever had from any of several vendors that I didn’t have to reboot/reset periodically.

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If you need any assistance setting up/configuring the Ubiquity products be sure to ask here or on their forums. The newest firmware is pretty quick and easy to setup.

The gist of the router setup;

  1. Go to their site and download the newest firmware.
  2. Connect the router directly to a computer (easier) on port 0 and set your computer to 192.168.1.100.
  3. Open a browser to 192.168.1.1, login as “ubnt” with password “ubnt”.
  4. Click on the System tab at the bottom left of the screen.
  5. Scroll down and find the upload firmware button.
  6. Upgrade and reboot.
  7. Login and select the “Wizard” tab on the top right, choose the WAN + 2LAN option.
  8. Reboot and change your computer to DHCP.
  9. Plug your internet into port 0 and your home network into port 1 (or 2)
  10. Set any forwarding rules on the “Firewall” tab.

Should be able to get the router up in 10 minutes or less. The AP’s are also pretty simple to setup. You just need to decide how many SSID’s you want, if you want zero hand off (roaming from AP to AP seamlessly), etc.

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My 2 cents… If you’re in IT you need to be running enterprise equipment at home. I see you’re in sales, but in the IT universe and looks like you know enough to set up multiple SSIDs. The experience and knowledge will go a long way. I run a free home version (50 endpoint) of Sophos for firewall/routing and I got a free AP from Aerohive for watching a webinar. I heard Meraki does the same free AP thing. My Sophos firewall runs as a VM with the correct host ports being bound to the right interfaces. Fairly easy set up and ROCK SOLID. I was never able to max out my ISP download speed until I set this up. Consumer routers are for consumers. You’re a professional!

Sophos also has built in parental controls that you can active but even easier than that is setting up your router/firewall DNS to use OpenDNS. Do both if you are paranoid.

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After think on this some more, I’d flash the E2000 with DDWRT. Get another DDWRT compatible router/AP and split your wireless networks. The second DDWRT you can set up to only act as an Access Point so you’re not on different sub-nets. Kids and devices (TVs ect) get one SSID, you and wifey get the other. Make sure to run them on different frequencies, preferable 5GHz if everything is compatible to avoid interference.

Most people don’t realize that wireless is a shared medium. Only one device can talk at a time including the router/AP. Every device you add to a radio in a router/AP that is talking effectively halves your bandwidth. I’m too lazy to show a math example here though. Moral of the story, wire what you can first.

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+1 for this router. I own one and it is amazing. I can be across the street in my neighbors back yard by the pool and I can still get a signal from my house. The VPN feature is easy to setup and works well.

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You didn’t specify a budget range, but if I can take that liberty, in the $150 to $250 range, you will find plenty of small business class product offerings, which are significantly stronger performers and more feature-rich than SOHO or home routers.

For simplicity of management, I recommend either a router/firewall and AP from the same vendor or a combined router/firewall/AP. In both scenarios you would have two SSIDs: one for the business and one for the family.

As GORT said, having the AP against one wall in the basement is not optimal, unless all of the wireless devices are confined to that immediate area. You would be better off placing the AP centrally. In many homes you will find a coat closet or utility closet is in the right place. In the first scenario, you would keep the modem and router in the basement, where the broadband service comes into the house, and run a cable to the AP.

I personally prefer Cisco, and you will find many good choices in their small business RV-series of routers within the assumed budget above. At the high end, the RV-320 and RV-325 are great choices, especially if you want extra features like SSL VPN, otherwise, the lower end RV-200 series and the good old reliable RV-042 are excellent. If you want enterprise class gear, the ASA-5505 is fantastic, but probably overkill. The WAP-4410n access point supports multiple SSIDs, and is a good performer.