Wireless Router gurus: whats the best out there?

[redcolours]

by best, i mean strong signal all the time (within 150feet), and NO DROPPED SIGNALS, $80 and under (cheaper is better). i guess these days all wireless routers have some sort of firewall, or some way to keep people from piggybacking off of it.

Are pre-N routers any good? Or just wait and get one of those G routers that use MIMO with 108mbps capability?

no D-Link recommendations please - thats what im trying to get away from. Reasearch points to Linksys everytime, but so does Netgear.

what do you recommend?

[LPMiller]

be prepared for 40 different answers. It's a lot like harddrives, everyone has a favorite, and everyone hates the brand that crapped out on them.

And essentially, it doesn't matter, because they tend to use the same basic networking chips internally, the rest is just design. So we go with warranty.

Linksys actually replaces stuff.

Netgear is an absolute pain in the ass to get a hold of.

Dlink sucks.

Belkin uses the most generic parts, but works ok. Dunno about warranty.

[stufine]

i use a basic belkin b only to broadcast across the street.. 150-170' to another desktop. but nothing moves. router has to be reset for some reason every month or so. 20$ when i bout it. servs my purpose.

[MikeD]

It's a lot like harddrives, everyone has a favorite, and everyone hates the brand that crapped out on them.

:stupid:

Different people will tell you different things.

I have D-Link and have never had a single problem. Others obviously have. Same could be said for every manufacturer. :shrug:

[DarkFury]

My best recommendation....

Buy a Linksys router, hook up a "high gain" booster antenna to it and just enjoy the ride.

The main reason I switched from Netgear to Linksys... the Netgears generally don't allow you to upgrade the antenna (other than that, they are fine). With the boosted signal from the high gain antenna, you'll find that you'll have more signal further away from the base unit.

On the downside, Linksys equipment very rarely goes on sale like Netgear... but I'm assuming that you have $80 to spend, so why not spend it and get exactly what you want. :D

[renovation]

Now I have a Linksys and wish I would have stayed with the old Belkin I had.

[GilbertsGrape]

we have D link at work they are wonderfull. we have probable 30 or so DWL-2100AP > High Speed 2.4GHz (802.11g) Wireless 108Mbps1 Access Point s
http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=292

they work great, we have had them a couple of years now they whre set up one time and never touched after that. we have a lab of 35 PC's all running off one AP and never a problem

we even have them in the basment.



i have the DI-524 router at home got it for like $10 after rebate a year ago. got it set up and it works great. only had to reset info in it 1 time and that is because i complately changed my setup and put my VOIP box infront of the ruter.

[booger73]

I have a Linsksy WRT54G flashed with DD-WRT fireware (www.dd-wrt.com) (allows you to tweak a lot of things).. Very reliable - I use it downstairs and my 360 upstairs across the house (i.e. 80 ft+ away probably) gets a 4 bar signal

[redcolours]

thanks, guys. this is really helpful!
ive read about the firmware flashing of the Linksys router, and how much better it is after - a good selling point. On the support side, Belkin provides LIFETIME warranty - cant beat that either. Its performance seem to have decent reviews too.

see, my Dlink DI-624 router's been ok, but lately ive noticed that even WIRED connection drops out for no apparent reason (just blinks out for a brief second then comes back). Annoying when im streaming music on my HTPC. Im sure you gamers have it rougher to deal with this issue.

im getting a house soon, and it has a basement and an attic. Although wired connection is always the safest, NOT having to wire anything is so much more painless. Its not a big house, but id like to have a reliable wireless connection throughout. thus im ready for something better.

After a few hours of reading, i see that 802.11n is already here. anyone ever used these newfangled devices?

keep the answers coming, guys. with the new technology here now, im not sure if its wise to invest in it now, or just wait a tad longer.
and thanks in advance!

[Airencracken]

Linux based linksys, flash the firmware and crank up the power.

[GilbertsGrape]

If you want to part with the Dlink cheap PM me


thanks, guys. this is really helpful!
ive read about the firmware flashing of the Linksys router, and how much better it is after - a good selling point. On the support side, Belkin provides LIFETIME warranty - cant beat that either. Its performance seem to have decent reviews too.

see, my Dlink DI-624 router's been ok, but lately ive noticed that even WIRED connection drops out for no apparent reason (just blinks out for a brief second then comes back). Annoying when im streaming music on my HTPC. Im sure you gamers have it rougher to deal with this issue.

im getting a house soon, and it has a basement and an attic. Although wired connection is always the safest, NOT having to wire anything is so much more painless. Its not a big house, but id like to have a reliable wireless connection throughout. thus im ready for something better.

After a few hours of reading, i see that 802.11n is already here. anyone ever used these newfangled devices?

keep the answers coming, guys. with the new technology here now, im not sure if its wise to invest in it now, or just wait a tad longer.
and thanks in advance!

[Markel]

Linux based linksys, flash the firmware and crank up the power.
But be sure that you get the WRT54GL (the current Linux-flashable model), or an older WRT54G (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrt54g).

[verve247]

I found most belkin products to be cheap quality and avoid. I like linksys.

[Jeffbx]

OK, from the IT geek (not like I'm alone here!) -

My preference is to use a corporate solution, not a home based solution. I have my cable modem running into a hardware firewall (Watchguard Firebox SOHO (http://cgi.ebay.com/Watchguard-Firebox-Soho-6TC-GREAT-FIREWALL_W0QQitemZ180078273047QQihZ008QQcategoryZ64023QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)- they go for about $50 on ebay). From there I connect up a 3Com wireless access point (http://cgi.ebay.com/3CRWE80096A-3Com-11Mbps-Wireless-LAN-Access-Point-8000_W0QQitemZ260079777949QQihZ016QQcategoryZ44997QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)- not a home version, but a full blown corporate version. These also go for cheap on ebay - about $20-30. Maybe $40-60 if you want 802.11g rather than just b. That's about $700 worth of enterprise class equipment for less than $100.

So now I have no need for any software firewalls on my PCs, my wireless signal is not only secure, but I can also change the strength of the signal - enough to cover my entire house, but not so much that people on the street can see me. The WAP also supports PoE - power over ethernet - so no need to run a power line to the WAP, just the single CAT5 cable.

But I'm a huge computer geek, so keep that in mind... if you just want to go to CompUSA & buy something that'll work out of the box, then go with the WRT54GL like others have mentioned.

[Kevster]

Linksys is a great router, specifically the WRT54GL as Airencracken mentioned. I found it difficult to find a regular WRT54G model that was not v5 or v6 though.

After a lot of research and testing, I went with the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 Wireless-G MIMO Performance Router. It is a high-power G router that did extremely well running the stock firmware versus the linksys WRT54G. I now have my Buffalo running 3rd party firmware Sveasoft Talisman 1.2_g, which is a huge improvement over the stock firmware. I also use a higher-gain 7dB 3rd party antenna from Radiolabs with my router. Combined with the 300mw signal and the 7dB gain of the antenna, I have a very strong signal that blows through the noise sources around my house on the 2.4GHz spectrum, including my microwave and my neighbor's wireless networks. The Sveasoft firmware I use costs $20 for a 1-year subscription and it turns the router into a fully functional (and normally much more expensive) gateway router/NAT firewall.

[LPMiller]

OK, from the IT geek (not like I'm alone here!) -

My preference is to use a corporate solution, not a home based solution. I have my cable modem running into a hardware firewall (Watchguard Firebox SOHO (http://cgi.ebay.com/Watchguard-Firebox-Soho-6TC-GREAT-FIREWALL_W0QQitemZ180078273047QQihZ008QQcategoryZ64023QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)- they go for about $50 on ebay). From there I connect up a 3Com wireless access point (http://cgi.ebay.com/3CRWE80096A-3Com-11Mbps-Wireless-LAN-Access-Point-8000_W0QQitemZ260079777949QQihZ016QQcategoryZ44997QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)- not a home version, but a full blown corporate version. These also go for cheap on ebay - about $20-30. Maybe $40-60 if you want 802.11g rather than just b. That's about $700 worth of enterprise class equipment for less than $100.

So now I have no need for any software firewalls on my PCs, my wireless signal is not only secure, but I can also change the strength of the signal - enough to cover my entire house, but not so much that people on the street can see me. The WAP also supports PoE - power over ethernet - so no need to run a power line to the WAP, just the single CAT5 cable.

But I'm a huge computer geek, so keep that in mind... if you just want to go to CompUSA & buy something that'll work out of the box, then go with the WRT54GL like others have mentioned.

Oh wow, I would never recommend a watch guard for home use. That's WAY too much firewall. Plus transferring ownership of a registered one is a monster pain in the butt, and if you cannot, well there goes your support path - forget about flashing the firmware. They really aren't for the home user at all, and frankly aren't that friendly to the corporate user either.

And frankly, if you have a decent consumer firewall, you still don't need a software version anyway.

[Jeffbx]

Oh wow, I would never recommend a watch guard for home use. That's WAY too much firewall.

But it's red and looks cool. That alone trumps the usability problems.

[DaFunkyUnit]

my cable internet provider, (used to be Comcast, now its Time Warner here in Los Angeles) have compatibility issues with Netgear routers, so it has to be Linksys. so you might want to check with your ISP and see if there are any outstanding issues with certain routers....

[LPMiller]

But it's red and looks cool. That alone trumps the usability problems.

you win this round, but I will have vengeance!

[DarkFury]

my cable internet provider, (used to be Comcast, now its Time Warner here in Los Angeles) have compatibility issues with Netgear routers, so it has to be Linksys. so you might want to check with your ISP and see if there are any outstanding issues with certain routers....
Hmmm...I wonder what kind of issues that would be? (Sounds to me like they are just saying that because they don't assume folks are smart enough to change the defalut IP settings in a Netgear router so that it doesn't have the same internal IP address as the modem they provide thus causing a conflict.)

Usually, the default IP in a Netgear is 192.168.0.1 versus in a Linksys it is usually 192.168.100.1 (personally when my old Netgears used to conflict with the ISP provided modem, I would just switch them to 192.168.10.1)

It's not an "issue"... it's a "feature". :D


But seriously, the cable ISPs are pretty funky about providing any kind of support once they know that you have a router behind their modem... they always like to say "contact the router manufactuer if you are having problems."

[DaFunkyUnit]

Hmmm...I wonder what kind of issues that would be? (Sounds to me like they are just saying that because they don't assume folks are smart enough to change the defalut IP settings in a Netgear router so that it doesn't have the same internal IP address as the modem they provide thus causing a conflict.)

Usually, the default IP in a Netgear is 192.168.0.1 versus in a Linksys it is usually 192.168.100.1 (personally when my old Netgears used to conflict with the ISP provided modem, I would just switch them to 192.168.10.1)


if I used the Netgear router, the connection would be extremely slow. google.com would take nearly 2 minutes to load, sometimes not even loading at all. The CSR at then-Comcast told me that many people (all with Netgear routers) have that problem and that the ISP company recommended getting Linksys. Plus, I don't see how the IP setting can affect connection to the outside internet, since the IP is for the internal network seen by whoever is "inside behind" the router. I dont see how it can conflict with the cable modem's IP, which is the IP seen from the "outside" world and IP number assigned by the ISP. Then again, i'm not an IT specialist, so ... :shrug:

[DarkFury]

if I used the Netgear router, the connection would be extremely slow. google.com would take nearly 2 minutes to load, sometimes not even loading at all. The CSR at then-Comcast told me that many people (all with Netgear routers) have that problem and that the ISP company recommended getting Linksys. Plus, I don't see how the IP setting can affect connection to the outside internet, since the IP is for the internal network seen by whoever is "inside behind" the router. I dont see how it can conflict with the cable modem's IP, which is the IP seen from the "outside" world and IP number assigned by the ISP. Then again, i'm not an IT specialist, so ... :shrug:
Interesting that it has that kind of problem...

I wonder if Netgear knows about it... if so, I'd be surprised if they haven't addressed the issue.

But in any case, I advocate both Netgear and Linksys... so pretty much you got it covered. :thumb: :D

BTW... the reference to the "IP" that I mentioned before is not the "outside IP" ... but the inside one. The same IP that you would use to address the modem from inside your network (in many cases, ISPs use 192.168.0.1 for the modem internal IP), especially if your modem also acts as a gateway instead of a bridge. That was the one I was referring to in my earlier statement.

[redcolours]

UPDATE:

so i went to sam's club, and found a linksys speedbooster router, but i wasnt sure if its the flashable one (i think they all are, just that the older and the Linux versions have a larger ROM capacity). so i didnt get it.

instead, i got the US Robotics Wireless MAXg Router next to it, which was bundled with a PC card.
For $10 less.
And it also has a built-in USB print server. hmm. more features and extras.

this one:
http://www.usr.com/support/5461/5461.jpg

not too shabby performance - on a wired connection moving between sites seem to "feel quicker" compared to my previous DLink DI-624 setup.
Some site reviews havent been TOO favorable tho, but oddly enough customer reviews are the opposite - been rated better than average.

anyways, the highest speed my lappy can get with te PC card is 54mbps even if its right next to it. (supposedly does 125mbps). not sure if its because i havent loaded the software, or if its cuz its XP SP1 only on the lappy (only has WEP). but even at that rated speed, it also "feels quicker" surfing the web. and thats from several feet away.

next real world tests im gonna do are:
1) if i can connect outside from the back of the house,
2)if the built-in print server works as advertised. I found that some print servers somehow dont work well. printing stops halfway thru.
3) if torrent DLs are affected (prolly just need to "punch a hole"). i know shareaza needs one...

i really would have liked to use the linksys recommendations, but you guys are right - they rarely go on sale. I figure id use this for now, then when the N routers start working as advertised, maybe jump to it.
if this sucks with real world tests, ill probably sell it for cheap and give in to the linksys.

thanks again for the recommendations, guys!

[yippiekiyeh]

I have the Dlink gamer router and we've gotten away from the dlink default numbers. It holds up nicely! Though I like Jeff's suggestion, next phase is to enterprise up, since my home is a high bandwidth using household, and the old linksys would choke on the lookup table for all the connections going on.