Should I upgrade my router?

[andrewsmc]

So here is my question and please excuse me for being a network tard.

I have an old handy dandy Linksys WRT54GS that I have used for many many many years... Will I see any benefit if upgrading to something newer? Also keep in mind that I am hardwired and the only thing that uses its' wireless is my iphone or tablet. Also, I'm not too worried out hackers or any serious online threats. Should I upgrade, or is this giving me plenty of everything I would get from say a newer $100.00 model?

Thanks!

 

[W1zzard]

Nope, no benefits, unless you need faster Wifi between your local Wifi devices, which you don't, as you mentioned.

 

[Frick]

Depends a bit on your internet connection too, but if you have a pretty slow connection it will not matter.

 

[The Von Matrices]

My Linksys WRT54GL 1.1 router could only handle about 45Mb/s of WAN. I replaced it after Comcast increased their speeds to 50Mb/s and the router became the bottleneck. The upgrade in wireless connectivity was a nice side benefit.

 

[AsRock]

So here is my question and please excuse me for being a network tard.

I have an old handy dandy Linksys WRT54GS that I have used for many many many years... Will I see any benefit if upgrading to something newer? Also keep in mind that I am hardwired and the only thing that uses its' wireless is my iphone or tablet. Also, I'm not too worried out hackers or any serious online threats. Should I upgrade, or is this giving me plenty of everything I would get from say a newer $100.00 model?

Thanks!

Nope!, although it does depend on a few things.

Well when i did i noticed my ping dropped about 4ms while playing online games. How ever if you have a network of computers or\and use wireless any multiple devices streaming it be more worth while.

And to my last point were i noticed a jump from 45-50Mbs to 80-100Mbs downloads due being on a high speed Comcast line although i decided it was not worth the extra money..

BTW i use a WRT54GL and the one i was trying out was the Amp RTA 15 and even if it was $100 it would not be worth it to me unless there became a higher usage on the wireless side.

 

[remixedcat]

That router is ancient and has a very slow processor though as well as having no gigabit LAN ports.

You will be needing an upgrade to deal with more devices.


Older routers with weak CPUs can't deal with a lot of connections at once regardless of the number of devices connected. This means the amount of connections such as websites, programs, etc's connections to the LAN,WAN etc.

Most old routers choke on people having a lot of sites open.

Newer hardware can cope with it better.

 

[remixedcat]

Your routers specs:
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Linksys_WRT54GS_v6

Note that it only has a 200 MHz CPU

Mine:
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Amped_Wireless_RTA15

However I plan on upgrading soon to get a wave 2 802.11 ac router and adapters as the difference is like going from a hub to a switch with MU-MIMO.

Yes.. I even push that router to its limit on my network.. Lol

 

[Sasqui]

Recently ...about a year ago, went from a WRT54G to an ASUS RT-N66U. Among other things, N is snappier, but the biggest positive is RANGE (it about doubled). I use it for Smartphone, tablet and laptop. The other plus with that router is 2 USB ports for a network printer and/or NAS/Cloud storage. I can't say much good about the printer functionality though, it's got issues.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I have this router at my apartment while here at school from the ISP. Its one of those motorola DOCSIS 3.0 modems with router built in and its awful for wi fi range and speeds. having a wired connection with my rig its 20mb while wireless with my laptop is like 5.