Need a better router help my find one

M

marcusicp

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 20, 2003
Messages
422
I have a D-Link 4300 that I am using right now and it works fine for 1 hour or so then it starts to slow way down and then it will freeze until I reboot it. I have 4 computers connected wireless and plan to add a 5th soon. I transfer and download about 40gigs a day (24hrs).

What I am looking for is a better router that will handle the work load with out freezing up, will allow for good wired and wireless connections, and be easy to set up. Price isn't a big issue but nothing that is way expense either. It would also be great if I can have something that will let me expand some as well. I can see myself doubling the amount of traffic and computers in the next 5 years.

Thanks for any help.
 
1. Look at any Linksys or Netgear products that meet your needs. They have a history of being among the more reliable brands, while DLink has a slightly worse reputation.
If you can provide a more detailed description of what you need (type of wireless, number of switch ports needed (if any), type of internet connection, any special application needs, etc), I'm sure someone here can make a more specific recommendation.

2. Don't expect ANY consumer-grade router you purchase today to be adequate in 5 years, or even working for that matter. At the pace electronics are developing, you can pretty much bet most items on the market today will be near obsolete in 5 years. That may be overly pessimistic, but as they say, expect the worst, hope for the best. Or is it the other way around....

3. Consider using the word please in your subject ;)
 
I've been happy with my Buffalo WHR-HP-G54. I've been hearing good things about the new Buffalo WHR-125 which I think is the replacement for mine. You can still find Buffalo WHR-G54S and WHR-HP-G54 routers pretty cheap. Install DD-WRT on it if you get one.
 
amenthes said:
1. Look at any Linksys or Netgear products that meet your needs. They have a history of being among the more reliable brands, while DLink has a slightly worse reputation.
If you can provide a more detailed description of what you need (type of wireless, number of switch ports needed (if any), type of internet connection, any special application needs, etc), I'm sure someone here can make a more specific recommendation.

2. Don't expect ANY consumer-grade router you purchase today to be adequate in 5 years, or even working for that matter. At the pace electronics are developing, you can pretty much bet most items on the market today will be near obsolete in 5 years. That may be overly pessimistic, but as they say, expect the worst, hope for the best. Or is it the other way around....

3. Consider using the word please in your subject ;)
Click to expand...

1. All of the desktops have range-booster G D-Link wireless adapters in them now. I want to go wired when I stop being lazy and feel like crawling around in my attic. I would like to be able to have 8 or so computers connected with wire within the next 3 to 5 years and, 2 or 3 computers connected wireless. I have an 8MB cable Internet connection.

2. I have nothing against going outside the consumer realm but I still want something that is easy to set up. As I said my budget is very flexible but I don't want something way past my needs. I don't need to be [H] with my router! I don't expect that I will have the best in five years, I just want something that will allow me to use 5 year old tech to hook up a few more computers to it.

3. Oops! I meant to put please, sorry bout that one. :)
 
With the expectation to move to that many wired PCs, you will probably want to get a router and a small switch. Most of the broadband routers out there come with 4 or 5 switch ports built in. You can always purchase another 8 port switch and plug into the router though.

I'd look at the 802.11G routers from Linksys personally, just because I'm hesitant to purchase a Wireless-N product before a standard is formalized. I'm sure some others will have a few good recommendations as well.

The one disadvantage to moving away from DLink is that you may not get all of the range-boosting/speed-boosting features that the cards support. Those usually only work as advertised when using the same brand router and wireless card. Probably not that big of a deal though....

I don't mean to indicate that a business-grade router would be any better. Most of what I would consider business-grade routers are Cisco or Juniper or similar type wired routers, and aren't even applicable in your situation. I just want to convey that you shouldn't expect to purchase a device to last 5 years. It very well may, but think back to any computer products you purchased 5 years ago. I'd imagine most are not still being used.
 
You might want to troubleshoot your existing router before you spend money on another.

I assume you are using the latest firmware. Do you have the latest drivers for all of your network adapters? The drivers on D-Link's site are relatively old are known to lose connectivity periodically. Download the newest drivers:

XP/2000 v6.0.3.85 (ignore the vista32 on link)
http://www.station-drivers.com/tele...6.0.3.85-vista32(www.station-drivers.com).exe

XP64 v5.3.0.56
http://www.station-drivers.com/tele...os_5.3.0.56-2kxp(www.station-drivers.com).exe

Vista v7.3.1.25
http://www.station-drivers.com/tele...s_7.3.1.25_vista(www.station-drivers.com).exe

Do you see any LAN or WAN errors on the Status -> Statistics screen? If so, you have some faulty cabling.



Could you describe what you mean by "freeze up?" What are you doing when it becomes unresponsive? Lots of p2p? Or something else? Are you trying to browse the web after doing lots of p2p?
 
I do lots of p2p and also lots of streaming from my server to my HTPC's. By freeze up I mean that I will loose connection on all of my computers until I reboot the router. Once I reboot the router everything is fine for an hour or more but never more then 6 hours.

I have the latest firmware for the router and I have 7.3.1.42 drivers for the adapter cards.

Thanks for the help so far.
 
If you're heavy into P2P stuff.....you hit the router hard with many concurrent connections, not to mention the additional traffic of spyware and trojans that infest your system with P2P content. You probably won't be happy with any home grade router...build yourself a linux router like IPCop or Endian.

Else...probably the most powerful home grade router you can purchase is DLinks 655 model. Get N...the benefits really are that much better.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
If you're heavy into P2P stuff.....you hit the router hard with many concurrent connections, not to mention the additional traffic of spyware and trojans that infest your system with P2P content. You probably won't be happy with any home grade router...build yourself a linux router like IPCop or Endian.

Else...probably the most powerful home grade router you can purchase is DLinks 655 model. Get N...the benefits really are that much better.
Click to expand...


All of the p2p I do is legal so I shouldn't have problems with spyware and trojans. I have thought about building a Linux router but I don't really want to get that deep into something. I have never seen Linux much less know how to use it.

Also I am not opposed to going with a commercial grade router as long as it is easy to set up.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
...Else...probably the most powerful home grade router you can purchase is DLinks 655 model. Get N...the benefits really are that much better.
Click to expand...

I've been reading about the Dlink DIR-655 and so far the reviews are pretty positive. This usually retails from $129-$149.

Frys.com sells this for $99 + (tax if applicable) and free shipping. It has been OOS for the longest time and Fry's finally got some in stock today. I just bought one right now. Hopefully, this will turn out to be a good router.

LINK

PS: Also, this seems to have the latest Draft 2.0 802.11n specs and has gigabit ports.
 
Well the DGL-4300 is one the best consumer-grade routers available so I think it's time for you to step it up to a Cisco switch. But first I would try to see if D-Link will RMA it for you because that router should definitely be able to handle 24/7 P2P work.
 
HiJon89 said:
Well the DGL-4300 is one the best consumer-grade routers available so I think it's time for you to step it up to a Cisco switch. But first I would try to see if D-Link will RMA it for you because that router should definitely be able to handle 24/7 P2P work.
Click to expand...


This is what I was thinking. I assume that the Cisco switch wouldnt be easy to set up...
 
HiJon89 said:
Well the DGL-4300 is one the best consumer-grade routers available so I think it's time for you to step it up to a Cisco switch. But first I would try to see if D-Link will RMA it for you because that router should definitely be able to handle 24/7 P2P work.
Click to expand...

It's actually getting a bit long in the tooth now..been out for at least a couple of years, it's been replaced by the 655 model which runs circles around it.

No need to step way up to Cisco either....many in the 200-300 dollar range..entry level business grade routers like the Linksys/Cisco RV0 series...RV082 or RV016.
 
marcusicp said:
I have thought about building a Linux router but I don't really want to get that deep into something. I have never seen Linux much less know how to use it.
Click to expand...

You'd be amazed at how easy they are to build and setup/manage. You don't need to know Linux AT ALL, it's a bootable CD...it holds your hand through the easy peasy setup wizard....and managing it is just like any home grade router....via a web admin through your web browser.

Take an old PC with a midrange P3 or higher, 256 or more RAM..a pair of standard NICs..install IPCop or Endian..and you'll have a router with the performance of an enterprise router costing 10 grand.
 
I have a LinkSys WRT54G V6 with the DD-WRT firmware (v2.3 SP2 micro). I had similar issues, it was attributed to my "BT" program opening too many ports on the router. Lucky for me, the DD-WRT software allows me to up the number of mappable ports. As soon as I jacked up the value, my issue went away.

Maximum Ports (Default: 512, Range: 0 - 4096) = 2048
TCP Timeout (in seconds)(Default: 3600, Range: 0 - 3600) = 120
UDP Timeout (in seconds) (Default: 3600, Range: 0 - 3600) = 120

Cobalt2112.png
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
You'd be amazed at how easy they are to build and setup/manage. You don't need to know Linux AT ALL, it's a bootable CD...it holds your hand through the easy peasy setup wizard....and managing it is just like any home grade router....via a web admin through your web browser.

Take an old PC with a midrange P3 or higher, 256 or more RAM..a pair of standard NICs..install IPCop or Endian..and you'll have a router with the performance of an enterprise router costing 10 grand.
Click to expand...

Can I make is wireless? Would I just use an access point? Any links out there with step by step instructions? Thanks!
 
yes you can make them wireless, either by installing a wireless NIC as a 3rd zone, or the easy method..just sling an access point off of it (I do this at home).
 
dd-wrt is linux based firmware for routers

from http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down.php?path=downloads/stable/dd-wrt.v23 SP2/&download=notes.txt

DD-WRT supported/tested router hardware versions
Router: Serial Number prefixes:
Linksys WRT54G 1.0 CDF0xxx or CDF1xxx
Linksys WRT54G 1.1 CDF2xxx or CDF3xxx
Linksys WRT54G 2.0 CDF5xxx
Linksys WRT54G 2.2 CDF7xxx
Linksys WRT54G 3.0 CDF8xxx
Linksys WRT54G 3.1 CDF9xxx
Linksys WRT54G 4.0 CDFAxxx
Linksys WRT54G 5.0 (JTAG only with cfe update, see http://wrt-wiki.bsr-clan.de/index.php?title=Flash_Your_Version_5_WRT54G)
Linksys WRT54GL 1.0 CL7Axxx
Linksys WRT54GL 1.1 CL7Bxxx

Linksys WRT54GS 1.0 CGN0xxx or CGN1xxx
Linksys WRT54GS 1.1 CGN2xxx
Linksys WRT54GS 2.0 CGN3xxx
Linksys WRT54GS 2.1 CGN4xxx
Linksys WRT54GS 3.0 CGN5xxx
Linksys WRT54GS 4.0 CGN6xxx

Linksys WAP v1.0 (micro only)
Linksys WAP v2.0 (micro only)
Linksys WAP v3.0 (micro only)

Linksys WRTSL54GS CJK0xxx

Linksys WRT300N v1 (v24 only)

Allnet ALL0277
Buffalo WHR-G54S
Buffalo WHR-HP-G54
Buffalo WZR-HP-G54
Buffalo WBR-G54
Buffalo WLA-G54
Buffalo WBR2-G54
Buffalo WBR2-G54S
Buffalo WZR-RS-G54
Buffalo WZR-G300N Mimo / Nfinity (v24 only)
Belkin F5D7130/7330 (2mb flash)
Belkin F5D7230-4 v1444 (2mb flash)
Belkin F5D7230-4 v1000
Belkin F5D7231-4
ASUS WL500G-Deluxe
ASUS WL500G-Premium
ASUS WL-300g
ASUS WL-500g

Motorola WR850G/GP --> see flashing notes below
Siemens Gigaset SE505 --> see flashing notes below
Siemens Gigaset SX550i --> same as SE505
Ravo W54-RT --> see flashing notes for SE505 v1 (identical to SE505 v1)
Askey RT210W --> see flashing notes for SE505 v1 (identical to SE505 v1)
Click to expand...
 
I was looking for a computer based linix router. Any ideas what software to go with?
 
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