Wireless Router - Best One So Far?

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Philistine

Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« on: 26 Jul 2007, 02:41 pm »
I have a busy wireless household:
2 pc's
2 laptops
VOIP
SB3

Plus 3 separate wireless phone systems (landline X 2/VOIP).

Over the last 6 years I've worn out 3 different wireless routers (Linksys and D-Link), they start to become unstable and crash resulting in constant reboot/recycling to get them up and running again.
I read consumer reviews on Cnet/Amazon and did the dance at BestBuy, the so called different experts at BB all telling me which brand of router was the best - all of them recommending a different brand to the previous 'expert'.
I finished up making my own choice based on consumer reviews and bought the Belkin N1 router, not for its N1 capability but for its robustness and signal strength on regular 802.11 b/g.
It's now been in service for 6 months and works great, I've been able to remove signal repeaters and high gain antennas as the N1 gives strong signals throughout my 2 story house and even in the basement.  FWIW it has a lifetime warranty, and crushes all my neighbors signals!

I can thoroughly recommend the N1 for anyone looking for a robust router that generates a strong signal, is future proof and a good warranty.
   
 
« Last Edit: 26 Jul 2007, 11:31 pm by Philistine »

Thebiker

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #1 on: 26 Jul 2007, 02:49 pm »
That's timely info for me :D.  I've been scratching my head and mumbling to myself over what wireless router to go with for the Squeezebox that I'm ordering next month. 

Thanks for a recommendation :thumb:.

craig223

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #2 on: 26 Jul 2007, 03:48 pm »
I have Linksys 802.11n that covers all of a 3 story house from the first floor.  It is fast, reliable and easy to setup, even with security.  It is much faster than the D-Link 802.11g that it replaced.  Bottom Line - It works as intended.

tonyptony

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #3 on: 26 Jul 2007, 04:50 pm »
I've always liked Netgear routers, but will admit that the signal strength never seemed great. Good enough, but not great. I had to add a booster antenna to one (just to get a PC that was almost immediately above it on the second floor to work). Glad to hear about the Belkin. How flexible and robust is the configuration capability?

Vapor Audio

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Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #4 on: 26 Jul 2007, 06:01 pm »
I just bought some Netgear N stuff about 6-8 weeks ago because my D-Link 108mbps stuff simply wasn't cutting it anymore.  Well, ever since the second I got the Netgear up and running, I haven't had a single second of dropouts of network slowness.  It's been a very nice upgrade.

jqp

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Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #5 on: 26 Jul 2007, 09:44 pm »
I recommend D-Link DIR-655 - best performance and best warranty (I think 10 years in Europe)

Certified for Wireless N

A wireless router is somewhat of a religious issue...and your milage may vary...

Here is a fairly objective review

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30087/96/

As far as price/performance it depends on what you want - it has gigabit wired lan and allows the most wireless connections i.e. from a laptop or other device (yes each device can use and wants to use use many connections)

I was able to get it for $US 109, worth every penny - firmware is now 1.04
« Last Edit: 26 Jul 2007, 09:58 pm by jqp »

Philistine

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #6 on: 26 Jul 2007, 11:27 pm »
I've always liked Netgear routers, but will admit that the signal strength never seemed great. Good enough, but not great. I had to add a booster antenna to one (just to get a PC that was almost immediately above it on the second floor to work). Glad to hear about the Belkin. How flexible and robust is the configuration capability?

I found the Belkin setup to be the easiest, most flexible and a very good user interface when compared to what I've previously owned.  You can download the manual off the Belkin site and explore further.
Guess the common theme thats coming out of this is that the N1 routers are generating better signals than previous protocols.

Mike Dzurko

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Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #7 on: 8 Nov 2007, 03:57 pm »
Thought I'd bring this one back to see if anyone has any updates. My 5 year old Dlink is constantly dropping out all over the house. I'm adding Tivo w/ wireless adapter, and planning to add Squeezebox (Wayne B modified ) soon as well. So any additional advice on the router with the best reliability and good coverage?

The house is a one story cottage type with a walkout lower unit where the video room is. Max distance is probably less than 60', but there are of course walls in the way.  Any advice is appreciated!

mcullinan

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #8 on: 8 Nov 2007, 04:07 pm »
I use a Netgear G Mimo Router which is pretty good. I have 2 floors, very thick, and get about 60 percent reception.. Computer upstairs, SB3 downstairs. I wanted to get better reception so I tried several N Routers because they are supposed to go farther, but I returned them all finding the Wifi distance was less than the Netgear. I tried a DLink N Router, and a Buffalo N Router.. nogo. Hopefully they will come out with something that actually does have a better Wifi distance.
Mike

The Computer Audiophile

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Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #9 on: 6 Dec 2007, 07:15 am »
I am using the Apple Airport Extreme N. I also have VOIP and a few other devices on it and it is the best router I have had. I've tried them all.

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bpape

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Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #10 on: 6 Dec 2007, 11:54 am »
I've had DLink, Netgear, and Linksys.  I've settled on the Linksys WRT54G.  Easy to use, easy to set up and manage, reasonable price, solid performance.  I have one for the house and one for my demo system on the road. 

Bryan

Turnandcough

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #11 on: 6 Dec 2007, 03:08 pm »
...I've settled on the Linksys WRT54G.  Easy to use, easy to set up and manage, reasonable price, solid performance...
Same here only it's the "S" version with Speedboost which is disactivated for Squeezebox. I'm 100% satisfied minus the occasional reset.

DSK

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #12 on: 6 Dec 2007, 07:44 pm »
The Netgear WPN824 MIMO is available pretty cheaply now and has good range. I have only needed to do 2 resets in 2 years and it has never had a dropout. It is shared wirelessly by my SB2 and my wife's Toshiba laptop, and other PC's use the hardwire connections as they are physically close to the router.

Rashiki

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #13 on: 6 Dec 2007, 09:11 pm »
I've been running a Linksys WRT54G with DD-WRT firmware for a couple of years now with absolutely no problems and excellent performance.

 -Rob

dullskull

Re: Wireless Router - Best One So Far?
« Reply #14 on: 3 Jan 2008, 07:52 am »
 I've had good results with ZyXEL. The P-330W router and the G-302v3 pci card.