treydur
join:2005-08-02
Plano, TX
| reply to treydur
Re: WZR-HP-G300NH purchase info requested
well, no thanks to you guys, I did my own testing.
Well, noone else has done it. So I guess I will. This is a very amateur review based on my experience. It is not meant to be exhaustive, technical nor comprehensive by any stretch. Just sort of a general review of my experience.
I am in the computer industry and as such I am a sometimes bench tech (which I avoid as much as possible) and a sometimes network engineer. I have set up countless routers and networks over the last years. I say that only as a point of reference. I have set up SMC, TrendNet, D-Link, Linksys, Cisco and some others that who knows who actually made them
I had initially gone with a D-Link years and years ago, and was unhappy with. I then switched to Linksys (around 11b 4 port 10/100 time) and was quite pleased. I quit selling and recommending Linksys after they were acquired by Cisco.
A couple of years ago roughly, I set up my first DIR-655, as far as I was concerned, with the exception of the enthusiast router market, it was the best by a long shot. For the general user, it was perfect. Easy to configure, did what it said, very few problems. No returns. No freebie service calls to straiten out end user created problems. It just worked. About 7 months ago, I switched to the DIR-825 and was initially happy. Until I started pounding it with P2P, it just wouldn't stay connected. Constant 'wireless restart'. After dozens of wasted hours, swamping out units. I finally said enough. I had thought about the DIR-855 but ultimately just couldn't get myself to pay price point. Which leads us to the WZR-HP-G300NH
I have a very mixed environment at home. 1 54G desktop with Linksys PCI card, 1 N wireless laptop, 1 Brother wireless G network Printer, 1 Linksys Vonage adapter (original), 1 Xbox 360 and 1 Wii. Plus the occasional friend who pops in with handheld or laptop to connect. Pretty good testing environment.
I finally received the WZR-HP-G300NH and hooked it up. The menu was very very different for me. But after some mucking around I was able to get it 'set up' for my network I thought. I unplugged the DIR-825 and plugged in the WZR-HP-G300NH. It immediately 'sensed' the internet and ask me to run through easy set up. I did, I had not installed the provided software for reason many of you would understand. I don't usually need it. THis connected to Verizon Fios without a problem. It did ask me how I wanted to connect and I chose PPoE as that has always worked for other routers. Put in user name and PW, and there it went. No problems
I did have a bit of trouble with setting up the security per SSID, but that is not Buffalo's issue, it's mine.
I have recently tried, in an attempt to get a 2 year solution dropped in, Linksys WRT610N, D-Link DIR-855 and too many others in the last months to list. They all failed for one reason or another. Strangely, the Linksys dual router was great, except no distance. It could connect decent on G, but N no further than line of sight. So why buy your N Cisco ???
So I am pleased to report, that with no extra tweaking on any of the networked devices (except resetting the printer boot method) that everything work. Within an hour I had VoiP, Wii, Xbox and all PC's connected, this included the Desktop G unit wayyy out in the garage and the N connection on my laptop seems to be holding steady at 130MB. The DIR-825 when it was connected would often report being connected at full 300MB, but to much data suggest that is a false reading
So, if you are on the sidelines on this router, not only is it the best router I have ever tried, it is much cheaper that other true dual N simultaneous (a requirement for me) router. I got this one new for around $95 to my doorstep. In other words, take a chance on the boys in Austin. I did, and I couldn't be happier.
one odd note, I was unable to find the 1.60 firmware or any updated firmware on Buffalo's site. This may just be their process though.
As far as I can tell, 'root' is always the admin log in username, I wish they would let us change that. the unit itself was small and much lighter than I anticipated, but the proof is in the pudding. Ill post again in the coming months if I start having problems.
I hope this helped someone, and if not, oh well, I enjoyed it. |
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Thanks for the great review. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions.