I had a bit of an awesome “I told you so” moment with the family when our ISP remotely reset our router, messing up our extenders (and somehow 2/4 ethernet ports). So now I’ve got a $150-$200 AUD budget for a new router, that won’t be running dodgy Telstra spyware.
I’m far less experienced buying routers than PC parts, so I would appreciate some recommendations. We use cable internet, so it would need coaxial input. The extenders are Cisco Linksys (E2000 & E1000) running DD-WRT, so I would make sense to put DD-WRT on the router we buy. Right now, each of those extenders appear as a separate SSID but I’d like to be able to set it up as 1 with auto switching to fastest.
Apart from that, I’m not sure what features to look for and am open to recommendations. I would like more than 4 ports to avoid using my switch but I don’t think that’s a thing?
I'm not sure if there is a good cable modem / router combo (maybe just my liking of dedicated devices). What you could do is use the ISPs modem/router as a cable modem and connect your own dedicated router to it.
There shouldn't be anything wrong with using the switch (provided it is fast enough), note that >4 port routers are usually a bit expensive.
Router suggestions: Linksys WRT1200AC, ASUS RT-AC56U (no personal experience, based on what I read in the last few days looking for a router myself, make sure they can handle your Internet speed)
Finding a router in my price range that uses coaxial cable is stupid hard. I found "TP Link Archer AC1750 Wireless Dual Band DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem Router" but its only stocked in America and importing it is like a further $100.
What are some suggestions? What do I even search for? I'm pretty sure my query "coaxial router" isn't what its called.