CISCO 851W Router

[wankelguy13b]

Anybody got any thoughts about this router? I'm looking into a good router, especially with wirelss capability and I saw this one. Price is not bad and just want to replace my pos lynksys router I had for years. How troublesome is it to set up correctly?

 

[Orinthical]

Any reason why you want to go with a Cisco product for what I suspect is a home installation, since you're replacing a linksys product?

Aside from the cost factor which may or may not be an issue for you, the 851 only has b/g wireless with a single antenna. Cisco can put as much spin on it as they want but that equates to bad wireless regardless of what environment it's put in. You might be able to get around that by adding an aftermarket antenna but then you're adding parts to what should have been a single-stop solution.

I'd definitely recommend you consider a more mainstream product like the D-Link DGL-4500 or Linksys WRT600/610N, especially if you don't have experience working with Cisco products. While it's possible you could get a dud from any manufacturer (including Cisco), consumer products often have a great feature - the ability to return them to your favorite B&M and get another one. So if that's your concern, just buy it from a B&M and return it for a direct replacement at even the slightest suspicion of a problem.

IF wireless isn't a key feature you're looking for - and instead you want to focus on business connectivity, you might want to look at the Linksys RV series, specifically the RV082. Either that or look into building or buying a *NIX based solution and adding a separate Access Point (AP.)

Hope that helps.

 

[WesM63]

Uhh.. I'm dumbfounded by Orinthical's post..

The 851 is a great home/soho router. I've installed many and NEVER gotten a complaint. It works flawlessly, 24/7/365.

The wireless is just that, wireless. You're joking about the "only has one antenna" thing? Right? Look at the B/G routers on the market, a few have more than 1 antenna and I highly doubt they have enough power to make much of a difference.

My Cisco Express 521 has 1 antenna and covers my entire 2000 sq ft house and my 500sq ft garage, 54Mb throughout.

The wireless is made for a home/soho environment. Don't expect it to do more than that. (Shoot 1/2mile down the road, cover 5,000+ sq ft, etc.)

The only downfall is, yes they are not very "end user" convenient. The Cisco SDM works good and most people could get by with the default config. However, if you want to do more with the 851, which it is made to do, better study up. It uses the Cisco standard IOS.

Cisco has a very small return rate. In the thousands of pieces of equipment that's been through my hands over the years, maybe .25% or less has been DOA. Even then most equipment has a Limited Lifetime Warranty. If you do have to return the equipment, you will have a new one in a week.

There is nothing wrong with using a 851. Providing you don't need GigE and you're not trying to do something with the wireless its not made to do. 99.999% of people that buy a 851 for the proper reasons will never need to buy a new router. (Obviously, taking technological advances into consideration.)

Then again you could always continue buying and replacing those $50 routers every 8-12months.

Just my $.02.

 

[Orinthical]

Uhh.. I'm dumbfounded by Orinthical's post..

Not sure why, considering (aside from the mention of only one antenna) I didn't say the 851 was a bad router. (Just that the wireless solution was rather, potentially, lackluster compared to the high-end consumer products available.) I merely commented on some of its potential downsides to bring the picture back into balance. There's always ground to be gained when you have more than one antenna (antenna diversity), more than one radio and additional non-overlapping channels to utilize. i.e. N-wireless, 20/40 bands, separate simultaneous radios and antenna arrays.

I never said wireless wouldn't work if you only have one antenna - in fact, I never even said you'd lose range or reliability with only one antenna. I apply the same example I use when I used to regularly recommend the DGL-4300 - it's a rock solid router, if wireless isn't your primary need. If you have one wireless device then having more than one antenna won't necessarily help you - but the more devices you have in the environment, the more profound of an effect antenna and radio diversity will have.

But I digress, my main point is that there's been a huge shift, especially here, to skip right over the higher end consumer product space and go right to business-class devices when a low-end "$50" router doesn't do all the things someone desires or outright dies.

As you eluded to - many people buy something and then use it in a manner that it isn't necessarily designed, or in this case marketed, for. A "$50" router isn't necessarily the solution for someone who has more than a few computers at home, games or uses VoIP, streaming media or torrenting.

... Then again you could always continue buying and replacing those $50 routers every 8-12months.

Exactly - but then again that both makes my point and perpetuates what I am trying to combat; the fact that people complain when they buy cheap equipment and automatically think that because the cheap router they purchased failed, they are going to have to bypass the high-end of consumer routers and go straight to business-class devices. That's simply unnecessary for the vast majortity of home users and enthusiasts alike. Before spending over $100 more than you need to, the OP may want to at least try the upper echelon of consumer products.

But hey, just my $0.02, as you said.

 

[JayAre]

Wes!!! What up man? Long time no talk. I see you got some more certs under your belt.

Seeing as how the 851 is only about $300 bucks....I'd say go for it.

Aside from all the technical stuff...how cool is having a Cisco router at home? Much less a Wireless Cisco router. Go for it!!

Yeah I'll admit it.....Cisco makes me horny.