Linksys router crapped out. Looking for replacement

My Linksys router has been crapping out lately (Ridiculous latencies/data rates and random drop outs). Too unreliable for my likings.

I havent seen the router market for a while. Im looking for a new router thats DD-WRT or Gargoyle firmware compatible. (or something that can throttle the speed of other users.). Dual band and 450mbps capable.

Currently looking at the WNDR3700v2. Also theres currently a Netgear promo for a free Netgear dual band usb wifi.

Any other suggestions?

 

If you want 450mbps your options are a bit limited.
Linksys E4200 (v1) is capable of 450mbps on 5GHz but 300mbps on 2.4GHz. It has a very good range on 2.4GHz and costs some $150 or less.
Linksys E4200v2 uses a Marvell chip- which means no 4rd party firmware support and is not better than v1 in networking terms (range, throughput, max number of connections etc). It costs $50 more and its only advantage is that it is very fact when transferring files to and from USB drive (thanks to its NAS-class CPU). It's also capable of 450mbps on 2.4GHz band but it's unusable since 2.4GHz is way too overcrowded.

Netgear WNDR4000 is basically the same as E4200v1 only worse (the same CPU, RAM, radio etc- antennas are inferior so the whole thing isn't as good as E4200)

Netgear WNDR4500 is more like E4200v2 (450mbps on 2.4GHz) and it costs some $180 while not being very good (it ain't bad either). Overall it's quite OK but not for the price.

Last but not least Asus RT-N66U- it's typical for Asus routers- it has very good hardware and buggy firmware. It's based on a Broadcom chip so it will end up with an alternative firmware one day. Stock firmware will most likely be as annoying as ever with Asus.

To sum it up- E4200v1 is ready to go, reasonably priced (for that price-range) and very good.
Another choice is Asus which has the potential to be the best router here but it's not finished as of now- neither stock firmware not alternative ones are quite up to the task now.
The rest is not worth it in my opinion.

 

I grabbed Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H couple days ago. It has DD-WRT as stock and for its price (abt 60EUR less than E4200v1 here) I thought 300Mbps in the 5GHz band is enough. Due significantly increased traffic in 2.4Ghz I can reach whopping 5-10Mbps speeds in my LAN during evening hours My Buffalo is currently only 5GHz device in the range, so I'll be set for some time.

However I haven't yet put it in use, since I haven't bothered to figure out the OpenVPN configuration... it's different than in my old WRT54g I also heard that E4200v1 is prone to overheating so I kinda threw it off the list then.

 

Buffalo WZR-HP-AG300H doesn't hold 40MHz wide channel well on DD-WRT though (reverts back to 20MHz).
Also DD-WRT as such has issues with 40MHz channel width on several channels (it's in their Wiki).

 

My vote would also go to the E4200v1, the only thing that's holding me from picking one up is that i have no 450mbps devices so there is no reason to replace my E3000 which would be one of the routers i'd recommend along the WNDR3700 if you don't mind 300mbps.

 

Ill look into the E4200v1, even though i havent had much luck with Cisco hardware lately.

If Buffalo cant hold wide channel then thats out. I hear its very powerful though.

The Asus sounds good but not complete till a capable firmware is out.

 

So i walked past officeworks and saw the WNDR37000v2. They did a price match for me so i just bought it. They didnt have the Linksys in stock

I flashed it with DD-WRT as soon as i got home. Now i cant seem to get higher link rate speeds than 300mbps on a intel 6300N. The signal quality is good.

Ive set the settings to
5GHZ 40mhz upper (N-only)
WPA2-AES
RX/TX Antenna Chain is default set to: 1+2

Latest drivers on the intel 6300N, set to 5ghz preferred band

Did i miss something?

 

The WNDR3700 doesn't support three streams so it's normal that you only get 300mbps, that being said, you still get awesome throughput for a 300mbps unit.

 

Silly me, i thought it did 3 streams.

 

DD-WRT might not be the best choice.
I wrote a little 3rd party firmware comparision for Atheros based routers- I'll post a link once I'm not on a smartphone.