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boeckelr
join:2003-01-12
Stillwater, OK
| Are there any decent Linksys or Netgear wireless routers?
Hi everyone,
A few weeks ago we lost a 3 yr old Netgear Super G router (WGT624)after a t-storm. For the most part, it had been a good router and had met our needs. The only problem was that there is one room in our house that the signal didnt reach very well.
I should tell you that we live in a 2 story house and have 2 laptops, 2 desktops, 2 iPhones and 1 Xbox360 - all connecting wirelessly.
So I immediately went out and bought a Linksys WRT310N router (and a Linksys PCI 802.11N adapter for the PC in the room that has the bad signal). It worked OK - however it didnt work well with my Xbox360. Regardless of what I tried, I encountered pauses and freezes, making every game unplayable...so the WRT310N was returned.
Next I bought a Linksys WRT150N. This router had great range...and as long as noone else was using the net, I could play the Xbox360 just fine without problem. However, if 2 people were using the net at the same time, it didnt divide up the bandwidth very well. It seemed like the first person claimed all of the bandwidth, and all subsequent users got nothing. The amazing thing was that our 3 yr old Netgear Super G router handled this type of situation just fine...yet a modern Linksys router chokes with multiple people using the net at once.
So yesterday I bought a Netgear WNDR3300 and a Netgear USB Dual Band USB adapter. Of course this has problems too. First, the range is nowhere near as good as what I saw on either of the 2 Linksys 802.11 N routers I had bought and returned...or even my old Netgear Super G router. In addition, in places where I would regularly connect at 54Mbps, I am now connecting at 36Mbps....But the biggest problem is with the USB adapter - the software/drivers it came with are unusable. Even using Windows Wireless Zero Config, it is tought to get the adapter to connect to the router...even when only a few feet from it....and when it does connect, it invariably drops the connection. Plus, it doesnt automaitcally connect to the router when I restart my PC...
So where does this leave me? I have tried the latest from both Netgear and Linksys. Netgear has range/performance and driver problems. Linksys didnt work with my Xbox360....and the WRT150N wasnt able to handle more than one person using the net at once.
It amazes me that a 3 yr old router was able to do a better job than these newest routers from Linksys and NEtgear. So if anyone has any ideas or recommendations for someone in a 2 story house with 6 or 7 devices that need to connect wirelessly, please let me know. I have not up until now tried Belkin or Dlink....but at this point, I am almost ready to buy a Cisco 871 and a wireless AP and say the heck with Linksys/Netgear routers.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Mike | |
No_Strings
Premium,Mod
join:2001-11-22
The OC
Host:
General Questions
Wireless Networking
All Things Unix
D-Link
| What's your budget?
Consumer gear will always be hit & miss. Read through a hardware forum for any given brand and you'll see it's full of contradictory things like "I love mine, it runs for months without a hiccup." next to "I hate this thing. It reboots hourly."
Between the BestBuy stuff and Cisco, there's a SoHo layer that provides good value. More money, but not pro. Better support, but not on-site tech. ZyXEL is probably the best example of a brand in that stratum.
There's a ZyXEL forum here if you want to kick some ideas around there. »ZyXEL | |
DocLarge
Premium
join:2004-09-08
England
| reply to boeckelr
The linksys routers that you mention are pretty much new (1yr on the market or less) so the "details" are still being worked out.
For the most part, a good "N" router that is "FINALLY" falling into line is the Linksys WRVS4400N. This is a VPN Wireless B, G, and N Security Gigabit (10/100/1000) router (I have one of these). It costs on average a minimum of $175 depending where you go online or amongst retailers (i.e., Bestbuy). I'm currently beating mine up because there's new firmware for it; fun, fun, fun!!
Like No_Strings was saying, consumer hardware is hit or miss, depending upon whether or not the manufacturer has switched to a new distributor for the circuit boards (as Linksys has done, hence the disparity between products).
The Linksys WRV200 has been a nightmare from the beginning due to switching from the company that produced the board for the Linksys WRV54G router (which was wireless with an intel chip and to date the most stable router) to the current manufactuers (hence a brand new set of bugs to be worked out).
The WRV200 is the little brother to the CISCO 871W (I own both of these routers) and for the money, you're not going to find too many other routers that have similar features to the 871w (5 wireless SSIDs, Wireless Vlan capable, AES encryption, NAT-T/GRE enabled, just to name a few features).
I'd suggest looking at the WRV200 for starters and then take a look at the WRVS4400N. The 871w was about $750 when I bought it a couple of years ago, but you might be able to find it cheaper if you really want one.
Jay | |
stevech0
join:2006-09-17
San Diego, CA
| I like my fairly new Linksys WRH54G w-router. Inexpensive. easy to configure.
I don't like most Netgear WiFi. Sloppy or just bad.
And I'm not a fan of wasting money on 11n since ALL clients have to be 11n to get benefit, and then it's no faster than 11g. With channel-pair-bonding it can be faster, but bonding is usually precluded due to existence of any neighbors' 11b/g/n systems. | |
boeckelr
join:2003-01-12
Stillwater, OK
| reply to boeckelr
Hey thanks for all of the replies.
I think I am going to try one of the higher end Linksys next, like the WRV200....which I can get for around $100. I have not been all that impressed with 802.11N so far - but thats probably because of the lousy routers I have tried.
DocLarge - I do have a couple of questions about the Linksys "business" products....you mentioned that the WRV200 is the little brother to the Cisco 871W. I see that it (WRV200) has VLAN and multiple SSID's, which is amazing for a $100 router. You also mentioned that it has been a nightmare etc. Have the bugs been worked out - would you recommend a WRV200 now? And I also see that there is a WRV210 available....I didnt have time to compare specs, but do you know offhand what the difference is? And finally, from your experience, should I expect better performance out of the Linksys business series than the regular Linksys SOHO products? I just want to make sure that the business routers arent just re-named versions of their SOHO line of routers.
BTW I have a Cisco 871 (not wireless, just the router) and now I wish I had spent the extra $$ and bought the 871W instead.
Thanks again for everyones help.
Mike | |
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