The Router Recommendations Thread (Consumer)

Fryguy8 said:
What is the difference between 4500 and 655? It seems like the only major difference is the 4500 does dual-band whereas the 655 does single band.
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The DGL-4500 supports "dual-band wireless-n" although how useful that is remains to be seen as it does not offer simultaneous dual-band operation, so you must choose between one band or the other.

The DGL-4500 offers "GameFuel", game-specific optimizations over-top of the underlying QoS engine. In addition to that, the DGL-4500 sports a nice OLED display and future-support for custom widgets. The DIR-655, on the other hand, has been the reigning consumer-grade performance champ for a while now. The DGL-4500, in testing thus far, seems to be just as good as the DIR-655 as far as throughput.

In the end - I think you'd be best served by a build-your-own solution and use your existing router simply as a wireless AP. If that's not possible or you just don't want to deal with it, either the DIR-655 or DGL-4500 will serve you well. It's just a matter of whether you want the additional spectrum, GameFuel and OLED screen of the DGL-4500.
 
Perfect synopsis, thank you.

I'll probably end up with d-link for now, and experiment with router boxes (seems like pfsense is the way to go, given that I want a bsd-based system), and maybe make the switch sometime later.
 
D-link has their new and forthcoming DIR-855 up for preorder on their site for...$360! :eek:
 
Finally got the TRENDnet TEW-633GR this week from NewEgg...seems decent enough, considering it's supposed to basically be a DIR-655 in different clothing, but not exactly a quantum leap from my ZyXel X-550...
 
Help? I'm a complete n00b at this networking stuff.

OK, I have 2 VM machines, new one Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe mobo (see sig) (2 nic), older gamers edge 1000 has A8N-SLI mobo (1 nic). Just got a new Arris TM502G/CT modem from Comcast - internet only, no phone. Also have a "dedicated" cable line from internet modem to splitter outside.

Someone had given me a LinksysWRT54G v.2.2 router. This is a wired connection between just the 2 puters, and they're about 10 feet apart. After 3 days of working fine, suddenly no internet! lights all on, nobody home. Finally took the puters off the router - new one still won't connect to the modem (yes, I reset), old one finally did connect.

New puter, after spending hours with one of the VM SuperTechs is now directly connected to internet via modem, but old one -no connection. I didn't set up the network and I'm really lost. Only store nearby is radioshack :rolleyes:

Network must be wired. No wireless on old puter, there is on the new one (on mobo), but 2 things - 1) I've never been able to uses a cordless phone in the apt ... 100 y/o house, lots of wires outside, I don't know what all. But cordless just doesn't work in general anywhere in the house.

2) the router I have now and it looks like most wireless routers? are 2.4 GHz ... there is a microwave oven on the other side of the wall from where the router will be, and those use the same 2.4 GHz, as do alot of cordless phones ... stumbled on this info. There's no other place to put either the router or the microwave. Doing searches it seems mostly all routers are wireless, though yes I know you can make them wired. But would that interfere anyway? Or is there a router that isn't 2.4 GHz? http://books.google.com/books?id=wf...LeO3ttF&sig=iCOS0iCTiaullxwC7lTiV57KfXY&hl=en

So, any suggestions that won't cost this confused, first time at networking, fed up with all of it old lady an arm and a leg? Any help is most appreciated.
 
i just picked up a DGL-4500 today to replace my dying wrt-54g with dd-wrt hopefully i made a good decision
 
Are any of these SoHo/Gaming routers capable of static NAT (aka 1-to-1 NAT)? If not, does anybody know of one that is?
 
shade91 said:
Are any of these SoHo/Gaming routers capable of static NAT (aka 1-to-1 NAT)? If not, does anybody know of one that is?
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Not that I know of but I could be wrong. :) You may be better off building a router using pfSense of one of the other firewall distributions available out there if that is a must-have.
 
We are using PFsense at my work with 2 x IBM 305's and dual WAN. There is some configuring involved but its much nicer to work with than our outdated cisco router!
 
DOOOOOOOOOH! my dlink di-524 just died. kept giving me internet dropouts. So im wondering aboout the d-link DIR-625. Is the interface it uses straight forward and not overly complicated? I just want something that works(3 pcs, 1 wireless connect) without too much setup hassle, as im still noobish in networking. I know enough to get into trouble, but cant get myself out of it hehe. Thanks.
 
NIVO said:
DOOOOOOOOOH! my dlink di-524 just died. kept giving me internet dropouts.
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I hate that router, officially the biggest pos thing i ever have owned, i thought i would just let you know my hatrid towards it :)
 
its been flakin out for 3-4 mos, i just have let it go to keep gettin by. But i would appreciate some insight to my post above for thoughts when someone has the time. Cheers.
 
What about one of the buffalo routers, but i have heard lots of good things about the 625. In your situation, any wireless router will do the trick really, do you really need wireless n etc?
 
dont need wireless n at this time, however i would like it for future reference, should i bump up. I am using the ole USB DWL-G122 adapter to my arcade down the hall for my wireless needs. But would welcome the option to n should the need arise. I definitely want better signal than the 524 had(which was weak) so kinda why i was leaning to the 625, also price was a factor for bang for the buck there.
 
If thats what you can afford, then i would go for it if you are planning on going to n in the future. Rerember routers only last a couple of years anyway under heavy use.
 
heck id settle for a $40 router if it had good speed and a interface i could understand hehe.
 
Does the D-Link DGL-4500 (HIRD WIRE CONNECTED) offer any other benefits then the D-Link DGL-4300 IEEE 802.3/3u, & the D-Link DIR-655 IEEE 802.11n ???

I need to get the best gaming router, I will be using Hard Wired Connection, but I need wireless for my father. I was told the op 3 are the best. Which one has the BEST hard wired support?

Thanks
 
Zer0Cool said:
Does the D-Link DGL-4500 (HIRD WIRE CONNECTED) offer any other benefits then the D-Link DGL-4300 IEEE 802.3/3u, & the D-Link DIR-655 IEEE 802.11n ???
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The DIR-655 has a QoS engine but does not have any game-specific optimizations. The DGL-4300 and 4500 have game-specific optimizations that D-Link refers to as "Gamefuel." The main differences between the DGL-4300 and 4500 are the wireless capabilities and performance. The DGL-4500 also contains Gamefuel 2, which has updated detection rules compared to the first generation. The difference between the DGL-4500 and the DIR-655 is Gamefuel. So I would rate them in this order: DGL-4500, DIR-655 and then DGL-4300.

Zer0Cool said:
I need to get the best gaming router, I will be using Hard Wired Connection, but I need wireless for my father. I was told the op 3 are the best. Which one has the BEST hard wired support?
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All three of the routers you listed contain gigabit switches so there is very little, if any, distinction between their wired performance capabilities.
 
As part of my job I setup wireless networks for a living. I do love the Dlinks but I have to admit a new product from Linksys has become one of my new favorites its the WRT160n. It has no outside antennas and is actually Quite damn fast. I replaced an old linksys that was a mimo to this N router and with the latest firmware updates I have instantaneous response to my dsl connection far better then before and with the Wireless Usb300n adapter from linksys I am getting 5 bars excellent signal from well over 300 feet through several doors and walls into my room. No drops no slowdowns. I am getting downloads as fast as if I was directly connected to my Dsl modem. Definitely needs to be on this list and It retails for an average price of 89 dollars!
 
Added the DIR-615 as I just purchased this little guy for a friend on a tight budget and (with B2 hardware and the latest firmware, 2.24) was very impressed with it's performance. Very nice $50'ish router. Bestbuy.com has it for $49.99 right now and Newegg has it for $55. Compared to others at this price point, this is one solid little router.
 
I am deciding between the Linksys WRVS4400N and the D-Link DIR-655. Everyone seems to like the DIR-655 but I have seen no comments on the Linksys. Does someone have experience with it?
 
Mr. D. said:
I am deciding between the Linksys WRVS4400N and the D-Link DIR-655. Everyone seems to like the DIR-655 but I have seen no comments on the Linksys. Does someone have experience with it?
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Not sure about that one, sorry. The track record for linksys "security" routers hasn't exactly gone well in the past though, at least judging by what reading there is out there on some of the other models. The main quam many had with them was that Linksys was giving consumers a year of free IPS (intrusion protection) updates and then charging them for it -- I don't know if that's still the case so perhaps someone else can comment on it.

In many cases, if you're wanting IPS/IDS/Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware at the gateway, you're much better off with a UTM solution like Untangle, IPCop w/Copfilter, pfSense or the like.

Is this for a business or your home? If it's a business that doesn't necessarily need wireless, you may be better served in that price-range by looking at the RV082. If it's for your home, you would probably be better served with either the DIR-655, DGL-4500 or a UTM solution depending on your needs.
 
I am not looking for IPS/IDS/Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware features but I thought that the WRVS4400N was comparable to the DIR-655. I want to do some p2p and BT downloading. Therefore, it needs to be able to handle portforwarding and port triggering. My current router has those options, only it doesn't work.

The DGL-4500 isn't available im my country so I think I'll be going for the DIR-655. I already downloaded and inspected its manual and I like the interface.
 
Orinthical -

Can you please remove the WPN824v2 from your list? I purchased it based on the recommendation in this thread and haven't been pleased with it. I play TF2 via steam and apparently there is an issue with Netgear routers in general that locks them up when searching for servers. The sudden hit of 1000's of outbound connections just locks the router up for 5 mins or so, thought it happens intermittently.

Netgear support, while responsive, hasn't helped fix the issue. They suggested putting the router in DMZ mode, or disable SPI, or this and that but in reality it is buggy hardware. At this point, when I get some extra flow I will be replacing it with something more robust.
 
riot8ap said:
Orinthical -
Can you please remove the WPN824v2 from your list? I purchased it based on the recommendation in this thread and haven't been pleased with it. I play TF2 via steam and apparently there is an issue with Netgear routers in general that locks them up when searching for servers. The sudden hit of 1000's of outbound connections just locks the router up for 5 mins or so, thought it happens intermittently.
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Hmm, I'll annotate it with your report. I believe you, as it's pretty cut and dry, but I haven't been able to find a lot of information on the "known" issue, just a couple hits here and there and the few I've found blame it on a variety of routers and not a specific model. Most of the routers in the list here are older and therefore it make sense they would have an issue.

One thing you can try, if you haven't already, is decrease your "connection speed" setting in steam's options dialog. If this works like BF2, the only thing that setting really affects is how many servers are refreshed at once. Setting it to something lower than cable/lan might solve the issue.

You could also try disabling the QoS functionality, if you can, to see if that helps.

Or could just be a dud? Please post your findings for others, if you don't mind.

EDIT: On second thought, Netgear has declared this router EOL so I doubt there will be any fixes forthcoming. I'll go ahead and remove the router from the list. Thanks for your feedback, riot8ap and sorry you're having issues with your router.
 
Orinthical said:
Hmm, I'll annotate it with your report. I believe you, as it's pretty cut and dry, but I haven't been able to find a lot of information on the "known" issue, just a couple hits here and there and the few I've found blame it on a variety of routers and not a specific model. Most of the routers in the list here are older and therefore it make sense they would have an issue.

One thing you can try, if you haven't already, is decrease your "connection speed" setting in steam's options dialog. If this works like BF2, the only thing that setting really affects is how many servers are refreshed at once. Setting it to something lower than cable/lan might solve the issue.

You could also try disabling the QoS functionality, if you can, to see if that helps.

Or could just be a dud? Please post your findings for others, if you don't mind.

EDIT: On second thought, Netgear has declared this router EOL so I doubt there will be any fixes forthcoming. I'll go ahead and remove the router from the list. Thanks for your feedback, riot8ap and sorry you're having issues with your router.
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Thanks, don't think I wasn't blaming you or anyone else, don't mean it to come off that way. This has been a flawless router except for this one issue with steam. I'll definitely try your suggestion and report back in a day or so.
 
lol ya good catch....it was a mistake.

I set my connection to 56k and so far no issues...crossing fingers...
 
Golden Monkey said:
I decided on the DIR-655 router and the DWA-552 desktop adapter. Not a bad price for a recommended combo.

DIR-655 @ Newegg (I got the combo with the 4GB Flash Drive. Includes shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...15&Tpk=dir-655
$125.98

DWA-552 @ Bestbuy (In Store pickup including tax)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1157068455017
$63.59

Total = $189.57
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Did the same this weekend. Both up and running now. Major improvement over my old ass Linksys Wireless-G (which stopped transmitting Wi-Fi) and PCI adapter. Easy setup (unlike Linksys - GOD DAMN what a headache) with lots of options. D-Link FTW :)

Thanks to the OP for the recommendations!!
 
riot8ap said:
Orinthical -

Can you please remove the WPN824v2 from your list? I purchased it based on the recommendation in this thread and haven't been pleased with it. I play TF2 via steam and apparently there is an issue with Netgear routers in general that locks them up when searching for servers. The sudden hit of 1000's of outbound connections just locks the router up for 5 mins or so, thought it happens intermittently.

Netgear support, while responsive, hasn't helped fix the issue. They suggested putting the router in DMZ mode, or disable SPI, or this and that but in reality it is buggy hardware. At this point, when I get some extra flow I will be replacing it with something more robust.
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+1 my WGT624v2 is also a POS
Bad firmware, requires resets often, and when the bandwith is pushed it likes to crash.


And to add to the hectic questions

I am stuck between the 4500 the 655 and the WRT600n by Linksys

Is dual band all that its up to be and worth my 50$ more?
if i do go dual band i probably will swing in the 600n direction because of its capability of dual radio broadcasting.... though after reading some articles on smallnetbuilder im thinking of just going with the 655 to save my money due to the poor performance of mixed mode....

opinions anyone?
 
Regarding gigabit switches: If you're recommending the Dell 2724, then you should include the very similar 2716. It fills an interesting niche between the ubiquitous 8-port unmanaged switches and the 24 port ones and is web-managed and passively cooled to boot. It's typically discounted at a price roughly competitive with unmanaged 16-port switches. It can do "wire-speed" with basic management enabled (which you need for jumbo frame support). It's certainly not the ultimate in web-management elegance and performance, etc., but it's pretty cheap, and if you need more than 8 ports...

Note however that the Dell 2708 doesn't make the cut here IMO because it doesn't support jumbo frames. Not a critical feature, but if you're getting into gigabit and spending more for something you think is better, I think you should have jumbo frames in the feature set.

Another interesting switch is the Netgear GS108T. I haven't tried this device but it has a very nice features set for its price -- even superior to the Dells.
 
I'm a very happy, satisfied and proud owner of a DIR-655. Noticeable speed increases over LAN and WAN (over a cheapo D-Link).
 
I have 2 WRT54G's with Tomato and was curious if the D-Link DGL-4500 can do WDS or somehow all 3 routers can be hooked together wirelessly?

I bought the DGL-4500 and would prefer to use that as my main router, but I want to spread out the wireless further through the house.
 
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