drewex
| need new N router
Hi all,
I'm planning to but a N router since my old belkin router is constantly losing signal and connection. I was interested in WRT600N since it had the hard-drive storage link (really cool idea i have a 1TB drive i would love to Network ready). Now i cant find any reasonable good review on this one. I have a laptop with N and 10mbit cable connection and lots of network music listening.
Here is the main questions i guess.
Is this router any good?
Any other suggested router?
Any other suggested router with storage link?
OR should i wait if there is something new and crazy improved coming out. |
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b62141
join:2003-04-27
Hagatna, GU
| I would urge anyone to use the G bandwidth router instead of buying the more expensive N router simply because N routers often cause signal loses and many times the router will begin dropping from 54Mbps down to zero.
One can use this router until N bandwidth of 100 Mbps is established, then upgrade to a Linksys WRT300N Wireless N Router. |
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higginst
join:2005-04-16
Earlysville, VA
| reply to drewex
Here's a pretty comprehensive review:
»www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/···0208/96/
In general, unless you don't mind slow file sharing performance, don't buy a router with an internal "storage link". They rank at the bottom of our NAS Charts »www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas-charts/.
--
Small Network Help @ »smallnetbuilder.com |
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stevech0
join:2006-09-17
San Diego, CA
edit:
May 8th, @12:24AM
| reply to drewex
I too suggest you buy a mainstream $50 or less 11g w-router. 11N will get you little/no benefit, esp. if you don't change all your clients to 11n. Even with 11n clients, the benefit is not great. |
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prestonlewis
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-13
Sacramento, CA
 ·VoiceStick
 ·Comcast
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·VoicePulse
| reply to drewex
I bought several different brands of pre-n routers and was disappointed with all of them in one way or another. I ended up using the cheapest of them all: the Airlink101 Model 300N also called the AR680W. It is a draft 2 pre-n model, meaning it is supposed to transmit/receive over 200mbps. It's N mode also includes G and B so it will pretty much handle any client except wireless A. It's range is stupendously large. However, it has some firmware quirks (forget the QOS) but it runs reliably without having to be rebooted everyday as the pre-N Linksys router did that I tried out.
As for the storage link, read the fine print. NTFS, FAT32, etc. are Microsoft formats. Linksys and other storage links often use a Linux partition which is a pain if it fails and you need to use a data recovery program.
Again, for the storage link, I tried numerous models and ended up using the cheapest: Airlink ANAS 250 Home NAS. It uses FAT32, and will power down the drive in however minutes you set it to (I use 20 minutes) so you can leave it on 24/7 without worries about heat, etc. It also allows you to set it up without passwords so it can be drive mapped from any computer on your network without a login/password needed. You can also setup names/passwords if you wish but I've never needed that. The ANAS250 also has a USB port along with a RJ45 network port but you can only use one at a time. Connect it to a computer or a routers storage link using the USB or connect it directly to your home network using the RJ45 port but it won't do both at the same time.
Couple of things to remember: Why buy a draft 2 pre-n router (over 200mbps) if it only uses a 100mbps LAN? I only use the Airlink 300N because it was ridiculously cheap and it had channel bonding (2 channels for full duplex wireless) but the extra wireless speed is only good for servicing multiple wireless clients since any input is 100mbps.
Watch out for Linksys and it's Linux partitions in it's storage systems.
Watch out for the older draft 1 pre-n routers (100mbps) which are being sold as "draft 2 ready" or some other nonsense so the manufacturers can get rid of the old stuff. If it doesn't say "draft 2" clearly on the front of the box, avoid it.
Good luck. |
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