17 replies to this topic

[Anthony A]

I am going to be replacing my 3 year old D Link router because it has been giving me some problems lately. I am going to upgrade to the new wireless N standard. Just wondering what brand people are using here and recommend.

[Glenn]

Anthony A, on Mar 8 2008, 01:04 AM, said:

I am going to be replacing my 3 year old D Link router because it has been giving me some problems lately. I am going to upgrade to the new wireless N standard. Just wondering what brand people are using here and recommend.

802.11n is still in draft.

If you buy now, you have to hope the manufacturer can supply firmware upgrades to meet the final standard which is expected next summer.

[Anthony A]

Glenn, on Mar 8 2008, 09:15 AM, said:

802.11n is still in draft.

If you buy now, you have to hope the manufacturer can supply firmware upgrades to meet the final standard which is expected next summer.

Hmm I thought that was pretty much a done deal. Most new lap tops come with N now and the electronic stores are loaded with N routers and blowing out there G routers at discount prices. Dell has the internal wireless cards in stock for all my machines and almost all their new laptops come with N. There would be quite the problem if the "final standard" was different than what is out now and there was no way for people to upgrade.

I need a new router regardless and I don't want to get another G router because we know N is going to be the standard.

[rridgely]

I have always liked linksys routers. Always have worked fine for me with no problems.
I cheaped out a bought a belkin one on sale after my wrt54g got struck by lighting and I've regretted it ever since. I got awful reception with it in places where I used to get perfect connections. But it does work ok and some people love belkin(to be fair I probably have the cheapest possible one they make. http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Belkin-F5D7...roductDetail.do

At the time it was regularly priced around 60 bucks and I only payed 20 during the sale.
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ANYWAY: Most of the tech sites/media that I follow(and trust) have been saying that if you really need a new router then to either just get a g router or go ahead and get an N one if you want it. While its still not an "official standard" most of the hardware has been pretty compatible for a while now. The standard may change but unless you get new hardware to go with it, it shouldn't matter. I haven't ever needed anything better than G so far though.

[1984]

I got the Linksys wireless 300 N router. does everything from N backwards. Its been awesome, gets great reception and has had no issues. I also had/have the wrt 54g like rridgely, and it was a good router as well. i would definately recommend linksys. the wrt model is pretty cheap nowadays too.

[Anthony A]

1984, on Mar 10 2008, 09:04 PM, said:

I got the Linksys wireless 300 N router. does everything from N backwards. Its been awesome, gets great reception and has had no issues. I also had/have the wrt 54g like rridgely, and it was a good router as well. i would definately recommend linksys. the wrt model is pretty cheap nowadays too.

I have pretty much narrowed it down to Linksys or Netgear. I will look up that 300 N Router you have.

What are you using for a wireless N card? Did you purchase the internal ones and install it yourself or are you using a thumb drive one? Do you notice a big difference between N and G?

[1984]

Anthony A, on Mar 10 2008, 09:21 PM, said:

I have pretty much narrowed it down to Linksys or Netgear. I will look up that 300 N Router you have.

What are you using for a wireless N card? Did you purchase the internal ones and install it yourself or are you using a thumb drive one? Do you notice a big difference between N and G?

Hmmm good question. I dont know really. My laptop says its wireless N compatible, and so is the router. So I just set it all up and it worked. Im not super savy with wireless. I know two things....works, and doesnt work. lol.. so far its working.

[Anthony A]

1984, on Mar 10 2008, 11:54 PM, said:

Hmmm good question. I dont know really. My laptop says its wireless N compatible, and so is the router. So I just set it all up and it worked. Im not super savy with wireless. I know two things....works, and doesnt work. lol.. so far its working.

OK so you bought the laptop and it already came with wireless N. You have an internal wireless card for N than. Mine came with G and I have to replace the internal cards with N standard ones. You can buy thumb drive wireless N receivers but than you waste a USB port and have this thumb drive hanging out all the time.

[1984]

Oh ok, I didnt know that. Yeah I hate using up my usb ports (i only have four) because i have a wireless mouse, and a flashdrive that im always plugging in, so if im using any other stuff sometimes i plugging and unplugging and its annoying. I dont know why they dont just put in a whole lot more ports in computers.

Thanks for the info!

[TeeJay3800]

I have setup and secured both wired and wireless routers from Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link. My favorite by FAR is Linksys.

[Anthony A]

I finally had enough of my POS D-Link router. I went and purchased a new D-Link DIR 655 because I was reading good reviews and the guys in the store were all telling me that they use it and it works great. No dropped signals or weak connection blah blah blah. I set it up and tested the connection for speed with my ISP speed test. Lousy results. Download speeds were down but the up load speed was just awful. I was getting a quarter of the speed I was getting before. After an hour on the phone with tech support on a bad phone connection and an almost incomprehensible accent I had enough and brought back the router.

I than purchased a Linksys. Set it up it 10 min and working perfectly. This is what I purchased. http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c...d=1684947577B03

[CTskifreak]

Woot! Linksys! I have one of the Wireless G with Speedbooster, and have never had a problem. Well, I only have 2 PC's hardwired and my Wii is connected wirelessly, but it connects all the way down in our basement/playroom and is fine.

AJ

[Tarun.]

I've got a Linksys WRT54GL loaded with Tomato and it works like a charm. In fact, the Tomato firmware works far better than DD-WRT. DD-WRT has problems with threading downloads (P2P) and can cause things such as surfing the Internet to slow to a crawl, forcing a router reboot.

[CTskifreak]

Tarun., on Jun 14 2008, 12:16 AM, said:

I've got a Linksys WRT54GL loaded with Tomato and it works like a charm. In fact, the Tomato firmware works far better than DD-WRT. DD-WRT has problems with threading downloads (P2P) and can cause things such as surfing the Internet to slow to a crawl, forcing a router reboot.

Maximum PC has recommended the Tomato Firmware on at least 2 occasions now. I would try it, but my router is newer than the supported versions. It goes up to 4 and I have either 5 or 6.

AJ

[Tarun.]

I got mine from TigerDirect, but now NewEgg has better deals. It's the best router I've used.

[Caldor]

consumer grade routers are junk! Try using torrent with 150 connections and see them fall apart. Use untangle on an old machine. It rocks!

[YoKenny]

Caldor, on Jun 15 2008, 03:22 AM, said:

consumer grade routers are junk! Try using torrent with 150 connections and see them fall apart. Use untangle on an old machine. It rocks!

But that involves installing some flavor of Linux and the huge learning time expenditure to figure out how to run it.

Not to mention the precautions that have to be taken when installing a Torrent client that could open up an avenue for all manner of nasties to either be passed through the system or heaven forbid infect your system.

[Tarun.]

DD-WRT cannot handle torrents or any high (20+) number of connections. Tomato can handle them brilliantly.