Best router for multiple Apple devices

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I had a little trouble trying to conceptualize your current setup. (I'm a visual learner) Are you able could the current setup be running to interference with surrounding wifi networks? Are you running on 2.4ghz or 5ghz?

Also my ISP router does only N as well so that is one of the reasons I wanted to upgrade. Does the imac connected via ethernet also have wifi turned on? I'm wondering for troubleshooting purposes can you turn off most of the devices(disable their wifi) and then try the phone to imac call transfer? We need to identify the actual cause of the issue. From what you said it could be a congested network with too many devices for the router to handle or it could be network interference or something else.

I sort of figured an apartment since you mentioned that range really isn't a concern. Okay, another thought. Do you know what your walls are made of? And are you wifi issues happening when you are in the same room as the router or just when you are in a different room than the router? I have a friend in England that has plaster walls and they play **** with wifi.

I'm not sure if I have a suggestion but I do have a couple of clarifying questions. I have a cable modem/router which I think equates(logically) to your router provided by the internet operator. What I did is to disable the ISP provided routers wifi and replaced it with eero pro 6 mesh system. I know the eero pro's (set of 3) are above your price range. But would a similar setup work for you? An eero 6 and an extender would fit your price range. I've been happy with my setup.

I'm also wondering if the dropped calls and homepods not being able to connect to the internet is more a symptom of poor wifi coverage more than a bad router from your ISP.

I hope this helps.

Paul

Piotr Kowal wrote:

I see that iMac is acting on its own about the wifi. I have it connected with cable so I turn the wifi off, but when I check next time it is on again. Also, it is running Big Sur - maybe there is an issue with Facetime there? It behaves strange, once I needed to kill it, and then when I reopened it, it showed mi that a call is in progress for 2 hours, which obviously wasn't true. Other time it told me my iPhone is already on the call, when tried to initiate a call from iMac.

Still, if the issue is about the ISP router, then most probably turning most wifi devices off will make it work. So, if I want to have them all on and still be able to do whatever I need, then I need a more capable router. I counted 15 wifi devices and 6 on cable. All of them active. Plus sometimes I turn on/turn off something additional, like cooking machine that syncs recipes OTA.

Fun fact is, that this $350 is equal to what I pay for 1gbps FTTH + router lease for 19 months... So the router they give me most probably is good for one laptop and one phone connected to it :).

Exactly, what I was thinking about determining if the router is the issue. Here in the US they recommend ditching your ISP router as they are usually crap. Based on your descriptions, I'm thinking your are encountering interference with either other electronics in your house or neighboring wifi networks. Is the network on the 2.4ghz or 5ghz? 5ghz tends to reduce other device interference as there are less devices that broadcast at that frequency.

Not so great. Ok one thing to look at is what the router has in terms of MIMO(multiple in, multiple out) radios- this would allow the router to talk to multiple devices at the same time. Which should help. I'm not sure how much else I can help you with. Sorry.