I need a new router...

[Kantastic]

Okay, I need router suggestions. My $90 Cisco WRT160N V2 is now 'out of warranty (and apparently tech support as well, those inbred bastards)' so I'm on the market for a new router. The WRT160N V2 probably works fine if I reset it (pings been high, websites been taking a little while to load, streaming has been a tad slow) and since Linksys wouldn't help me even after I bitched @ the 'manager' for 5 minutes (this is after another 5 minutes of bitching @ the original agent), I'm ready to smash this piece of shit into bits and shove it up Obama's ass.

Excuser mon Français.

Summary: I need a reliable wireless N router that works and isn't by Linksys or Cisco for under $50. If I have to stretch the budget for a significant difference in quality/performance, I will.

 

[brandonwh64]

i have like 3 WRT54G routers if you really need one

They work perfect with DD-WRT

 

[Mussels]

Okay, I need router suggestions. My $90 Cisco WRT160N V2 is now 'out of warranty (and apparently tech support as well, those inbred bastards)' so I'm on the market for a new router. The WRT160N V2 probably works fine if I reset it (pings been high, websites been taking a little while to load, streaming has been a tad slow) and since Linksys wouldn't help me even after I bitched @ the 'manager' for 5 minutes (this is after another 5 minutes of bitching @ the original agent), I'm ready to smash this piece of shit into bits and shove it up Obama's ass.

Excuser mon Français.

Summary: I need a reliable wireless N router that works and isn't by Linksys or Cisco for under $50. If I have to stretch the budget for a significant difference in quality/performance, I will.

try disabling all logs on the router, sometimes they fill up with errors and thats why the routers slow down. (EG: torrents to a blocked port can cause tons of error reports about failed connections, etc)

 

[Kantastic]

i have like 3 WRT54G routers if you really need one

They work perfect with DD-WRT

Honestly, I'm not too thrilled about having a Linksys product in my house. I gave my money to Linksys again after my dad smashed by original WRT54G in rage 'cause I gamed too much because they've always been great with tech support over the phone. I had no idea what I was doing but they always got the problem fixed. Guess things have changed since the last time I called.

try disabling all logs on the router, sometimes they fill up with errors and thats why the routers slow down. (EG: torrents to a blocked port can cause tons of error reports about failed connections, etc)

I'll give it a shot.

 

[[Ion]]

I can't say enough good things about our WRT54G w/ Tomato, but you clearly aren't in the mood for another Linksys.

I've had good luck with D-Link in the past, not so great of luck with Netgear and Belkin

 

[Kantastic]

I can't say enough good things about our WRT54G w/ Tomato, but you clearly aren't in the mood for another Linksys.

I've had good luck with D-Link in the past, not so great of luck with Netgear and Belkin

That's 1 vote for D-Link. I have heard good things about D-Link and their DIR-6XX series.

 

[[Ion]]

Yep, my friend has one of those, and he's pretty happy with it. Good range, wireless speeds, reasonably priced, and he says it's been reliable.

I've also heard decent things about Trendnet, but I don't know anyone who has one

 

[francis511]

http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=377018

I have one of these no complaints.

 

[Zen_]

I've been really happy with the Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N using dd-wrt. Compared to my old WRT54G (also with dd-wrt) it has a 400 MHz CPU vs. 200 and 32MB of ram vs. 16 (some actually have 8). The dated hardware on the WRT54G was enough for a basic router but it never had enough resources for QoS, which for me was the main attraction of dd-wrt. The Buffalo handles different service levels for VoIP, http, games and bittorrent perfectly. At $50 it's almost a giveaway and it's most understanding that it actually ships with Buffalo branded dd-wrt now.

 

[Kantastic]

I've been really happy with the Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N using dd-wrt. Compared to my old WRT54G (also with dd-wrt) it has a 400 MHz CPU vs. 200 and 32MB of ram vs. 16 (some actually have 8). The dated hardware on the WRT54G was enough for a basic router but it never had enough resources for QoS, which for me was the main attraction of dd-wrt. The Buffalo handles different service levels for VoIP, http, games and bittorrent perfectly. At $50 it's almost a giveaway and it's most understanding that it actually ships with Buffalo branded dd-wrt now.

Thanks! Good to hear that Buffalo has a contender, it's so close to Black Friday though, I'm going to wait a month and see if I can find some of the suggested models for cheaper than retail.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I have a D link DiR-655 and its great. haven't had a problem yet

 

[Frick]

Wait you don't want Cisco or Linksys? They're the best out there imo.

With that said, I bought a dirt cheap router for my parents from TP-Link (TL-WR743ND) and it works pretty darn well. That model is not N though, but I really liked it.

 

[newtekie1]

I can't say enough good things about our WRT54G w/ Tomato, but you clearly aren't in the mood for another Linksys.

Here is another vote for the WRT54GL w/ Tomato. One of the most stable and well built consumer routers I've ever owned and worked with.

It doesn't have Wireless N, but that is why they make Wireless Access Points.

 

[Kantastic]

If it's a Linksys router, no.

 

[newtekie1]

If it's a Linksys router, no.

I can tell you, having worked with hundreds of different consumer routers as a network engineer:

1.) You shouldn't be concerned about brand. They all have shitty models and they all have good models. You want a good model, forget the brand.

2.) Tech support for all of them are shit. You talk to an idiotic Indian guy that reads a script and tells you the same BS about resetting the router, unplugging it, and restarting the computer, and when that doesn't work they tell you it is a problem with your computer. You shouldn't be wasting your time with these idiots, in fact never call the "tech support" it is useless. You will have better luck asking your questions and getting help here.

Besides, putting Tomato on the router pretty much voids the warranty on it anyway, and they certainly won't be able to give you any tech support on it, so what does it matter if the tech support is shit?

If you are dead set against Linksys then the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 will run Tomato. However, because it only has one antenna, it doesn't get as good of a signal coverage as the WRT-54GL with two antennas. The ASUS WL-520GU is also a Tomato capable router, probably the cheapest available.

 

[Kantastic]

TPU probably should have been the first place I went, no idea what was going on through my thick skull. I laughed @ your Indian comment, mostly because it's true. Though I admit that their English has improved immensely since I last called.

Kenshai also told me to buy a Tomato-capable router. I honestly never understood the significance of 3rd party firmware, but after all this, I probably just going to give it a shot.

Would a wireless G router (such as the WRT-54GL) bottleneck my internet speed? I've seen up to 33 Mbps during the early hours, and it's usually 15-20. And would the amount of connections be an issue? We're likely to have 4 computers up & running simultaneously, and at least 2 constantly downloading and/or streaming.

 

[newtekie1]

The wireless G might bottleneck your internet speeds slightly. I say might because I've seen up to 35MB on my connection, and I've been able to get that using my wireless when I'm close to the router with 5 bars of signal strength. However, with the router in the basement and my netbook in my second story bedroom I only get 4 bars of signal(which is still damn amazing, as most other routers I've tried wouldn't even reach the bedroom, forget about getting a good signal), and with only 4 bars of signal my speeds drop down into the 17Mb/s to 20Mb/s range.

But if you feel like wireless G is not enough, or you find it is limitting your internet speeds, you can always add a simple cheap Wireless N access point to the setup later on down the road. They can be had for little as $25, and then you get the best of both worlds. The WRT-56GL w/ Tomato running your network and Wireless N.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Wait you don't want Cisco or Linksys? They're the best out there imo.

With that said, I bought a dirt cheap router for my parents from TP-Link (TL-WR743ND) and it works pretty darn well. That model is not N though, but I really liked it.

linksys/cisco are garbage. i went through like 5 and never could get our laptops connected to the wireless

 

[Frick]

linksys/cisco are garbage. i went through like 5 and never could get our laptops connected to the wireless

Wierd, but I assume there is truth to your statement.

BTW, at tech support troubles: I was on Microsoft Tech support for awhile, and a lot of calls were from people that had talked to the router's/ISP tech support and they just directed them to us, even if it was obvious that the router was dead (one case: router not getting power = problems with Windows Vista :shadedshu).

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Wierd, but I assume there is truth to your statement.

BTW, at tech support troubles: I was on Microsoft Tech support for awhile, and a lot of calls were from people that had talked to the router's/ISP tech support and they just directed them to us, even if it was obvious that the router was dead (one case: router not getting power = problems with Windows Vista :shadedshu).

right when i went to D Link it fixed all my problems!

 

[newtekie1]

right when i went to D Link it fixed all my problems!

I've never had a problem connecting to wireless with any Linksys or Cisco product. Just because you couldn't figure out how to setup a basic wireless network without using the WPS button doesn't mean the product is garbage.

When you have a basic understanding and knowledge of how something works, you don't have problems like you claim to have with Linksys/Cicso products.

I can teach anyone in 10 minutes how to setup a wireless network on any consumer level wireless router(because they are all fundimentally the same) without relying on those BS one button setup options that only work half the time, and because they actually set up the network themselve and understand what all the setting mean, they will have no problem adding any wireless device to the network.

 

[Mussels]

personally i think its less about certain products being junk, and more about default configs.


for example:

if your internet connection works on PPoE only and your router defaults to PPoA, you're gunna assume that any router that defaults to PPoA is junk and PPoE is superior.

same goes for wifi config, or in my case my phone exchange only handles ADSL2 - not ADSL2+, so that any routers defaulting to 2+ drop out all the time and appear 'bad'