What are your suggestions for dualband routers? Looking for something $100-200 that’s not Netgear. More flexible on the former than the latter.
Haven’t bought a router in three years.
Using this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYTAURW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wQ2pFb5N07HZ4
My wife is the network girl and iirc sure did some kinda Merlin magic on it to get it to the retail version
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I use the same one. Actually, I have two of them.
The second is for our VPN so if we need/want the VPN connection we just switch which router we connect to.
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I bought this one the other day because my Netgear router didn’t work with my Ring doorbell and would disconnect for a second every 12 hours on the nose. I’m a fan of my new one.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-wireless-ax3000-dual-band-wi-fi-router-black/6377908.p?skuId=6377908
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That one is sold out until October. You can get the Asus ac66u B1, it’s the exact same hardware as the Asus AC68u just in a horizontal plastic housing rather then vertical. Another option would be the tp-link A9. It’s a wave 2 router with a Qualcomm SoC and just as fast as any of my Netgear/Asus routers.
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Thanks for the recommendations!
The main thing I’m looking for is software stability. I’ve got a Netgear Nighthawk N7000P that’s only about two years old but it has required semi-weekly resets since I got it. I’ve messed around with all kinds of different firmware and settings but no fixes. Last night the router crashed and now it won’t broadcast a 5GHz signal, even though it thinks it is doing so. Apparently lots of people have problems with this overpriced POS router.
Wish Apple still made the AirPort because I’ve had a couple of those in the past and they never ever required reboots or resets. I have heard good things about ASUS stability, though, and will likely go with one of those.
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I’m gonna be totally honest with you
I don’t know jack spit about networks. I let Mrs. Sal take care of that stuff.
Interesting thing: I do not work in IT, but generally love hardware. She works in it, hates it, doesn’t want anything to do with in outside of work, and gets mad at me for making her manage the home network stuff.
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I bought a Synology RT2600ac.
It’s not cheap, but it came highly recommended and has served me well for the last 2 years. It gets regular updates and has been rock solid.
Well, nelves are adorable so … happy to help 
Have not heard of Synology but will look into this model. Thanks!
everyone i talk to keeps mentioning upgrading to a mesh system
maybe look into that
Well Sal, coincidence can be a crazy thing. After not having any problems for several years, I had issues with my VPN router and ended up factory resetting it last night. Main router is 192.168.1.1 and VPN is 192.168.2.1. Both have active DHCP servers so we can connect to either one depending on if we want a fast connection or a private connection. (A bit of an oversimplification, but enough to ask a question). It’s back up and running, but after not bothering with it for so long, having to set it up all over again reminded me of something that could be better.
I use OpenVPN for my VPN connection. While the default firmware config options allow everything to function (with an auto-reconnect option for the VPN) I can only have one OpenVPN connection configured and there is no “kill switch” (‘Block routed clients if tunnel goes down’) option, so we need to check to make sure the router is actually connected to the VPN when we’re serious about wanting privacy.
Since you have the same router and your wife updated the firmware (and I’m saying “pretty please with sugar on top”) can you find out which firmware she changed it to and if it includes a VPN “kill switch” (and if she is happy with it)? I may have a new project - I definitely have a little itch that needs scratching. 
I know what some of those words mean. Let me ask, lol
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Did you look here
https://support.nordvpn.com/Connectivity/Router/1047410642/AsusWRT-Merlin-setup-with-NordVPN.htm
I’ve looked at a few guides and it does looks like AsusWRT Merlin has the option. I haven’t used Merlin before, but I have switched some old Linksys routers to DD-WRT and have them in a few places where running a wire was not convenient and I didn’t have a wifi adapter on the old piece of tech.
I use Merlin on my asus router, runs stable and easy to install. Its basically the asus firmware with a slight reskin and a few added features.
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Thanks. I think I’ll upgrade the VPN router and if that goes well, upgrade the main one as well. It looks like the upgrade is a bit more complicated on the TM-AC1900 and that you have to downgrade it first.
I have the exact same hardware in my router as the TM-1900 so you would be running the same version of Merlin. I believe you are correct in needing to downgrade first as I recall the T-Mobile router had some sort of partition set up. I know Merlin himself stopped supporting those T-Mobile routers. Your best bet would be the small net builder Asus forum for answers to any specific questions.
I’ve found several guides for it. Seems fairly straightforward - just an annoying number of steps. Looks like you need to get the updates downloaded and then disconnect the router from the Internet so it doesn’t undo your work until you’re done.
sounds like how i have to actually fully disable traction control on my old cars