The Router Recommendations Thread (Consumer)

After returning that Dlink-815 I stuck with my old DIR-615, but the wireless was just so spotty, even with a pair of high ganers on there. Freaking streaming mp3's would stutter and hangup, rdp was laggy as hell within my network.

Man'd up and got a WNDR3700. Almost got the 3400, don't really need gb lan... Now at least, maybe it'll come in handy later on. Even though none of my devices see or use the 5hz network, everything wirelessly is just so smoooooooth. Keystone Light smooth baby. Wlan signal strength is 100% throughout the house (about 1900sq.ft). Much stronger than the DIR615 with giant ass antennas on it. It cost a chunk, but I hope it's worth it.

Do I really need DD-WRT or not?
 
No good answers here so far.

What about a used Cisco 890 series router.

A PFsense box.

Any other ideas?
 
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The new Cisco routers are excellent when you upgrade the standard firmware to DDWRT. Some of the features like wireless repeating isn't available, but the router get's solid features, is pretty stable, and doesn't get bogged down too easily under load.
 
I'm in the process of upgrading my home network to Gigabit and Wireless N equipment, and I'm looking for some router advice.

My setup will require one router, one 16-port switch and one 8-port switch. I've already purchased the 8-Port Gigabit switch (D-Link DGS-1008G) and I plan on purchasing the 16-Port Gigabit switch (Cisco SR2016T) over the next few days.

The following devices will be connected to the network:
- 4x Laptops
- 4x Smartphones
- 2x Xbox 360's
- 2x PlayStation 3's
- 2x Wii's
- 1x Desktop
- 1x A/V Receiver
- 1x Blu-Ray Player

I'm considering the following routers:
- ASUS Black Diamond RT-N56U
- D-Link DIR-655
- NETGEAR N750 WNDR4000

I was originally leaning towards the D-Link DIR-655 because I've been running a D-Link DI-624 flawlessly for years, but then I found out about the new Asus and Netgear routers and now I'm having trouble deciding which router will provide the best performance.

I need a router with long range and good speeds, and I need something capable of handling a high traffic networking environment (Multiple users on Xbox Live, Netflix, etc at the same time).

Should I get the D-Link DIR-655 as originally intended? Or would you recommend the Asus, Netgear or another router entirely?
 
So far no dropped signals or any problems with my ASUS RT-N56U!

I'm happy about buying this one :)

DD-WRT has received a donated RT-N56U last month. Hopefully they will release a firmware for it soon.
 
I'm looking for a router and I'm wondering if it exists... lol

I have a 3200 sq ft home... the router will be situated in the center of the basement. I would like to have a full signal throughout the house. Would prefer the router have DD-WRT or Tomato support and also be 802.11N.

Does this router exist? Any suggestions?

No set budget... Thanks!
 
What I had to do at my parents place was get a Wireless Access point and put it in to bridge mode to extend the wireless to the back of the house. Now this is a 6,000sq ft. home.

Wireless is supposed to be around 300' diameter broadcast range, or 150' Radius.
 
I ended up buying the Asus RT-N56U based on a few reviews I've read and due to the recommendations posted here.

I've had it setup for a few days now, and the performance is great. I'm especially impressed with the wireless coverage. There were two rooms in the house that were dead spots when using the D-Link DI-624. With the Asus RT-N56U, the whole house now has wireless coverage.

I only wish the firmware offered more advanced settings/options. Hopefully DD-WRT will become available for the Asus RT-N56U in the near future.
 
My Dlink 4300 gave up its ghost after 6.5 years so now im back at trying to find a good router that will handle my gaming loads that I put on it with PC and 360. I couldn't give a crap about wireless because everything in my house is cat5e wired, so paying for all this dual bandwith hoo haa doesn't make any sense to me.

I would however like to have my gigabit networking back if at all possible but beyond the gaming and some light bittorrent, I just want a reliable router. Suggestions?
 
Do you think that a WRT54GL would limit my internet connection from hitting 25mbps? Shaw up'd our bandwidth, but I don't seem to hit it very much.
 
Silverghost said:
Do you think that a WRT54GL would limit my internet connection from hitting 25mbps? Shaw up'd our bandwidth, but I don't seem to hit it very much.
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Are you still using stock firmware with that router? If so then yes you could very well be limited by the router.
I used the WRT54GL for quite some time with upgraded 3rd party firmware and loved every minute of it. Was more then fast enough for the most part for the "speedburst" of ~25mb/s that Comcast had at the time.

The firmware that I used and recommend to this day for the router you have is called "tomato":
http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato
Best lightweight firmware for this router period.
 
Those with WNDR3700v1 OR WNDR3700AV should upgrade to their recently released Version 1.0.14.98 of their firmware. IPv6 support is also great. These routers can be bought refurbished quite cheaply and ALOT of refurbished units existed because of past firmware issues. It now beats their WNDR3700v2 AND WNDR4000 in terms of range and features. It should also be better than the E4200.

Overall I'm waiting for the TrendNet N900 & the ASUS N900 routers which has 450Mbps on BOTH bands. The 1GB RAM "specialty" gaming router from ASUS looks interesting also, though it probably will never see the light of day as it is likely a "concept" router they often show off at CES shows but never manufactured in large numbers.
 
What would you guys say is the BEST 802.11N router on the market for stability and range? Don't care about the price... Thanks
 
The firmware that I used and recommend to this day for the router you have is called "tomato":
http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato
Best lightweight firmware for this router period.
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There are variants of the Tomato firmware, which I would agree is the best. However, these variants make it better. My favorite is TomatoUSB. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato_(firmware)

Also, for any who are using the RT-N56U may wish to take a look at smallnetbuidler's forums concerning the router. It may not be know to you all the issues with VPN, QoS, and the hardware NAT acceleration. The last few pages are informative: http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=4317
 
Would you all suggest getting the WNDR3700v1 or waiting for the TrendNet N900 & the ASUS N900 to be released?
 
My Linksys E3000 has been doing well. Other then being real warm, no lockups or slowdowns after 100+gigs worth of bittorrent downloads/upload the past week
 
AMD_RULES said:
Would you all suggest getting the WNDR3700v1 or waiting for the TrendNet N900 & the ASUS N900 to be released?
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If you can get a WNDR3700v1 for less than a hundred, then grab one. Avoid the WNDR3700v2 as it is just a test run for their WNDR3800 and will be phased out rather quickly=no more firmware support.

You should also avoid anything not Broadcom or Atheros unless 3rd party firmwares aren't important. But Atheros & Broadcom refuses to release their dual/quad core router cpu's for use in consumer routers as it will benefit tremendously the processing of 3/4 stream routers and double/triple the speed of USB NAS support. I'm just hoping a few asian manufacturers like RAlink will force broadcom and atheros to release faster consumer router cpu's.
 
Took back my E3000. Was working well even after a week of 100+gig bittorrent use, but I think for spending a bit more, I wanna get the more powerful E4200 to last me longer down the road. I just don't trust Netgear products for quality and gaming uses unless someone would like to prove me wrong. And the Dlink 4500 is way behind the times on features and stats compared to current routers, especially throughput and max connections
 
Netgear routers are also limit # of NAT table entries to 4096 or less even if it has plenty of memory. Linksys/Cisco are a bit better nowdays, because gameserver refresh/p2p were locking up routers and they increased it significantly. Windows also had the # of half-open socket limit removed. I still think Netgear are a bit better before the E4200 was released.. Now they are on par since the hardware is nearly identical to the WNDR4000. WebGUI is better on the Cisco routers... until Netgear roll-out their "improved" GUI sometimes this year..
 
The GUI interface of the netgear looks better looking overall then the Cisco but I haven't fiddled with a netgear personally. I personally have heard nothing about this improved GUI from netgear from all the reviews i've read on it.

I personally don't have much need for high end wireless at this time other then my Driod X, I just want a router that will be able to handle gaming and bittorrent loads without slowing down/locking up and last down the road.
 
In the market for a higher end router in the lower 100 price range, and want to hear some views on these two.

The netgear 3700

Asus N56U

SmallNetBuilder's charts and reviews are really making me want to get the ASUS, but I don't want to end up finding it has some critical flaw to its seemingly stunning performance and kick myself later for not purchasing the 3700 after seeing so many glowing reviews of it here.
 
roflmywaffle said:
In the market for a higher end router in the lower 100 price range, and want to hear some views on these two.

The netgear 3700

Asus N56U

SmallNetBuilder's charts and reviews are really making me want to get the ASUS, but I don't want to end up finding it has some critical flaw to its seemingly stunning performance and kick myself later for not purchasing the 3700 after seeing so many glowing reviews of it here.
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Dude, there is crap loads of reviews on the 3700 if you google them and if you read SNB review and chart comparisons, you pretty much have all the info you need. If you wanna know the baddest ass router to be launched, this is pretty much it unless it goes vaporware

http://wl500g.info/showthread.php?p=225922
 
Yeah, I've been reading up on those two till my head hurts. I think I'm going to go with the ASUS. I've always liked their products in the past.
 
roflmywaffle said:
In the market for a higher end router in the lower 100 price range, and want to hear some views on these two.

The netgear 3700

Asus N56U

SmallNetBuilder's charts and reviews are really making me want to get the ASUS, but I don't want to end up finding it has some critical flaw to its seemingly stunning performance and kick myself later for not purchasing the 3700 after seeing so many glowing reviews of it here.
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The wndr3700v1 for less than $100US is the ideal router for now, it seems more mature... And wait for the 3x3 on BOTH bands to come out and mature, eg getting the wrinkles out of their firmware, before upgrading again. The 802.11n specs puts the limit at # of streams at 4x4 I believe... without needing to come up with another standard.
 
AMD_RULES said:
What would you guys say is the BEST 802.11N router on the market for stability and range? Don't care about the price... Thanks
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WNDR4000 hands down.

With a 3 stream capable desktop or notebook adapter, you will see 20+ megabytes real world transfer speeds. I was peaking at 23 megabytes per second from two rooms away.
 
computerpro3 said:
WNDR4000 hands down.

With a 3 stream capable desktop or notebook adapter, you will see 20+ megabytes real world transfer speeds. I was peaking at 23 megabytes per second from two rooms away.
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The problem with the WNDR4000 & E4200 is they are 3 stream on 5GHz ONLY and 5GHz has VERY lousy range already. Because of shortcuts used in the processing of the streams (CPU/chipset limitation), they can't extract much useful information when it's 1 or 2 walls away as the signals are quite faint in the 5GHz band. In such obstructions, they are equal to the 2 streams routers.

I'd recommend waiting for a router w/ faster cpu & adds 3x3 2.4GHz. Did you see the reviews how the TrendNet was more than a third faster than the WNDR4000 in the 2.4GHz band?
 
What's the cheapest 802.11N WAP or router (that I can disable DHCP on) with 5GHz support I can buy?
 
Chibo said:
What's the cheapest 802.11N WAP or router (that I can disable DHCP on) with 5GHz support I can buy?
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even cheap good n routers approach $100, which is close to wndr3700.

save yourself some havoc. get a netgear 3700. the v2 is fine. there are different routers, but no better.

the refurb e4200 from cisco for $115 is also awesome.
 
What's the best 802.11N router? Is it even worth going with 802.11N yet or should I stick with G?
 
Just got an E4200 and love everything about it. Works flawlessly and leaps and bounds better than the WRT54G it replaced :D
 
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