Which ROUTER do you suggest ??

[SoundsGood]

Hi guys,

It's time to replace my very old Netgear RangeMax router...

We've got a fairly large house to cover with multiple devices including several laptops (2 Windows machines and a future Mac) and several Apple devices (iPhones, iPods and an iPad). I've heard good things about these routers (in alphabetical order):

Asus RT-N66U
Cisco Linksys E4200 v1
Netgear R6300
Netgear WNDR4500

Any thoughts or suggestions on which one to go with? Perhaps a different model??

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ronstang]

I'm trying to figure this out too. I would like to order tomorrow. All the reviews I read just make it more difficult, not less.

 

[RedCOMET]

I'm in the same boat as well.. Well except I work from home quite a bit and live in an apt complex so there are a ton of of other wifi networks on the 2.4ghz band

 

[JackMDS]

Asus RT-N66U
Cisco Linksys E4200 v1

Both are very Good.

 

[Christobevii3]

I have the asus rt-n16 and highly recommend it with ddwrt

 

[kami]

The Asus Dark Knight. It's the Rolls Royce of Consumer wireless routers.

 

[SoundsGood]

Asus RT-N66U
Cisco Linksys E4200 v1

Yeah, I've heard good things about both of these. Two questions, please:

1. Which of these two would you personally go with in my situation?

2. Why would you recommend going with one of these two over the Netgear routers I listed above?

Thanks!

 

[JackMDS]

If price is Not an issue I would get the Asus RT-N66U.

The Cisco Linksys E4200 v1 can be found as a refurb. for $80, thus it is a very cost effective choice ( http://homestore.cisco.com/en-us/Ro...-router_stcVVproductId133604734VVviewprod.htm ).

Unlike CPU Overclocking or Video frame "pushing" that are relatively uni dimensional,
Networking is very muiti dimensional in nature. Beside the hardware per se, Wireless is affected by the specific environment and No network is exactly the same as other.

As a result it is close to impossible to analyze same class Hardware to a level of telling you why any other Wireless Router is Not so good as compare to others.

If you are so particular get three of them, test them all in your specific environment and networking needs. Then return two for the cost of the restocking+shipping fees.

 

[SoundsGood]

Gotcha. Okay, thanks Jack!

 

[bucwylde23]

I recently bought a Asus RT-N56U (black diamond) and I think i'm going to return it. Having an issue where my modem + the router needs to be reset fairly frequently and it looks to be a common problem based on reviews on many sites.

I don't know if I want to buy another Asus product right now much less one that is much more expensive so I'm shying away from the N66U even though it looks awesome.

The Cisco E4200 looks like a great choice. There is a newer 4500 model out but it doesn't look to be all that much of an improvement, especially to justify the higher price tag.

 

[kbp]

I recently bought a Asus RT-N56U (black diamond) and I think i'm going to return it. Having an issue where my modem + the router needs to be reset fairly frequently and it looks to be a common problem based on reviews on many sites.

I don't know if I want to buy another Asus product right now much less one that is much more expensive so I'm shying away from the N66U even though it looks awesome.

The Cisco E4200 looks like a great choice. There is a newer 4500 model out but it doesn't look to be all that much of an improvement, especially to justify the higher price tag.

What firmware are you running? 1.44/1.55 and have had no issues.

 

[Engineer]

Any decent Broadcom based router that you can put Tomato or DD-WRT on (prefer Tomato).

 

[SoundsGood]

Any decent Broadcom based router that you can put Tomato or DD-WRT on (prefer Tomato).

1. Which of the routers I listed use Broadcom?

2. What is Tomato and what does it do?

Thanks!

 

[bucwylde23]

What firmware are you running? 1.44/1.55 and have had no issues.

I don't remember exactly which one since I'm at work but whatever is most current on the Asus site as of yesterday.

I actually changed my mind and ordered the Dark Knight today and am going to return the black diamond. We'll see how that goes.

I think I saw somewhere that DDWRT can be used on the Dark KNight as well which would be a huge plus for me.

Any decent Broadcom based router that you can put Tomato or DD-WRT on (prefer Tomato).

The RT-N66u has a broadcom chipset and DDWRT support and is one of the highest rated routers you can currently buy though a bit pricey.

 

[Engineer]

The RT-N66u has a broadcom chipset and DDWRT support and is one of the highest rated routers you can currently buy though a bit pricey.

Yes, but as you said too pricey. Shibby is testing new Tomato for that firmware to take advantage of the 64K NVRAM.

As for my thought process, the Belkin Share Max 300 Wireless N for $21.99 shipped and the Belkin Share Max 600 HD (simultaneous dual band) for $29.99 shipped (both expired now but new deals pop up from time to time) are about what anyone would need. Tomato and DD-WRT compatible, plenty of ram, plenty of flash, gigabit ports and more.

But as you'll see, I'm a huge fan of Tomato and won't buy anything that won't take it!

 

[GoodRevrnd]

So is TomatoUSB the best way to go on the N66U or should I stick w/ DD-WRT? My old WRT-350N is crapping out on me and needs to be replaced.

This is much more than I want to spend but I need something with very good wall penetration and I think I might be fed up with Cisco products.

 

[AD5MB]

What is Tomato and what does it do?

• Tomato
• DD-WRT
• CoovaAP
• OpenWRT

and others are aftermarket firmware packages for routers. they make off the shelf routers very flexible devices that have added capabilities

I use Linksys WRT54Gs as

• Wireless routers
• Bridges
• VPN server and client
• Web server ( one stop location for all configuration pages for all network hardware )

Free. if you have installed an operating system or big software like open Office, you can install firmware

 

[JackMDS]

Sorry, but I disagree about the 3rd party firmwares.

In the past Routers like the WRT54G and other models were "Duds" with their native firmware and shined with 3rd party firmware.

This is Not the case any more with the today top tier Wireless Routers (about $80 and above)

Unless One need a feature that is Not available in the Stock firmware and it is existing on 3rd party firmware, there is No real benefit from Flashing.

 

[paperwastage]

Unless One need a feature that is Not available in the Stock firmware and it is existing on 3rd party firmware, there is No real benefit from Flashing.

until Cisco comes with their cloud service privacy issues again

I just prefer dd-wrt... subscribing to the theory that open source ~ slightly more eyes on code, fewer problems

 

[alkemyst]

The 66U looks promising.

I like my e4200, I agree the v1 is a better choice.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/ is a great resourse for testing and reviews on these devices and many more.

 

[Engineer]

Sorry, but I disagree about the 3rd party firmwares.

In the past Routers like the WRT54G and other models were "Duds" with their native firmware and shined with 3rd party firmware.

This is Not the case any more with the today top tier Wireless Routers (about $80 and above)

Unless One need a feature that is Not available in the Stock firmware and it is existing on 3rd party firmware, there is No real benefit from Flashing.

I disagree on your disagree. Not only are these firmwares feature packed, they generally give better stability and range. Not to mention the fact that there is a familiarity of using the same firmware over and over and over from product to product.

On that note, I prefer a $20 to $30 router with Tomato over a $80+ one with stock. No comparison.

 

[alkemyst]

I disagree on your disagree. Not only are these firmwares feature packed, they generally give better stability and range. Not to mention the fact that there is a familiarity of using the same firmware over and over and over from product to product.

On that note, I prefer a $20 to $30 router with Tomato over a $80+ one with stock. No comparison.

I don't think you understand your own argument.

the link I posted will show your cheapies getting decimated.

Not to mention good luck if you need dual radios.

 

[Engineer]

I don't think you understand your own argument.

the link I posted will show your cheapies getting decimated.

Not to mention good luck if you need dual radios.

What you didn't mention was that none of those tested on Smallnetbuilder were tested with third party firmwares nor did you read that the Belkin that I just bought for $29.99 (before cash back) has simultaneous dual band (2.4 and 5GHz) as well as gigabit lan ports, 2 USB ports, 8MB flash, 64MB of ram and all of the wonderful features of a solid Tomato.

I understand my own argument very well. I get between 10 and 12MB/sec from PC to PC using these and that's only feeding them with a 100Mbps NIC.

My employer was getting ready to trash the Linksys WRT160N in the shop because it would drop connections multiple times per day. I flashed with the latest Linksys firmware and still dropped. I flashed with Tomato and it's been up and solid with ZERO drops for 3 weeks now.

Not sure why "more" of the router makers don't use the writers of Tomato/DD-WRT to get them better firmwares.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Why wouldn't you get a 4200v2 instead of v1?

Anyways, I have the n56u. But I don't do anything fancy with it, aside from run my comps on it, and no issues there. Running 4 wireless pcs, wifi on phone and sometimes some laptops thrown in. And two wired, printer and main pc.

Handles it all well.

I am a fan of Asus routers, but I do believe you need third party firmware for them.

 

[alkemyst]

Why wouldn't you get a 4200v2 instead of v1?

The performance isn't as good at the moment as the V1 was.