Recommend me a router!

[TemjinGold]

Hey guys, I'm on Comcast 12Mbit cable. Old router is a Linksys $20 thing I got a long time ago (G router.) It's crapping out pretty bad. I don't know too much about routers and don't wanna mess with flashing firmware and whatnot but I'm hoping to get a quality router. I game a good bit. Don't mind spending up to $200 if that helps. What do you guys recommend and why?

 

[TemjinGold]

Nobody can recommend a single router?

 

[JackMDS]

Most of us are taking a position that since release standard 802.11n hardware is coming soon, it is better to wait until we have a good choices of real sdandart devices.

Mean time this can be your best bet of 802.11g Wireless Routter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833162134

 

[TemjinGold]

Oh. When is "soon" roughly? I might be able to wait...

 

[BriGy86]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Most of us are taking a position that since release standard 802.11n hardware is coming soon, it is better to wait until we have a good choices of real sdandart devices.

Meantime this can be your best bet of 802.11g Wireless Routter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833162134

Has there been much headway for N? I remember 3 years ago we had pre-N stuff all over. It seems like it's been taking a long time.

 

[Markbnj]

I wouldn't say I'm waiting, but I would say that while the whole 'N' thing remains in committee or wherever, your best bet is matching products from one mfg. I have a DLink DIR-655 router that I have been very happy with for over a year now. It's not cheap, or wasn't, but it is fast, stable, and reliable. When matched with DLink draft-N adapters such as the RangeBooster line, or any of their PCI draft-N adapters for desktops, you get top-notch speeds.

 

[TemjinGold]

Oh... I'm using the onboard ethernet from my mobo.

A friend recommended I look at this. Is that what you guys are waiting for/good/overkill/etc.?

 

[Slatz]

Originally posted by: TemjinGold
Oh... I'm using the onboard ethernet from my mobo.

A friend recommended I look at this. Is that what you guys are waiting for/good/overkill/etc.?

Seems a bit pricy to me.

The way to use dual-band 802.11n correctly is to keep mundane tasks email, Web surfing, etc on 2.4 GHz and throw all your streaming tasks audio, video, and such on the 5 GHz where the lanes are wider. This router however you can only use one band at a time.

If you don't do streaming you may be wasting your coin here. Could be beneficial if you do a lot of online gaming however.

I think I may wait for pricing to drop accordingly before jumping in.

Try this one instead.

 

[JackMDS]

The whole thing of calling a Router Giga is a farce.

You have Giga computers you would get better result from pluging it to this $18 Giga Switch.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833156250

Then if you are afraid of flashing buy the Router that I linked to above, or this one if you do flash.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833320023

By the beginning of next year you probably would have a better choice than the $159 that you linked to and it would cost less money.

However I admit that I have a Disability in this matter, I have difficulty with Truher logic, and I can not buy according to social desirability. :shocked:

 

[Wuzup101]

Seems a bit pricy to me.

The way to use dual-band 802.11n correctly is to keep mundane tasks email, Web surfing, etc on 2.4 GHz and throw all your streaming tasks audio, video, and such on the 5 GHz where the lanes are wider. This router however you can only use one band at a time.

If you don't do streaming you may be wasting your coin here. Could be beneficial if you do a lot of online gaming however.

I think I may wait for pricing to drop accordingly before jumping in.

Try this one instead.

Note: The netgear router that he linked is simultaneous dual band.

For the record, I do have said router... and it's honestly the best router that I've ever used/purchased. Was a nice upgrade over the 2x WRT54G's running DD-WRT that I had previously (though they are still part of my network). Definitely not cheep (I think I paid $150 even)... and I would have liked to have waited until it came down to under $100...

 

[Maximilian]

Currently the best router overall is netgears WNDR3700, plus most of the "draft" N devices can be firmware patched to official N status which usually will only involve a change in the logo. My WNDR3700 runs cool, its got good range, it got a great review over at smallnetbuilder: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...5-start-your-buying-netgear-wndr3700-reviewed it beat all the competing routers in range/throughput, including the WRT610n. Its also got a USB storage option that works pretty well, theres a few hiccups with it but they will be patched with firmware.

 

[TemjinGold]

Thanks for all the replies! I guess I should ask more questions as maybe I'm looking at more router than I would notice. Here is how my "network" is laid out:

1) The stuff hooked to the router are my desktop PC, my Lenovo T61, my mono laser printer, my new iTouch, my cable modem, and my PS3.
2) Currently, many PS3 games are practically unplayable online (that could be Sony's fault.) When DLing demos and whatnot from PS Store, I get kicked off fairly often.
3) I am using the onboard NIC for the desktop.
4) Everything is in the same room. The PS3 is the furthest from the router at about 12 feet.
5) I don't stream anything. I download, play games online (no MMOs though), and want to use my PS3 online more if possible.

So with all of that stated and given that I don't want to mess with flashing stuff, what's the absolute best router I could get for my money? Is all this fancy N-stuff going to make any difference for me? I'm willing to pay for whatever router if there will be a tangible difference (so money is no object if more money gets me a better router in ways that would help me due to how I use it) but I don't want to buy something that won't help at all due to me not being its intended audience. I'm fine with "small improvement for big premium." I just don't want to buy "zero improvement for big premium." Thanks!

 

[JackMDS]

If you are waiting for some one to make a decision for you sooner or later some one would do, and usually it entails what is good for the other person.

Personally I do not recommend hardware that I do not own or do not have experience working with in other places.

Thus I do not recommend at the moment any of the 802.11n since almost all of them are still Draft_N.

As a result if you decide on 802.11g the Router in my previous link is The Choice.

Judging from your post above I do not see any compelling reason to own a Draft_N.

"Dual band" sound exotic and engrossing social desirabilty, but less than 1% of end users have any use to it since they do not have the client hardware for it.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Sounds like you just need a solid wifi connection between the PS3 and router. N / G - it makes no difference. Get the Buffalo HP-54G and flash Tomato onto it right out of the box - it's painless. The firmware will be familiar to you coming from Linksys. It's really not a big deal to flash it and it's really stupid not to. In Win7, I just had to figure out that you need to use TFTP and it took literally less than 60 seconds to flash - then it's just the same process as setting up any router you would be buying. PM me if you need me to send you TFTP, so you don't have to find it.

 

[TemjinGold]

Thanks, I'll look into that!