IT guy says I need a new router

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LateraLex

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
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I've been otherwise very happy with my Linksys WRT54GL but have not been able to work from home without my work VPN from disconnecting/reconnecting multiple times throughout the day.

The IT guy said that a lot of people have issues with the older Linksys routers, and recommended I get something more modern. Assuming that is correct, what would be a good upgrade for me? I really don't want to spend too much time setting up the new router, but would love QoS if it comes out of the box. I have about 4 wired connections and about 6-8 wireless connections, on a 20MBit connection.
 
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Have you determined that the issue is specifically with your router or not? Does this occur whether or not you're wired or wireless to the Linksys?

Seems to me to determine the best purchase make sure you know whether it's the router or the device you're trying to connect via VPN to. I've had issues with a wireless router before and it just turned out to be power saving features I had enabled on it made the radio too weak. I've had other incidences where a wireless driver update on my laptop resolved disconnecting issues.

Seems the "buy a new router" is a generic response and unless you just have cash to burn time may be better spent on identifying your exact issue.

There's nothing wrong with the WRT54GL. It's not the newest thing out there but unless you're looking for increased range and faster wireless speed - replacing it may not actually fix your issue.
 
Before you go buying a new router, make sure your firmware is up to date and also use wired instead of wifi for your computer when using the vpn and see if it still happens. Also, dust it off and make sure its in a spot where it will get airflow... many people never dust their equipment, elt cats lie on it or have it in an area with no airflow and when it starts having problems due to heat they start blaming the equipment when it is really due to heat issues.
 
+DDwrt as well, also before you go any further how old is it? and whats the budget on the new one?

2gxqv82.png
 
Globox said:
+DDwrt as well, also before you go any further how old is it? and whats the budget on the new one?
Click to expand...

It's about 2 years old, and I wouldn't mind shelling out about $100. The issue only occurs on the wifi, it's never been an issue on the LAN. I'll check out DDWRT, but always had the impression that it was tricky to setup?

Would flashing it with DDWRT change how the router operates out of the box, or would I have to make some adjustments to try to fix my VPN issue?
 
If you dont wish to spend much time messing with your router then do not go the dd-wrt route. Besides the wrt54gl is OLD hardware begging to be updated. Get a nice Netgear or Asus router and dont look back
 
Ehren8879 said:
If you dont wish to spend much time messing with your router then do not go the dd-wrt route. Besides the wrt54gl is OLD hardware begging to be updated. Get a nice Netgear or Asus router and dont look back
Click to expand...


i agree. ddwrt is nice but that router is OLD!! get your self something new with N and gb switch.
 
some reviews actually don't show DD-WRT running any better than stock firmware anymore, it just adds more features, which most people don't use
 
Just go and buy a new router. If you want VPN out of the box look at some of the Netgear devices. They are not expensive. You can also look at Asus routers as I have seen some of them supporting a simple vpn tunnel.
 
tricky0502 said:
i agree. ddwrt is nice but that router is OLD!! get your self something new with N and gb switch.
Click to expand...

Eh, I don't agree.


Flash DD-WRT and see how it is. If the problem persists, get a new router.


My Linksys router(using it as a repeater) was a piece of shit until I flashed DD-WRT to it, since then, it hasn't given me any problems; Configuring DD-WRT is extremely easy.
 
Reset router for 15 secs. This usually fix 80% of the problems. Set new network name and password and see if it works. Usually the disconnect every now and then all the sudden, is a sign that the wireless part in the router is failing.
 
Tomato >>>>>>>> DD-WRT

However, agree with others.....way back in the day the wrt54g series was great, did well with various 3rd party firmware such as DD, Tomato, Hyper, etc etc. But it's OLD! Physically it's old..doesn't matter what firmware you put on it, the thing is most likely dying. You're trying to get work done, right? It's worth at least a couple of hundred bucks IMO to get a solid connection to the office.

The wrt54g platform itself....horsepower under the hood, 140 MHz, only 16 megs of RAM...compared to todays more current generation routers with over 400 and 500 MHz and typically least 64 or 128 megs of RAM, and even 256 megs.

One of the best more current models you can mod with 3rd party firmware is the Cisco e3000. It has become the replacement for the venerable wrt54g line. Supported by DD-WRT and Tomato firmware (and others I'm sure). 480 MHz CPU and 64 megs of RAM. One of the highest powered radios radios put out. It is a discontinued model, but you can still purchase factory refurb models at Newegg for about 55 bucks. I've had one running for about a year now in my home...it's been so fast, stable, powerful...I no longer use my linux router as my main router, I use the e3000. First time since the early days of broadband I've run an off the shelf home grade router as my main router.

The 3200, 3500, and 4200 models are great too.
 
The issue only occurs on the wifi, it's never been an issue on the LAN.

Your probably getting interference from somewhere. Like someone else on the same channel. Other routers phones ect. You could try and change the router channel. A newer router with N would help but I would try changing channels first.
 
I'd say pick up a new Dual-Band router and make sure the laptop you're using supports 5GHz. If it doesn't then look into getting a new NIC for the laptop as well and get off the 2.4Ghz band all together. I personally went that route and have noticed a large improvement with the devices that were able to use the 5Ghz band. Also the Netgear N750 I bought also provides a much stronger signal throughout my house.

If you have lots of neighbors around you with 2.4Ghz gateways broadcasting out over all the 2.4Ghz channels. An easy way to check is if you have an android tablet or phone you can download a wifi analyzer app that'll show you all the WAPs in you vicinity. Then walk around your home and keep track of the neighbor's WAPs and what channel they're on. You can then try to manually set your WAP to a channel as far away from the others as possible in an attempt to help with interference.
 
Twiz said:
Reset router for 15 secs. This usually fix 80% of the problems. Set new network name and password and see if it works. Usually the disconnect every now and then all the sudden, is a sign that the wireless part in the router is failing.
Click to expand...

30/30/30 is win as well
 
MrGuvernment said:
some reviews actually don't show DD-WRT running any better than stock firmware anymore, it just adds more features, which most people don't use
Click to expand...

Actually many shows that it performs noticeably slower...

@ YeOldeStonecat

He said WRT54GL which is comparing a Pentium to a Pentium II, WRT54G was also released in several revisions with difference CPUs etc so not all are as bad as first revision.

@ Rest

He most likely wants/needs NAT-T, before recommending and 3rd party firmware it would be wise to look up if NAT-T is actually supported.

//Danne
 
Lots of recommendations here, but I am leaning toward buying a new router, as my network needs have certainly evolved. The are a few recommendations that seem to fit the bill. They are:
Asus RT-N53
TP-Link TL-WDR4300 (Danne, I saw you recommend this in the giant thread)
Netgear N750
Cisco e3000

Has anyone used more than one of these? If it's under $100, has QoS, and is solid... I'm game.
 
Cisco e3000 rock solid.
I don't think I have had to reset it, outside of the times I jacked up the settings.
 
TP-Link TL-WDR4300 should be very nice and have good 3rd party firmware support if you want to try it out. I'm not sure if it supports NAT-T but the manual should tell you regarding VPN. OpenWRT seems to do it as far as I can tell (never tried it myself). This is FWIW the best one if you're looking for a 3rd party firmware compatible router of those you've listed.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/vpn.ipsec.firewall
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/vpn.nat.pptp

This is not needed if you use a SSL based VPN.
//Danne
 
One of the problems with the old WRT54GL is not just the CPU and hence the throughput, but the limited number of allowed simultaneous connections in the stock firmware. This alone could be affecting your overall performance.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/77-max-simul-conn

I think, but could be wrong, that dd-wrt even on that old router lifts that number into the thousands. If someone with more time than me wants to test and confirm?...
 
Valnar said:
One of the problems with the old WRT54GL is not just the CPU and hence the throughput, but the limited number of allowed simultaneous connections in the stock firmware. This alone could be affecting your overall performance.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/77-max-simul-conn

I think, but could be wrong, that dd-wrt even on that old router lifts that number into the thousands. If someone with more time than me wants to test and confirm?...
Click to expand...

i could attach a giant heat sink to mine and see what i could push it into doing
 
I'm going to try the TL-WDR4300 because it looks like a giant spider and will scare anyone from fiddling with it.
 
thedocta45 said:
Cisco e3000 rock solid.
I don't think I have had to reset it, outside of the times I jacked up the settings.
Click to expand...

I picked a refurb one for 15 dollars a few months back, never installed it or anything. I couldnt resist buying it since it was soo dirt cheap. Linksys has made some decent home use routers. I tend to pick up linksys for my friends and family, they tend to be more easy to manage for my end users.
 
So maybe this warrants a separate search, but I am trying to setup QoS on this new TP-link router (install was a breeze). To set it up, I need to specify:
Egress Bandwidth - The upload speed through the WAN port.
Ingress Bandwidth - The download speed through the WAN port.

I tried contacting Comcast and they were useless. Is there any way for me to figure out these numbers myself?
 
LateraLex said:
So maybe this warrants a separate search, but I am trying to setup QoS on this new TP-link router (install was a breeze). To set it up, I need to specify:
Egress Bandwidth - The upload speed through the WAN port.
Ingress Bandwidth - The download speed through the WAN port.

I tried contacting Comcast and they were useless. Is there any way for me to figure out these numbers myself?
Click to expand...

speedtest.net, 80-85% of your average with no network load would give you those numbers. Generally speaking, you can just specify 80% of your speed tier in most localities without the speed test. Rate limiting your downstream (ingress bandwidth) is far less important than rate limiting your upstream (egress bandwidth) on an asynchronous connection (that is, downstream throughput higher than upstream in this case) -- in a lot of home user configurations you can get away with no downstream limit at all, and just a soft limit on upstream.
 
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