New Dorm Room Router

So I'm looking for a new router and I'm not 100% sure what to get.

My laptop has an AR9280 Wireless a/b/g/n dual-band card, and my roommate's is an old PowerBook G4 with AirPort (unsure of the exact model of network card)

Currently I use the dreaded Linksys WRT54G (v5). It gives me around 60KB/s down maximum no matter what the real connection speed is. I tried messing with the MTU settings according to online guides and nothing has worked, and even flashing it with DD-WRT hasn't fixed anything with regards to speed.

My laptop refuses to connect to it wirelessly. I'm forced to use a hardwired connection. My roommate's PowerBook can connect but often has issues. Neither of our laptops have problems connecting to other networks.

What I'm looking for in a new router is:
- 802.11n (required)
- WPA2 support (required by the University, but my guess is this is standard)
- Would like DD-WRT support, preferably with the ability to restore to stock firmware
- Simultaneous dual-band (preferable, but not sure if I will even notice the difference. Not high priority.)
- No ridiculously long setup times. I'd like to be able to plug this in anywhere and have it working either right away or within 5 minutes.
- I have a 25-cent (fleamarket) Netgear router that works fine, but makes a high-pitched screaming noise. I'd like to avoid any noise issues, because this router goes in the same room I sleep in

Price range: ~$40-$60. I don't mind buying refurb or used, it only needs to work and last me for the next three years. Aesthetics don't matter, it's just a router, and will most likely be crammed behind my desk or behind my external monitor.

 

TP-Link TL-WR1043ND- good hardware and good default firmware, supported by DD-WRT, OpenWRT, Tomato etc.
There's no chance you're gonna buy a simultaneous dual band router for that kind of money. It's not easy to find a good 2.4GHz router for $60 let alone dual band or simultaneous dual band one.

 

I'd confirm with the university that it's permitted. Many college networks put the kibosh on non-university wifi, because of security and interference (e.g., channel competition with the university's network), on penalty of losing internet access for a few days to a over a month if it's discovered.

 

You can't get signal from the main network, you have to use ethernet. But they definitely allow routers as long as they're secured with WPA2. Checking the list of network locations, there are literally 30-40 different access points all from other dorm rooms.

 

Ah, okay. I just put that out there as a precaution. Once upon a time I worked for residential computing services, and we were always taking down routers that competed with the campus quad's network or were literally plugged in backwards so that there was dhcp interference. Hence, shutting down and penalties to make people think twice, or at least be really careful about the setup.

 

This one is available used for $49.50 + $5.99 is it any good? I'm okay with buying used as long as it's reliable.

Amazon.com: Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router: Electronics

Would it be better or worse than the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND ?

I know it's an older version, does that really make much of a difference?

Only thing that makes me worried is the apparently long setup time. But that's not too much of an issue, it'd just be nice to avoid.

Also: http://www.amazon.com/Refurb-Wirele...XR7K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1313458422&sr=8-2
Refurb for $64.99


The TP-Link TL-WR1043ND seems like a good option though.

 

why would you want dual band ?

 

AR9280 is NOT dual band.
It is Dual Radio but cannot utilize both 5GHZ and 2.4GHZ simultaneously for communication.
It can use either radio but not both at the same time. (I have the AR9280 WiFi Card)
So I recommend the TP-Link WR1043ND.
It has 3X3 2.4GHZ stream & performance is good on OpenWRT.
I can get 17+MB/s (Megabyte per second) Windows File Sharing on Fat Channel 40MHZ.
Not to mention it is cheap.