Best router, as of today!

Orinthical said:
An older WRT54G or a GL with DD-WRT or the like would be nice, yes. The BEFSX is the wired equivalent.
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Yeah, I love the DD-WRT firmware. Too bad the Sonicwall doesn't have 3rd party fw, though. :p

So the WRT54GL is the wireless equivalent to the BEFSX41?
 
dekard said:
So, would wireless be a requirement of your sub $100 soho router? Perhaps wrt54g with 3rd party firmware in that case...
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Well, wireless is essential to some of my clients; and some of them need to be able to add external antennas to the WAP's because of range issues.
 
dekard said:
I've had bad results with the wrt54g's i've had... seen 5 of them go bad between myself and 1 other person.... the one I've got now seems ok, but I'm only using it as a switch\wap on my *nix router.... got a gigabit switch handling 90% of the traffic and only using the wrt for the wap, print server and... thats it, I think.
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Yea, I remember that actually... somewhere around v2.2/3 I think they must've had a bad batch or something? Not exactly sure but there was definitely something wrong there for a little while. The newer GL's seem okay as well as most of the older G's; my v2 has kept up pretty well, even if it's now been relegated to use as a secured WAP. :)
 
AMD[H]unter said:
Yeah, I love the DD-WRT firmware. Too bad the Sonicwall doesn't have 3rd party fw, though. :p

So the WRT54GL is the wireless equivalent to the BEFSX41?
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Not really... completely different designs... Performance is pretty low on the wrt54g's compared to the modern stuff... 3rd party firmware helps but I don't think I'd stack on up against the dgl-4x00, sonicwall or *nix based...

Man, is there nothing good?

/gets chocolate pie
 
dekard said:
Not really... completely different designs... Performance is pretty low on the wrt54g's compared to the modern stuff... 3rd party firmware helps but I don't think I'd stack on up against the dgl-4x00, sonicwall or *nix based...

Man, is there nothing good?

/gets chocolate pie
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I LOL'ed at that. My Sonicwall is good! Does that count?
 
AMD[H]unter said:
So the WRT54GL is the wireless equivalent to the BEFSX41?
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Pretty much... it's older, yes... but we're talking sub-$100 now. Performance is going to drop off a bit but the GL (which still runs on linux vs the v4/v5 G) still works quite well. Slap DD-WRT on there if they need to boost power / put external ant's on it and it'll put up a fight. As stated, it won't run as well as a DGL or an RV... but it's sub $100.
 
AMD[H]unter said:
I LOL'ed at that. My Sonicwall is good! Does that count?
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Ya, but we're talking under $100 with wireless... Thats a tough thing to find...

/eats chocolate pie
 
Orinthical said:
Yea, I remember that actually... somewhere around v2.2/3 I think they must've had a bad batch or something? Not exactly sure but there was definitely something wrong there for a little while. The newer GL's seem okay as well as most of the older G's; my v2 has kept up pretty well, even if it's now been relegated to use as a secured WAP. :)
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I've had v1, v2.2 and v3's all fail on me... still the best solution for the piece, afaik.
 
dekard said:
Ya, but we're talking under $100 with wireless... Thats a tough thing to find...

/eats chocolate pie
Click to expand...

Yeah, 'tis a true thing.

So is the consensus, that around 200$ it's a dlg-4100 or dlg-4300

and under 100$, it's a wrt54g with dd-wrt, or befsrx41?
 
AMD[H]unter said:
Yeah, 'tis a true thing.

So is the consensus, that around 200$ it's a dlg-4100 or dlg-4300

and under 100$, it's a wrt54g with dd-wrt, or befsrx41?
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best i can come up with.


/finishs chocolate pie... yummy...
 
AMD[H]unter said:
Yeah, 'tis a true thing.

So is the consensus, that around 200$ it's a dlg-4100 or dlg-4300

and under 100$, it's a wrt54g with dd-wrt, or befsrx41?
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Off the shelf:
Around $200'ish:
DGL4100 (wired) or DGL-4300 (wireless) or the RV082 if fail-over redundancy and/or high-throughput point-to-point VPN is a concern of your customer.

Under $100:
WRT54GL with DD-WRT (Wireless) or...
BEFSX41 (Wired)

I'd say.

P.S. Wish I had pie! ;)
 
AMD[H]unter said:
Cool. Now what about under 200$, but over 100$?

(I am getting good at this! :p )
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Considering the DGL-4100 and DGL-4300 run $120-$150'ish, I'd stil say those two...
 
AMD[H]unter said:
Cool. Now what about under 200$, but over 100$?

(I am getting good at this! :p )
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the Dlink's are at Newegg for $111 and $124 right now... I think thats it..
 
dekard said:
Not for the price, Mike. you can get them, and Orinthical seems to have one, but your talking over $100... *nix stuff ranges from free to $50 at most.
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So, it's "best" and "capable" with a set of limitations, which may or my not be appropriate for some applications. Sure. What I'm disagreeing with is the unqualified assertion that the solution in question is "best", and the unqualified solution that it's the only one to handle usage with torrent clients.

If you want to cosnider used equimpment, then also consider buying a used router. Older business class equipment can often be found at prices competitive with current consumer-grade products.
 
Love my D-Link 4300. Worked flawlessly since I bought it over a year ago. Have my HTPC, gaming PC and Xbox360 attached to it an no probs.
 
Coldtronius said:
Love my D-Link 4300. Worked flawlessly since I bought it over a year ago. Have my HTPC, gaming PC and Xbox360 attached to it an no probs.
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Second that. The DGL-4300 kicks ass. Never a problem with mine, ever. Works great for VOIP too.
 
SOHO means Small Office/Home Office...so it does not mean "casual home user". It's usually referring to entry level business grade products.

The wrt54g series was a decent line...but it's gotten long in the tooth...getting a bit outdated. And, IMO, the wrt54g was never a SOHO grade product...it was more just a home grade product. To me, SOHO (meaning..entry business level) should have some business grade network features. That would include such things as being a VPN server, and having a more robust DHCP service that supported "reservations". wrt54g does not.

Someone is bound to say "But...DD-WRT"....well...the OP stated "Off the shelf"..so that tosses DD-WRT out the window.

I've never been a DLink fan, but the 4x00 series is certainly a very strong router..but again..it's aimed at home users, the online gamer, not SOHO. No VPN.

The BEFSX41 was one of my favorite "under 100 dollar routers" of all time...I loved it, I've deployed several hundred of them. Much faster than the BEFSR41 series...had VPN features (which were never completed..it was planned to have QuickVPN support..then the Cisco merger happened and all business VPN r&d was turned to the RV0 series)...but it was a good router. I'd not compare it as the wired equivelant of the wrv54g because the wrv54g did not have VPN features.

The only SOHO router for "under 100 dollars" that I've worked with so far that qualifies as SOHO is the rather new wrv200 line. It has VPN features, supports 4x SSID wireless LANs. It's still going through some growing pains with firmware updates, it has some quirks...but it's getting there..nice feature set for 85 bucks.

So far, I'm still a big fan of their RV082 and RV016 products. However...the 082 model creeps above 200 bucks on average. For my business clients...I usually run that..and I'll sling an WAP54gx4 off of it for wireless. But now we're talking over 400 bucks. When Tim Higgins tested the RV0 at Toms..it was a long time ago..with old firmware, the current firmware is an all new platform, quoted as able to provide 200 megs of throughput. I'm supposed to send Tim my RV0 so he can try it again with new firmware, as due to some dispute he had with Linksys..they aren't sending him test units anymore.

By early fall..we're going to see over half a dozen new products from Linksys/Cisco..most of them aimed at small businesses. Products with SLL/IPSec VPN, gigabit, N wireless, should be some neat stuff.

Sonicwall makes nice products..I've used their stuff for quite a few years..however I'm sick of their pricey suppport policy, and increasingly disappointed in their support...tired of having shouting matches over the phone with Habu. It's sad when I call up a colleage of mine who's Gold partner and have him help me instead.
 
My question is how long will it take dekard to realize that vB code does not work in signatures?
 
Nothing beats this combo right now for consumer grade router


Linksys USB attachable router + Openwrt..= beats the rest flat out

Learning curve for openwrt is fairly hard...if you don't know how to operate Linux..don't bother..but if you do, you got yourself the best router you can possible get with less than $120...
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
By early fall..we're going to see over half a dozen new products from Linksys/Cisco..most of them aimed at small businesses. Products with SLL/IPSec VPN, gigabit, N wireless, should be some neat stuff.

Sonicwall makes nice products..I've used their stuff for quite a few years..however I'm sick of their pricey suppport policy, and increasingly disappointed in their support...tired of having shouting matches over the phone with Habu. It's sad when I call up a colleage of mine who's Gold partner and have him help me instead.
Click to expand...


Dont forget Voip FXS ports :)

I'll second the Sonicwall statement.
 
Orinthical said:
If they need a lot of range... (according to Tom's) this netgear doesn't appear to be too shabby either.

NETGEAR WPNT834 -- $113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833150023

P.S. I hate netgear. ;) But that's just my prejudice... Tom's performance tests show it right up there with the DGL as far as connections and throughput are concerned.
Click to expand...

Netgear makes some better routers than for for around the same cost,
Check Out:
http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WNR834M.php
Or If you want gigabyte lan with it
http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WNR854T.php
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
SOHO means Small Office/Home Office...so it does not mean "casual home user". It's usually referring to entry level business grade products.
Click to expand...

I know that, but, I want a good router. That's why I said SOHO. And I used to have a HO, and I used BEFRS41; so I do know tons of people have a SOHO that use low-end consumer-grade routers.

stonecat said:
The wrt54g series was a decent line...but it's gotten long in the tooth...getting a bit outdated. And, IMO, the wrt54g was never a SOHO grade product...it was more just a home grade product. To me, SOHO (meaning..entry business level) should have some business grade network features. That would include such things as being a VPN server, and having a more robust DHCP service that supported "reservations". wrt54g does not.
Click to expand...

I think our views of SOHO is different. I think that home office is a home user is a guy that works from home.

stonecat said:
Someone is bound to say "But...DD-WRT"....well...the OP stated "Off the shelf"..so that tosses DD-WRT out the window.
Click to expand...

I don't mind putting a stable DD-WRT build into the wild; so DD-WRT is an ok thing.

stonecat said:
The BEFSX41 was one of my favorite "under 100 dollar routers" of all time...I loved it, I've deployed several hundred of them. Much faster than the BEFSR41 series...had VPN features (which were never completed..it was planned to have QuickVPN support..then the Cisco merger happened and all business VPN r&d was turned to the RV0 series)...but it was a good router. I'd not compare it as the wired equivelant of the wrv54g because the wrv54g did not have VPN features.
Click to expand...

I see.

The only SOHO router for "under 100 dollars" that I've worked with so far that qualifies as SOHO is the rather new wrv200 line. It has VPN features, supports 4x SSID wireless LANs. It's still going through some growing pains with firmware updates, it has some quirks...but it's getting there..nice feature set for 85 bucks.
Click to expand...

Are there any 3rd party firmwares availible for these?

So far, I'm still a big fan of their RV082 and RV016 products. However...the 082 model creeps above 200 bucks on average. For my business clients...I usually run that..and I'll sling an WAP54gx4 off of it for wireless. But now we're talking over 400 bucks. When Tim Higgins tested the RV0 at Toms..it was a long time ago..with old firmware, the current firmware is an all new platform, quoted as able to provide 200 megs of throughput. I'm supposed to send Tim my RV0 so he can try it again with new firmware, as due to some dispute he had with Linksys..they aren't sending him test units anymore.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good solution, but I don't think many of my clients would like 400$ for that equipment.

By early fall..we're going to see over half a dozen new products from Linksys/Cisco..most of them aimed at small businesses. Products with SLL/IPSec VPN, gigabit, N wireless, should be some neat stuff.
Click to expand...

Yay! This is a good thing. Make sure to keep us informed; ok?

Sonicwall makes nice products..I've used their stuff for quite a few years..however I'm sick of their pricey suppport policy, and increasingly disappointed in their support...tired of having shouting matches over the phone with Habu. It's sad when I call up a colleage of mine who's Gold partner and have him help me instead.
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
AMD[H]unter said:
I think our views of SOHO is different. I think that home office is a home user is a guy that works from home.
.
Click to expand...

Without question I'm sure it is...I'm going by the commonly used definition of SOHO...Small Office Home Office. This is a widely used term that can refer to any number of categories besides computers. (refer to Google for backup). It's usually considered a step or two above "home grade"...something that's a bit above average, stepping into small business territory. Perhaps not fully business grade...certainly not enterprise grade..but a notch or two above plain jane home grade.

The average "home user" would usually be fine with any sub-50 dollar router with bare minimum features.

Two totally different markets.

Talking a client into spending 300-400 on routers/wireless? Not too hard....once they see all the neat features..experience remote desktop work from home..VPN in, etc etc. If they're too cheap..you don't want them for clients anyways. Seek the SMB market...it's ripe for the picking.

Have not seen 3rd party for the RV0 series yet...which is somewhat surprising..as they are gaining in popularity quite a bit. But then again...the stock firmware is very stable, and rich in features....so maybe not much to gain. hyper and DD got a good start..because stock Linksys firmware wasn't the most stable in the world..and somewhat lacked in features.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Without question I'm sure it is...I'm going by the commonly used definition of SOHO...Small Office Home Office. This is a widely used term that can refer to any number of categories besides computers. (refer to Google for backup). It's usually considered a step or two above "home grade"...something that's a bit above average, stepping into small business territory. Perhaps not fully business grade...certainly not enterprise grade..but a notch or two above plain jane home grade.

The average "home user" would usually be fine with any sub-50 dollar router with bare minimum features.

Two totally different markets.

Talking a client into spending 300-400 on routers/wireless? Not too hard....once they see all the neat features..experience remote desktop work from home..VPN in, etc etc. If they're too cheap..you don't want them for clients anyways. Seek the SMB market...it's ripe for the picking.

Have not seen 3rd party for the RV0 series yet...which is somewhat surprising..as they are gaining in popularity quite a bit. But then again...the stock firmware is very stable, and rich in features....so maybe not much to gain. hyper and DD got a good start..because stock Linksys firmware wasn't the most stable in the world..and somewhat lacked in features.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I see what you mean. I deal with SMB quite a bit, and it seems that the RV082 and 016 would be my best bet, huh? And if I need wirelss, just add a WAP54gx4?
 
I'm not sure who or where the threadcrapping and bickering started, but it ends now.
 
The D-Link 4000 series are good routers in their space, but you could get funny looks if you recommend one to a business -- they've got "Gamer Lounge" written on them..

D-Link has apparently make a product just for this reason, the DI-724GU "Wireless 108G QoS Gigabit Office Router", in a plain grey box, with a USB print server thrown in.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=2&pid=493

I'm not sure, but I'd bet that this is 95% DGL-4300 with dullness thrown on replacing some of the flash. Just FYI -- a suggestion for when a client suits the bandwidth, capability and pricing of the DGL-4300, but wants the business packaging. It's priced around $140 currently, but not widely available.
 
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