| "Best" Wireless Router with VOIP Let me start out by saying..I KNOW that there is no "best" for every situation, and that opinions will vary widely. But, I will state my requirements, and would like this informed populations opinions.
Pre VOIP, I'v had (and still have) a Belkin F5D9230-4 Wireless Router. It gives me great coverage in a large 3 story house, and even down in the basement where someone lives in a finished room. But, it doesn't like VOIP. Plugged the VOIPo Grandstream in the router, tried DMZ, Port Forwarding, etc., and could not get calls to go through. Got tired of trying and decided to fire the router.
My needs, in order of importance are.
1) Works well with VOIP (preferably as plug and play as possible), AND GOOD COVERAGE (did I mention good coverage?  ). (Current laptops are "G")
2) Comprehensive/Flexible Firewall & Routing Functions.
3) Good QOS functions.
Someone is always online, and VOIP is the only phone. So, cost is not an issue. What are others using and what do you recommend? |
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 burrisPremium
join:2000-08-22
Miami, FL | I earlier mentioned that I got an ASUS WL-520GU.
Has all the features you listed and I haven't had to reboot it yet...right out of the box-the only tweaking I did was QOS. |
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me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO | reply to lstevens
I use a linksys WRT54g(it puts out G and b). By good coveage you mean signal length? If so it had like 70-75% strength at 50-55ft( where as my old "bottom of the line" D-link had 15%). I don't know much about firewalls, but it has 4 and they sound like the'll work for me. It has QoS and I use it, it work just fine unless two people are loading a video, sometimes one depending on if there are others on the net too, not loading a vid, and if there are a lot of people on the "pipeline"( like how sometimes cable will slow down when EVERYONE on the block is one at the same time), but the QoS work good on it. I would recomend it, works good and is only $50 they have "higher" modles that have like range booster or speed booster, but mine work fine for me. BTW what speeds do you get? |
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PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River
kudos:12 Reviews:
 ·voip.ms
·callwithus
·Callcentric
·Vitelity VOIP
·Optimum Voice
·Gizmo5
1 edit | reply to lstevens
I use a D-Link DGL-4100. It's NOT wireless, but the wireless version is basically the same:
D-Link's DGL-4300 Wireless 108G Gaming Router.
Here's why I like it:
I have used it with several different ATA's such as Handytone 286 and 486, Linksys PAP2T, and Zoom 5801.
*All used behind the router.
*Sometimes two ATA's connected to router simultaneously, connected to two different VoIP providers.
*NEVER any problems.
*Used with various VoIP providers such as Callwithus, CallCentric, Gizmo5, and Voip.MS.
*I have NEVER had to do ANY port forwarding, DMZ, or any other contortions. When I read about people needing to do these things, I scratch my head in wonderment.
Important settings:
ALG option for SIP: Turn it OFF, yes OFF.
Enable Gamefuel: Yes.
Automatic Classification: Yes.
Dynamic Fragmentation: NO.
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EDIT:
And it works well, with two computers simultaneously online, and two simultaneous Voip calls w/ 2 separate providers. Computer speeds (Optimum Online) still at least 12 Mb download and about 2 Mb upload----the same as before I even had a router. MOS scores usually tops (4.4) |
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| reply to me1212
with my old Belkin I get 2800/700 on a DSL.... with the VOIPo Grandstream in front, about 2000/690. |
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1 edit | reply to lstevens
Most flexible, if you are geeky, is Linksys WRT54GL with your choice of factory, DD-WRT or Tomato fimwware. DD-WRT has a lot of QOS features, and many others. |
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me1212
join:2008-11-20
Pleasant Hill, MO | reply to lstevens
lstevens, any roughter you put it behind should work, if provisiond(sp) correctly. |
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| reply to lstevens
If signal strength is an issue, I would suggest looking into a 'wifi repeater' or simply a larger antenna that you can replace your default one with.
With that said, these days routers have their own built-in 'special features', including firewalls and even dns caching abilities - very pesky.
In my opinion, I think a Linksys or a D-Link router would be best suited. They are inexpensive, easily configured and widely supported.
VOIPo highly recommends (if possible) that you don't plug the ATA device behind the router but rather in front.
The device behind a router will not only impact on performance (ie. packet inspecting delays transit time) but there is a chance other erratic behaviours may occur 'behind the scenes', making it extremely hard for us diagnose and troubleshoot. |
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PX EliezerPremium
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River
kudos:12 Reviews:
·voip.ms
·callwithus
·Callcentric
·Vitelity VOIP
·Optimum Voice
·Gizmo5
1 edit | reply to me1212
said by me1212:lstevens, any router you put it behind should work, if provisioned correctly. You are exactly right, but the key word is "should".
So many smart, careful people seem to have so many problems with their router and ATA interactions! This forum is full of posts from people whose tech has turned to drek.
When you find a woman you can really talk to, marry her quickly before someone else grabs her.
And when you find a router that will work well with VoIP, with NO need for port forwarding or DMZ, grab it quickly too. |
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Mandelm
join:2007-10-31
Winston Salem, NC | reply to lstevens
The new draft N routers with the steam engine QOS work great. Look at the D-Link and the Trendnet models. |
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bbear2
join:2003-10-06
94045
kudos:1 | reply to VOIPoDylan
said by VOIPoDylan:...VOIPo highly recommends (if possible) that you don't plug the ATA device behind the router but rather in front. The device behind a router will not only impact on performance (ie. packet inspecting delays transit time) but there is a chance other erratic behaviours may occur 'behind the scenes', making it extremely hard for us diagnose and troubleshoot. Dylan, what does that say then for those with combination modem/router in a single unit and want VOIPo? |
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| reply to lstevens
As an update, my current router is a MIMO (2 antenna). I notice that these recommendations are not. Can I expect at least similar range and thruput? |
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| reply to VOIPoDylan
VOIPoDylan:(or any other VOIPO tech):
So where do you think my 800 kbs download speed is going? If I take the Grandstream out, my wireless router delivers about 2800 kbs consistently. Put it first, it drops to about 2000 kbs. |
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maziloFrom MaziloPremium
join:2002-05-30
Lilburn, GA
kudos:1 | reply to lstevens
said by lstevens:Pre VOIP, I'v had (and still have) a Belkin F5D9230-4 Wireless Router. It gives me great coverage in a large 3 story house, and even down in the basement where someone lives in a finished room. But, it doesn't like VOIP. Plugged the VOIPo Grandstream in the router, tried DMZ, Port Forwarding, etc., and could not get calls to go through. Got tired of trying and decided to fire the router. Perhaps, your problem isn't the router. First of all, if you have an HT-286, you ought to replace this ATA with a better one, i.e. a Linksys PAP2T. Secondly, if your ATA does have a support for STUN options with NAT traversal options, use them and avoid DMZ as well as ports forwarding.
--
Mazilo always prays for FREEBIES!
US Phone: +1-678-601-0907
UK Phone: +44-703-194-2574
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Reviews:
·voip.ms
 ·Verizon FiOS
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to lstevens
Ward Mundy at nerdvittles.com blogs about PBX in a Flash asterisk. His suggested router seems to be on sale regularly for about $35 at office supply chains. (But apparently not this week.)
"We also strongly recommend that you always keep your system running behind a NAT-based firewall/router. We strongly recommend the dirt-cheap dLink WBR-2310 WiFi router which handles NAT issues with VoIP masterfully." |
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nitzanPremium,VIP
join:2008-02-27
kudos:2 | reply to lstevens
The combination that worked best for me is Netgear routers (WPN824, WNR834), and a Linksys SPA-2002. PAP2 comes close behind.
I think "all-in-one" devices are not the best way to go until they become mainstream. Right now there's just too much quirkiness IMO. It's not long before that changes though... |
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