Router just died- is it covered?
The router I purchased from the HughesNet tech guy the last time he was here to adjust the signal just died. Is a replacement covered under the Express Repair plan? If not, is there any guidance as to what I need to purchace to replace it? Any help would be appreciated.
Though I'm not 100% positive of this, I'm relatively sure that your 3rd party router isn't covered under the Express Repair plan, as it's not a piece of HughesNet equipment. You can read about the Terms and Conditions of Express Repair here... http://legal.hughesnet.com/ExpressRepair.cfm
With that said, depending on what you need, you can go with a basic router or a full fledged monster, and the cost difference can be substantial.
If all you're looking to do is connect your devices via WiFi and not much more, any basic router should work, but at least make sure that it's dual band (most are these days, but make sure). Dual band means that it can supply both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz connection abilities. You can find decent basic ones for under $50. An example would be the Netgear WNDR3400. It's got decent range for medium to large homes and it's not very expensive. It's throughput is also up to 300Mbps on each band, so there's no issue with it not being fast enough to use with HughesNet, nor most other internet services today.
If you're looking to do more with it, like monitor your data usage in break down fashion, one of the more popular ones is the Netgear Nighthawk running the Merlin Firmware, which start at well over $100.
I'm only guessing, but the router the tech may have sold you was probably a basic router. It may even have been the D-Link DIR-619L, as that was a router that was being sold by a lot of techs. If it was that, and you were satisfied with it, the first one I mentioned would be more than enough.
Now, I have to add that these are only suggestions to look at, and not at all a direction or anything like that to get one of them. One should always do their research and pick the router that best fits their needs. Two pieces of advice, though. The firsts being the aforementioned, and that is to make sure it's dual band, and the second would be to stay away from "refurbished" units. You may save some money by buying a refurbished unit, but you may also be buying another person's headache by doing so. I find that it's simply not worth the savings to take that chance. Also, make sure to read the reviews of any router before you buy.
I'm partial to Netgear, which is why I mentioned models from them. I bought an inexpensive, $40 WNR2000v4 Netgear router in 2012 and it still works perfectly to this day, though because I have very basic needs I use the built in WiFi of my HT2000W HughesNet modem most of the time as it's just plain easier.
