Router Recommendations

[Mr.Wolfclaw]

1st post but have been a guest lurking for awhile.

I need your suggestions for a dual band cable router to handle my 5mbps/50mbps connection that is stable, has good 2.4/5Ghz range and performance, to replace an aging DIR-655.

Not bothered if using manufactured firmware, DD-WRT or Tomato. :hmm:

Only major thing, would need to get it from www.ebuyer.com as I have a £100 credit with them after RMA Linksys E4200 (god do the E series suck, even with DD-WRT or Tomato :thumbsdown: ).

Will handle 2 x G laptops, 2 x N laptops, 2 x desktops and 2 x G blackberries.

Gratefull for any suggestions.

 

[alkemyst]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

great site for looking into specs and performance.

 

[ImDonly1]

From that website, my top picks

Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH (2.4ghz only, high power wireless)
http://www.ebuyer.com/169005-buffalo...-wzr-hp-g300nh

Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N
(Same as above except no gigabit LAN/WAN, costs less)
http://www.ebuyer.com/190495-buffalo...r-whr-hp-g300n

Netgear WNDR3700-100UKS (pricey, gigabit LAN/WAN, 2.4/5ghz wireless N simultaneous)
http://www.ebuyer.com/170191-netgear...ndr3700-100uks

NETGEAR WNDR4000 (update to the 3700 above, does 450mbps on 5ghz instead of 300mbps, can't find other differences?)
http://www.ebuyer.com/267521-netgear...ndr4000-100uks

ASUS RT-N56U (less expensive than the netgears, gigabit LAN/WAN, 2.4/5ghz wireless N simultaneous, successor to the rt-n16 below)
http://www.ebuyer.com/264489-asus-rt...router-rt-n56u

Asus RT-N16 (same as above almost, except no dual-band)
http://www.ebuyer.com/190026-asus-rt...-router-rt-n16

Seems like you want a dual-band router, then your options are the asus rt-n56u or the netgears.
Check through the different benchmarks on this link like mentioned in the above post
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/74-wan-to-lan

 

[RaiderJ]

1st post but have been a guest lurking for awhile.

I need your suggestions for a dual band cable router to handle my 5mbps/50mbps connection that is stable, has good 2.4/5Ghz range and performance, to replace an aging DIR-655.

Not bothered if using manufactured firmware, DD-WRT or Tomato. :hmm:

Only major thing, would need to get it from www.ebuyer.com as I have a £100 credit with them after RMA Linksys E4200 (god do the E series suck, even with DD-WRT or Tomato :thumbsdown: ).

Will handle 2 x G laptops, 2 x N laptops, 2 x desktops and 2 x G blackberries.

Gratefull for any suggestions.

I was going to suggest the Linksys E3000, or whatever the new model is. I've been very happy with mine, N/G @ 2.4GHz, and N @ 5GHz.

Why do you say the E series suck? Curious since I've been so happy with mine.

 

[Emulex]

E4200 is the WNDR4000 - both use this fancy SOC all-in-one 2.4ghz/cpu then they tack on a 5ghz modem. the new fast switching module is not supported by DD-WRT. the omni antennas are sucky for mimo.

I love my 2.4ghz only WZR-HP300GN buffalo airstation. It is the fastest 300mbps router i've encountered and most powerful(843mw) to boot. directional antennas so you can focus the beam towards the pc that needs the most oomph. comes with DD-WRT (licensed commercial) or their own easy to use firmware (1.77) - very solid as an access point. $62 shipped on amazon less for a used one.

I get 16.5MB/s @ 300mbps copying files over SMB. The only way to get more is to go to 450mbps (i dont have a usb stick that does that) on a trendnet 900 but those use 5ghz which require twice as much power to penetrate walls/etc. With the new time capsule which only does 450mbps on 5ghz - i get 22MB/S copying at the same distance as the buffalo but most of my devices can only handle 2t2r (300) so its kinda not so great of a feature.

My vote for best router for cheap is buffalo air station WZR-HP300GN 2.4ghz only - the 5ghz model is actually slower i returned it lol.

For 450mbps i'd try the TRENDNET which does 450 on 2.4 and 450 on 5ghz !!.

I only use these devices as AP - not routers. The buffalo detects a dhcp server and auto-switches into an access point - or you can flip the router switch off and it will just be an access point. no futzing around with ports,dhcp enable/disable.

5ghz is highly overrated. I returned the E4200 ($85 shipped) linksys because at the same distance both the 2.4 and 5ghz were a bit slower. more like 12MB/s and that's quite a bit slower than 16.5MB/s - likely due to the use of omni directional antennas instead of directionals.

I'd never recommend the use of DD-WRT - it is buggy and leaks memory and with many new routers there are significant issues with these new all-in-one SOC - they don't handle everything 100% - E4200 has fastpath switch code missing. Atheros has super buggy drivers. It seems DD-WRT is not keeping up with the new technology. Hence why i use the stock 1.77 buffalo firmware with my WZR and it outperforms DD-WRT by a long shot.

 

[JackMDS]

I was going to suggest the Linksys E3000, or whatever the new model is. I've been very happy with mine, N/G @ 2.4GHz, and N @ 5GHz.

There millions of users that do not know that they have a Router, and which model it is.

The only think that they know is that they have Internet with Wireless, and it works so there are happy.

Most of them are using devices like the Netgear 614

Here see the prices that this "miserable" device is still sold.

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/wireless-networking/Netgear-WGR614-Wireless-Router/m704711.html

I.e., the happiness of the consumers is Not a technological variable. - - .

 

[alkemyst]

5ghz is highly overrated.

If you don't need 5Ghz then it's a bad way to go. Personally I need it because I have G wireless cameras and N wireless Desktop/Laptops. So I need dual band / dual radio.

The 5Ghz radio does suck for distance esp in a CBS constructed house like mind with two CBS interior walls to go through. Fortunately for 'web' work G is fine. If we have to do file sharing then it does suck.

I am going to try to hunt down a real Cisco Aironet AP, being in the business now some of my associates have stumbled on them for much less than the $500-1000 pricepoints they MSRP at.

 

[Emulex]

You think the aironet is really that much better? cisco partners get 70% off msrp but i have really not seen the value in their low end product

 

[Emulex]

trendnet does 450 on both 2.4 and 5ghz simultaneous. i wouldn't use it as a router nor would i recommend them to a friend. lol. buffalo was the king until they got kicked out for doing some morally wrong judgements

 

[alkemyst]

You think the aironet is really that much better? cisco partners get 70% off msrp but i have really not seen the value in their low end product

I work one of the top Cisco partners actually.

I would not be targeting the low-end. There are amazing deals out there on other's castaways, but they are hard to find.

 

[boomhower]

I love my E4200, since you don't like that I don't know what to tell. Before it I had the 3700 that I hated the firmware on. With those two out, I would probably give a Buffalo a shot.

 

[Mr.Wolfclaw]

The reaso I hated the E4200, was the way it would drop the signal, the poor network signal/performance, buggy firmware, strange how evry update broke something else.

Obvious that the E series have been rushed to market due to the number of complaints on various forums.

Now the big decision, go with the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH but no 5ghz but seems to be a good router or pay a little extra and give Netgear another chance with the WNDR3700-100UKS.

Oh the inhumanity of it all, will nobody save us from the Euro.

 

[alkemyst]

You think the aironet is really that much better? cisco partners get 70% off msrp but i have really not seen the value in their low end product

Gold is 42%...there are special discount for internal use gear and customers on 8 figure+ contracts, but 70% is extremely range.

Also internal use gear is capped.

 

[Mr.Wolfclaw]

Well bit the bullet and ordered the WNDR3700.

 

[mancy]

Hi,

Check the best netgear wireless routers :

http://www.reviewgist.com/best-netgear-wireless-router

 

[Eug]

I ordered the WHR-HP-G300N, assuming it will be as fast as the WZR-HP-G300NH. I hope that is a correct assumption. I already have a whole bunch of Gigabit switches so I don't really need my router to be Gigabit too. I'll have to see how much better wireless penetration I get with this unit, compared to my el-cheapo Trendnet TEW-452 and 432 units.

I'll try the stock Buffalo firmware first, based on Emulex's recommendation.

With regards to the "Trendnet 900" do you mean the TEW-692GR?

 

[BrianTho2010]

My two choices would be the ASUS RT-N56U or the latest Airport Extreme.

Cisco is always a great choice, but you would need to get separate router and AP's to get dual band. Oh, and Cisco will run you around 10x the price of the other choices.

 

[Eug]

I'll try the stock Buffalo firmware first, based on Emulex's recommendation.

I'm using the DD-WRT firmware just because that's the default. I'm getting a max of 78 Mbps on my MacBook Pro.

What bench software do you prefer for Windows 7?

 

[Emulex]

i copy a dvd over and watch the MB/s - i get 16.5 megabytes/second (300mbps connect rate) on 2.4ghz - the e4200/wndr4000(same thing) got about 12MB/s - don't forget the antennas are directional and with mimo you want to aim them !! 1.77 was faster from buffalo - but dd-wrt (slower) let's you up the power to 1 watt @ 150mbps.

yeah trendnet sucks - but it does 450 on 2.4 and 5ghz. you could rock two usb sticks and connect twice to both bands and while it's not load balancing some data would move over each . 450mbps gets about 22.5MB/s versus the 16.5MB/s @ 300mbps.

fwiw i've not found a 5ghz solution that works as good as the 2.4ghz - if you look at most designs these days the 2.4ghz is a SOC (all in one cpu/modem/etc) then they tape on a 5ghz modem - it just doesn't work as good.

btw with 300 or 450 you will tear a hole in the bandwidth of anything near you (neighbors) - when i'm running a 300mbps copy of the DVD that router is so powerful that my neighbor complained his wifi was teh suck lol.

 

[Emulex]

btw. LION my wifi speeds dropped in 1/2 on my older macbook's compared to snow leopard. haven't figured it out yet. its like its stuck on 150 where as if i pop back to lion i'm at 300 or 270. not sure why. lovely.

 

[Eug]

I just installed the basic firmware of for the Buffalo - 1.82. OMG it sucks. The UI makes no sense whatsoever, which makes configuration actually much harder than with DD-WRT IMO. So, I updated to the latest DD-WRT and I'll stick with that.

I get up to 83 Mbps with that in iperf, with Lion telling me my Transmit Rate is 130. I copied a file over from my iMac, and I'm getting about 7.9 MB/s (63 Mbps). I tried it from my NAS, which usually gives me 18-19 MB/s over the wired network, is giving me only about 7 MB/s.

So, I'm getting about 2-3X the speed of 802.11g, which is slower than I was hoping for. I was hoping for close to 4X the real-world speed of 802.11g, in the range of maybe 11-12 MB/s.

I'll have to test with my PC, but I'm not sure which software to use.

The other annoying thing is that the handoffs between my 802.11g access points (channel 11) and my Buffalo 802.11n (20/40 on channels 6 and upper) aren't as automatic as I'd hoped. If I power off the Buffalo, the Mac will lock onto the weak signal of the 802.11g unit, and it won't let go until it's really slow. I can be running at 5 Mbps for a while off a distant 802.11g access point, even though the 802.11n unit has a much stronger signal (according to the system information). Eventually it may switch over, but it may take a while (unless I manually turn off and on WiFi on the client).

OTOH, the unit seems quite a bit more powerful than my other units. If I stick it in my living room on the main floor, I get great signal in the bedrooms upstairs and in the basement below. My TX Power is set at 20 dBm with the Antenna Gain set at 0 dBi. Is this correct?

EDIT:

I see that the "sticky handoff" for WiFi is normal behaviour, and unfortunately it's not adjustable for my Mac, AFAIK. It'd be nice if I could set it to ignore all access points below a certain threshold, but I can't.

 

[Eug]

So I've been trying to configure two SSIDs for DD-WRT on 2.4 GHz, with one as a guest network.

It can be done but unfortunately (unless I'z doin it rong) I can't separate the two SSIDs onto two separate subnets, unless I turn on DHCP serving. Right now I have my VDSL2 modem doing the DHCP, with the Buffalo DD-WRT unit an access point.

I'm wondering if I should just get myself the new Apple Airport Extreme. It's dual band and has built-in guest networking. The question though is if I'd run into the same problem as above?

EDIT:

Not surprisingly, the same issue exists with the Airport Extreme. The unit must act as the router to be able to keep the rest or the LAN hidden from the guest network.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3477

 

[alkemyst]

Consumer wireless isn't really set up for this. It's one of the things that make a 'business' device just that and why they can charge a premium.

You probably want to setup two devices with two separate networks. Even with a cheap $20 wireless AP, it'd be easier and probably give better performance.

 

[Eug]

In the meantime I have returned the Buffalo router. I just find it irritating to configure... which means I find DD-WRT irritating to configure.

I have ordered the spendy new 3x3 Apple Airport Extreme instead. (I don't think I have any 3x3 clients though. ) Hopefully it's easier to configure with that Airport Utility. Too bad it would suck as a router in some setups, due to its lack of features. However, I'll likely just use it as an access point, with separate 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz SSIDs.

If this works it's not a real guest account since it would be on the same subnet with no firewalls between the two, but whatever.

 

[lotust]

The reaso I hated the E4200, was the way it would drop the signal, the poor network signal/performance, buggy firmware, strange how evry update broke something else.

Obvious that the E series have been rushed to market due to the number of complaints on various forums.

Now the big decision, go with the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH but no 5ghz but seems to be a good router or pay a little extra and give Netgear another chance with the WNDR3700-100UKS.

Oh the inhumanity of it all, will nobody save us from the Euro.

aint this the truth!