WTK: What's the best wireless router??

[Santa Cruz Armory]

We're looking to replace our 5-7 yr old Netgear WGR614 v6 router and we need help from the gurus here at CG.

We're looking for something that has great range and will be able to take advantage of the cable internet speed we have. We're running 3 wireless notebooks and 2 wired devices. Our furthest wireless device is about 75-80 feet away through two walls.

I've heard the Apple Airport extreme is "the only one to buy". Whattaya all think??

[ocabj]

Get something that comes with, or allows you to modify it with, DD-WRT software: http://www.dd-wrt.com

If you want more range, just get an appropriate adapter and stick a higher gain omni-directional antenna on it.

[ibanezfoo]

I've been happy with my Netgear wndr3700 running DDWRT. It has internal antennas but they work well, surprisingly. If you go this route get the standard version and not the AV optimized or whatever version because the standard version has more flash memory, and I believe RAM as well (the v2 of the AV version might be upgraded but I haven't checked it out). Dual wireless so you can run 2.4ghz and 5ghz concurrently. Gigabit switch is nice too.

I don't know about the Airport router... but it has the word "Apple" on it and that can't be good for anyone.

[Rivers]

I've gone through Netgear, Linksys, Belkin and a few others for clients. The Apple Airport Extreme is the premium wireless router for reliability, simple setup, range, extended capability, private and guest wireless networks, gigabit wired, 2.4 and 5MHz wireless, shared network drive, shared USB printer, and cross-platform security. One former client, primarily PC-based, even bought the one I put in place (and owned) at their location rather than mess with any change.

The Extreme is more expensive but it is worth it, especially if you don't feel like messing with it once you have it set up.

[Iknownot]

I haven't had much luck, beyond 2 years of usage for any home networking router by any of the major brands. They all seem to last 2-4 years and fizzle out. D-links, linksys, netgear, etc. I know people with airports that have had issues after awhile as well.

I have had better luck with d-link over the others and the worst luck with netgear (to the point that I won't buy netgear anymore), but it's all anecdotal evidence anyway. If you got 5 years out of your current router, I say you did pretty well.

Just go out and get a decent N wifi router from one of the big brands. Get which ever is cheapest from a store that has a return policy. That way, if you get it set up and the signal isn't good enough for what you need, you can take it back and try a different model or brand.

That's what I'd do.

(I currently am running a d-link N wifi gaming router that seems to be doing pretty well so far, and I picked it solely because it was the cheapest of the N wifi gaming routers in the store at the time.)

[LDSGJimbo]

I like netgear personally, but he's right, none of them last very long. Just don't buy something off brand.

P. S. What's the possibility that the apple router is a linksys (or some other Brand) inside apple plastic?

Sent from my motorola with tapatalk.

[Justintoxicated]

I have an old buffalo tech router for about 5 years now. Still works absolutely perfect. I'm running DDWRT on it. I think it is a HP-G54 model. Actually I have 2 of them and I set one up as a newwork bridge, but I have since turned it off since I'm already able to go through a couple walls and into the garage (entire house gets service) off just one.

These were post ban though, not sure how the new buffalo tech routers are.

You don't need wireless N for cable internet speeds (it will never take advantage on N), but N would be nice to have if you transfer or stream files between computers within your home network over the wireless connection often.

I will never buy netgear again after spending 100's of dollars about 6 years ago and having every single product fail about a week after the warranty ran out. Switched to these and they are solid.

I do most of my streaming through wired connections using a switch that supports jumbo frames.

[ibanezfoo]

I like netgear personally, but he's right, none of them last very long. Just don't buy something off brand.

The Cisco business class wireless routers (NOT the linksys stuff) we use at work seem to last forever... but then they cost a few hundred bucks a piece.

[bigmike82]

The Cisco 1242AG is *awesome*. I deploy those to my customers, and they run flawlessly despite repeated power cycles.

I have a 1232AG in my office which I've had for coming on 4 years now. It too has been rock solid. I can't praise the Cisco WAPs enough.

They can be tough to configure, but you'll find plenty of people here who'll help you out.

[zfields]

Always had great luck with belkin when doing residential and business installs....untill I bought one for myself. Nothing but problems.

I miss my ancient Linksys.

[ibanezfoo]

The Cisco 1242AG is *awesome*. I deploy those to my customers, and they run flawlessly despite repeated power cycles.

I have a 1232AG in my office which I've had for coming on 4 years now. It too has been rock solid. I can't praise the Cisco WAPs enough.

They can be tough to configure, but you'll find plenty of people here who'll help you out.

We use the Cisco 1200 series for our wireless voip phones... been up on the wall for years and I can't remember the last time I had to touch them. Probably don't want to with all the dirt and spiders and stuff on them...

[bigmike82]

Exactly! Those things are amazing. If you power 'em via PoE on a switch, you never have to access it.

We were so confident about the Cisco WAPs that, at one of my jobs, we deployed a dozen of them inside a ceiling. They were PoE powered, and the ceiling was then sealed with some plaster and painted over.

They worked exactly as expected with no problems.

[Databyter]

We're looking to replace our 5-7 yr old Netgear WGR614 v6 router and we need help from the gurus here at CG.

We're looking for something that has great range and will be able to take advantage of the cable internet speed we have. We're running 3 wireless notebooks and 2 wired devices. Our furthest wireless device is about 75-80 feet away through two walls.

I've heard the Apple Airport extreme is "the only one to buy". Whattaya all think??

I got a netgear wndr3700 and I'm happy with it. It streams movies, feeds my smartphones etc.

And I have it set to 25% power and still receive well in the backyard.

The user interface has a million options for guest channels and all the security types, port forwarding etc. and it't all fairly easy to set and understand because it gives a sidebar that explains what everything is.

[cqbdude]

I've gone through Netgear, Linksys, Belkin and a few others for clients. The Apple Airport Extreme is the premium wireless router for reliability, simple setup, range, extended capability, private and guest wireless networks, gigabit wired, 2.4 and 5MHz wireless, shared network drive, shared USB printer, and cross-platform security. One former client, primarily PC-based, even bought the one I put in place (and owned) at their location rather than mess with any change.

The Extreme is more expensive but it is worth it, especially if you don't feel like messing with it once you have it set up.

I would have to agree with Rivers...

I have used all the routers he mentioned and I finally broke down and picked up the Airport Extreme and I have not had to restart my network.
Once its configured, you dont have to do anything else..
And it was very easy to set up..