Wireless N router recommendations?

hey everyone,

I need to buy a wireless router for my home. It has to be G and N compatible and have ethernet ports on the back. Could you guys please recommend some routers for me? I have limited expertise in this area and really don't want to spend days researching them. I get internet service on Monday and a new computer on Wednesday, so I want everything to be ready ASAP. Thanks!

 

belkin pre-n @ ebay, $40-
dlink 655 @ newegg or @ dell.com $100+

 

what is "pre-n"?

 

All 11n routers are pre-n due the the fact that the 11n spec has not been finalized.

I would not even consider a Belkin, They have the highest failure rate in the industry and are very flakey. They always seam to test good but are not reliable. You will have nothing but trouble with them. Now there are a select few that work flawlessly but those are few and far between.

Go to Smallnetbuilder .com and read there reviews.

 

linskys wrt160N

 

I would definately go for a d-link, as i have their DIR-655 now which is draft n and has never failed me yet. (well in the last year or so...) and as well as that they are now releasing firmware updates for them all so that their useless windows connect now usb ports can be used for printers, usb drives etc etc...

Tom

 

How much is your budget? Makes a difference between good and great.

 

Do NOT go with Belkin, I had various problems with 2 laptops. I kept getting limited or no connectivity and when i actually managed to get online, i get disconnected right after and had to repair the connection over and over again. On the other laptop, it didn't even connect.

I swapped it in for a WRT160N Linksys router, and it's great.

 

My D-Link DGL-4500 2.4/5GHz router serves me very well, and it even has a nice, sharp green/blue OLED display that you can use with 2 buttons under it to see the status of several different things.

-J.B.

 

I have the D-Link 855 Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router and im pretty sure this is the BEST router you can buy right now! Its dual band 2.4/5GHz and backwards compatible with a/b/g. Its also got some of the latest features out there!

Check it out

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=548

And there is also the D-Link 825 Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=681

These are both the top of the line N routers that you can buy right now. Dont buy from Netgear, Belkin or Linksys. D-Link is the BEST right now. Dont take my word for it, just look at the reviews on Amazon and see what users say about their different routers!

 

another for wrt160n

compare to d-link the linksys one work cooler and simple.
yes, linksys is cisco.

 

D-Link if you're not going to play with third party firmware, Linksys WRT310N or WRT610N if you want to try DD-WRT or other Linux firmware. Definitely pay up for the WRT310N over the WRT160N to get its gigabit Ethernet hub, more onboard memory for DD-WRT, etc. The WRT610N isn't supported by DD-WRT yet last I checked but it eventually will be. The WRT610N is dual band and has even more onboard memory.

D-link uses Atheros, Linksys uses Broadcom on their 310 and 610. You might want to match what wireless chip brand your notebook uses, just because.

 

What chip brand is a Sony Vaio FW290 with a Wireless LAN: Intel® WiFi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/b/g/n) ?

 

Intel. At least that is what shows up in the specs online.

 

Ugh, this just what I feared. You guys would throw out terms and information that I didn't know and knowing me, I have to go and look it all up and figure it all out for myself.

I can never just BUY something without doing research first. Fine...

What is WRT?
What is draft N?
Does the D-Link Xtreme N routers also do abg (only need N and g though)?

 

Start here . If you only need G then you can get decent routers for less than $40. The N routing standard has not been formally signed yet aka it's not official. The various companies know what the standards are though and are jumping the gun with what theyu call Pre-N. All N routers are backwards compatible with b and g. Some are with A as well. You can find most of these under $200. Everyone of us has preferences based on experience and hearsay. Newegg is a good place to buy, you can use the user reviews to help make your choice.

 

Lynksys 2.4 is what I use and have had no problems in 2 yrs.

 

Just to be 100% clear, these routers can transmit in both N and G at the same time right?

 

Ok, the D-link 825 has peaked my interest. But I still need to know if it transmit in g and N at the same time.

Also, I don't see what the 855 has over the 825 besides a fancy screen and third antennae. This is based on the specifications and description on D-links site.

The moment I get my question answered, I can place my order, so please let me know.

 

Despite some people's oppinions, i absolutley love buffalo routers. They have slightly finnicky software, but in my experience with several different routers, the buffalo routers never skip a beat!

Also, due to a tricky law suit, the only way to purchase a new buffalo N router is through ebay....although i think you can still find some on ebay.

As an aside, make sure your N router in general is Draft N 2.0 compliant...

 

Ok, but can any of these routers transmit in G and N simultaneously?

 

G and N can run simultaneously when the router is set to "mixed mode".

N will not reach its full potential unless it is on a 5GHz channel. dual band routers will have 2 different bands. the 5GHz band would be for N and 2.4GHz band would be for b/g/a/etc.

i'm currently usin a linksys wrt350n with WRT reflash. it was a real crappy router with the OEM firmware. after the WRT reflash, it was a night and day difference. it gave me a very strong and stable 130mbps connection for about 2-3 months. no drops, not even a stutter. then one day it just startin givin me hiccup problems where it would drop my connection every few hours or go down to like 3mpbs.

i'm about to sell or give my wrt350n away and get the dir-655. i don't really like d-link products but the dir-655 has had solid reviews. i'm stayin in a small place right now so i don't need a dual band router. i'll be completely satisfied with a stable 130mbps, so hopefully the dir-655 can do that for me.

forgot to add that N speeds can only reach up to 130mbps on a router that broadcasts in 2.4GHz band.

 

Thanks Houston, that's just what I needed to know.

 

how can u ppl not knowing belkin pre-n, the best router ever made.

 

were u bein sarcastic? i've never used any belkin products but i heart their routers were pretty much crap.

i'm in the market for a new N-router, so i'm open to whatever options. even belkin if it really is reliable and performs well. after all my research, the majority of dir-655 owners were thoroughly satisfied. d-link also comes out with firmware upgrades, so thats always a good sign. a couple reviews even stated that the dir-655 was the fastest "out of the box" draft-n router they tested.

 

^ how long u been using the comps? get the facts rit.

 

what do u mean...?

 

I too have steered away from Belkins. I am surrounded by them at home. My apartment complex has a mess of them. i have talked to several of my neighbors and they got them because they were cheap. And now they regret it. They are not computer savvy and have issues with them. And the largest units here are 2 bedroom and they have issues with slow speeds across the unit. I helped reconfigure a couple of them a while back and irritated with them myself. A neighbor across the street has a DLink of some sort and his/her signal is clear and strong. The new Belkins may be getting better but I will stick to DLink or Linksys/Cisco for the time being.

 

Ordered the D-link 825. Thanks for the information everyone.

 

congrats man. let us know how everything works out. i might be goin the d-link route too.

 

You sure about this??

I have a D-Link DIR-625 B/G/N router (no A so no 5Ghz only 2.4Ghz).
I have the Dell D820 with Intel 5300 card.
I set the router to N only with WAP2 and if i get with in about 40~50 feet i Vista is showing full 300 speed.
If i move down one floor(about 60~70' away) it drops to about 130~180.
Then in the basement two full floors and on opposite side's of house , i get 54~80 and sometimes 130 in speed.

I dont know how trustworthy Vista is in the speeds but this is what it's saying.

 

hmmm...not too sure.

maybe the 5300 wifi card has somethin to do with it. i couldn't tell ya.

 

Good choice, don’t forget I was the one who recommended it . I have the D-Link 855 myself and its awesome! And because its dual band you can operate in 2.4GHZ and 5GHz simultaneously. In 2.4GHz mode you can select B only, G only, N only, B and G, G and N or B, G and N. In 5GHz mode you can select A only, N only or A and N. When you have both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands operational they will show up separately with different names that you can choose (SSID) and you can even assign different passwords for each. This is by far the best router I have ever seen and I’m sure the D-Link 825 will be fairly similar as the only noticeable difference between them seems to be the D-Link 855 having one more antennae and a screen.

 

I've been working on D-Link 855 to check the security impact on it at different distances, bands by sending variable amount of data from server to client. It was really fantastic