New router time (N56U, default firmware?)

[nadesico158]

looking at replacing my old WRT54GL (running Firmware: DD-WRT v23 SP2 (09/15/06) std) because a measly couple hundred bittorrent peers kills it when I want 10k+, it also dies in older games like Arma 2 that tries to query 5000 servers directly in a span of 3 seconds.

IP FILTER is limited to 4096 so it tends to kill the router for 5min~ until the old connections time out.


I seen the ASUS RT-N56U for $99 + tax

Is it worth it? I noticed it DOES NOT support custom firmwares... so I intended to use the default firmware.


What I need:

Stable for P2P (IE thousands of bittorrent connections, without crapping out) while still being able to game/browse

Stable in general (heat, speed, responsiveness,good firmware)

Is 8mb flash / 128mb ram good enough?

How is the firewall / bandwidth monitoring on these?

Are there better alternatives in this price point? The $60 price jump on the N66U for DD-WRT support seems... steep.

Are there any downgrades I should be aware of from my old model (literally a 7 year old router on 6 year old firmware)? Other than looking like ugly?

From my research this looks good, the dubious claim of 300,000 concurrent connections (on a $99 router) is what makes me ask


Upgrading my old firmware isn't going to get me any more mileage in the max connection department, right? 16mb ram / 4mb flash didn't seem to age well.

Thanks

 

[JTY]

For your current router, I suggest trying some different firmware first, Like Tomato or TomatoUSB.

FWIW, I use a Linksys E2000 with TomatoUSB. It's stable as a rock.

 

[TypeO]

Is it worth it? I noticed it DOES NOT support custom firmwares... so I intended to use the default firmware.

That statement above is not quite correct...It does in fact support custom firmware, it just may not be DDWRT or Tomato at this time. Here is the link:

http://code.google.com/p/rt-n56u/


I have had mine for about a year and have had no issue with it at all. They are constantly updating the firmware for the router and it gets better (last update was Aug.2012). I firmly believe it will handle whatever you need. I've used both firmwares and honestly haven't noticed a difference so I have just updated to the latest stock release. If you have anymore questions on it, PM me but my speeds have been fantastic on a 30down/12up feed. It has not choked once.