  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| Are there any HIGHLY rated wireless N routers for under $50?
I found these 2 on craigslist for $50 and $30:
»www.amazon.com/Netgear-RangeMax-···0126T6HO
»www.amazon.com/D-Link-4-Port-Wir···duct_top
While a lot of people give them 5 stars, there are also quite a few that give only 1 star.
So, does anyone know of any wireless N routers for under $50 that are HIGHLY rated with an average of at LEAST 4 out of 5 stars? -- »Check this out! |
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  Anav Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic Premium join:2001-07-16 Dartmouth, NS
| Too funny, NO! But I do recommend the NBG334W by zyxel which has a guest wifi that can only access the internet for less than $50 and/or the P330W by zyxel which is a cheap but effective wifi unit that can act as a wireless WAN unit, or a wifi bridge unit. Cheap N units will be available when companies have sucked all the profit of silly N buyers and are selling the P wifi routers. |
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  tipstir
join:2004-11-14 Enfield, CT
·Cox HSI
2 edits | reply to fonzbear2000 For $29 bucks more go to Target and buy Belkin N+ for $79 bucks. Wal-Mart sells it too but they're hard to find. Don't settle for 10/100 ports you need 10/100/1000 (gig ports) For serious N and wired speed. Belkin N+ very stable the other two well issues. I think Netgear should stick with switches and get out of the consumer wireless router business.
One more thing: DO NOT! Buy Belkin N (10/100) or Belkin N150 that's more like G/N that goes upto 150mbps and not 300mpbs like in N router and suffers from 10/100 mode.
GET Belkin N+ 10/100/1000 (gig wan/gig lan) N 150/300mbps USB storage Port. |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| reply to Anav said by Anav :Too funny, NO! But I do recommend the NBG334W by zyxel which has a guest wifi that can only access the internet for less than $50 and/or the P330W by zyxel which is a cheap but effective wifi unit that can act as a wireless WAN unit, or a wifi bridge unit. Cheap N units will be available when companies have sucked all the profit of silly N buyers and are selling the P wifi routers. Thanks, but that doesn't help since I already have a wireless G router. -- »Check this out! |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
2 edits | reply to tipstir said by tipstir :For $29 bucks more go to Target and buy Belkin N+ for $79 bucks. Wal-Mart sells it too but they're hard to find. Don't settle for 10/100 ports you need 10/100/1000 (gig ports) For serious N and wired speed. Belkin N+ very stable the other two well issues. I think Netgear should stick with switches and get out of the consumer wireless router business. One more thing: DO NOT! Buy Belkin N (10/100) or Belkin N150 that's more like G/N that goes upto 150mbps and not 300mpbs like in N router and suffers from 10/100 mode. GET Belkin N+ 10/100/1000 (gig wan/gig lan) N 150/300mbps USB storage Port. Would getting just an N be much of an improvement over my current 54mbps wireless G? The main reasons I want to upgrade are 1., sometimes I lose my connection and have to turn off my wireless on my computer and reset the router and I'm hoping the better connection that N gives will fix that and 2., I have Comcast's 12mbps tier with powerboost and only see powerboost speeds when I'm wired directly to the cable modem and I'm hoping an N router will give me better speeds. -- »Check this out! |
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  CylonRed Premium,MVM join:2000-07-06 Bloom County
| See this thread for opinions on N: »Should I buy an "N" router?
I really do not think your problems will be solved with going to N. -- Brian
"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| said by CylonRed :See this thread for opinions on N: » Should I buy an "N" router?I really do not think your problems will be solved with going to N. Thanks, but I still want to give one a try. So, if anyone knows of any N routers that are $50 or less and highly rated, please let me know. Thanks.  -- »Check this out! |
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  cacroll Eventually, Prozac becomes normal Premium join:2002-07-25 Martinez, CA
| said by fonzbear2000 :I still want to give one a try. So, if anyone knows of any N routers that are $50 or less and highly rated, please let me know.
The success of any WiFi router depends upon the neighbourhood where it's installed. If someone installs one in a neighbourhood thst's saturated with WiFi LANs, it will give poor performance, and it will get a shitty rating. A WiFi router installed in a neighbourhood that's not saturated will give good performance, and will get a good rating.
N routers will simply saturate their neighbourhoods faster.
So buy what looks good, from a store with a liberal return policy. That's conveniently near your house. -- Cheers, Chuck MS-MVP 2005-2008 [Windows - Desktop Experience] Nitecruzr Dot Net |
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  tipstir
join:2004-11-14 Enfield, CT
·Cox HSI
| reply to fonzbear2000 said by fonzbear2000 :said by tipstir :For $29 bucks more go to Target and buy Belkin N+ for $79 bucks. Wal-Mart sells it too but they're hard to find. Don't settle for 10/100 ports you need 10/100/1000 (gig ports) For serious N and wired speed. Belkin N+ very stable the other two well issues. I think Netgear should stick with switches and get out of the consumer wireless router business. One more thing: DO NOT! Buy Belkin N (10/100) or Belkin N150 that's more like G/N that goes upto 150mbps and not 300mpbs like in N router and suffers from 10/100 mode. GET Belkin N+ 10/100/1000 (gig wan/gig lan) N 150/300mbps USB storage Port. Would getting just an N be much of an improvement over my current 54mbps wireless G? The main reasons I want to upgrade are 1., sometimes I lose my connection and have to turn off my wireless on my computer and reset the router and I'm hoping the better connection that N gives will fix that and 2., I have Comcast's 12mbps tier with powerboost and only see powerboost speeds when I'm wired directly to the cable modem and I'm hoping an N router will give me better speeds. Modem is the key to your speed a slow modem a slow connection. Routers don't last forever after heavy usage like downloading off P2P and Game Play online. I just recommend the Belkin N+ after testing some bad N routers this is the one I've ended up out of 6 N wireless routers since 2007, 2008, and 2009. I didn't bother with Linksys as I did test WRT-310N it has some issues with drops in N on WAN but after flashing to DD-WRT it seems to work just well. But those saucer shaped routers suffer from heat issues because like Netgear they opt out putting on heatsink on the chipsets. WRT610N has heatsink thus reducing the heat at a premium price.
G wireless and N wireless are different all N going to do for you is increase the amount of data you can transfer to and from your wireless network. WAN won't speed will be the same with a slight increase. This all depends on your service 12mbps with powerboost can boost you to 22mbps. Like Cox and Comast you can get a faster Modem on your own, meaning you buy it yourself and thus reduce rental fees. Router then manages your internet with your systems on your network. |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| reply to fonzbear2000 Anyway, again, if anyone knows of a wireless N router for under $50 that is highly rated, please let me know. Considering how long N has been around, I find it VERY hard to believe that what I'm looking for doesn't exist. -- »Check this out! |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| reply to tipstir said by tipstir :Modem is the key to your speed a slow modem a slow connection. I know for a fact it's my router that's slowing me down because when I hook a computer DIRECTLY up to my cable modem, I get BETTER speeds. If a router doesn't slow me down, shouldn't I get the SAME speeds when using it? -- »Check this out! |
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  cacroll Eventually, Prozac becomes normal Premium join:2002-07-25 Martinez, CA
| reply to fonzbear2000 said by fonzbear2000 :Anyway, again, if anyone knows of a wireless N router for under $50 that is highly rated, please let me know. Considering how long N has been around, I find it VERY hard to believe that what I'm looking for doesn't exist.
Let me expand on my previous reasoning. 1. You get what you pay for. 2. People who buy cheaper equipment tend to live in areas with more houses closer together. People who buy more expensive equipment tend to live in areas with less houses closer together. More distance between houses = less bandwidth saturation = more satisfaction = less complaints.
But I will, personally recommend the Zyxel P330W, which has done very well for me. -- Cheers, Chuck MS-MVP 2005-2008 [Windows - Desktop Experience] Nitecruzr Dot Net |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
1 edit | said by cacroll :said by fonzbear2000 :Anyway, again, if anyone knows of a wireless N router for under $50 that is highly rated, please let me know. Considering how long N has been around, I find it VERY hard to believe that what I'm looking for doesn't exist. Let me expand on my previous reasoning. 1. You get what you pay for. 2. People who buy cheaper equipment tend to live in areas with more houses closer together. People who buy more expensive equipment tend to live in areas with less houses closer together. More distance between houses = less bandwidth saturation = more satisfaction = less complaints. But I will, personally recommend the Zyxel P330W, which has done very well for me. I live in an area with NO houses around me. Also, the router you recommend is a wireless G. I already have a G want to upgrade to N. -- »Check this out! |
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  bbarrera Premium,MVM join:2000-10-23 Sacramento, CA clubs:
·SureWest Internet
| With a N router using wide channels I get 50-80Mbps transfers on LAN, between wireless and wired computer. I take advantage of the extra speed and gladly paid premium $150 as it has paid for itself in time saved on my business.
Now if you have 12Mbps Internet then take a look at the router charts at SmallNetBuilder.com. I've got a $50 Linksys wrt54gs that routes WAN-to-LAN at 20+ Mbps so it doesn't take an N wireless router to fix your routing speed problem. You may get concerned about wireless speeds, and it is possible to get 20Mbps real-world wireless speeds with the G standard. |
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  tipstir
join:2004-11-14 Enfield, CT
·Cox HSI
| reply to fonzbear2000 said by fonzbear2000 :said by tipstir :Modem is the key to your speed a slow modem a slow connection. I know for a fact it's my router that's slowing me down because when I hook a computer DIRECTLY up to my cable modem, I get BETTER speeds. If a router doesn't slow me down, shouldn't I get the SAME speeds when using it? If the modem connection to the PC is fine that great as it should be.. Router could slow down your connection too. The cheap routers like $24 bucks which I did buy TEW-652BRP from Trendnet is the same as Dlink DIR-615 C1/C2 hardware. Those use Atheros 9100 series chips for PU/WPU. Fast at first then when it starts to heat up badly because these cheap N routers don't have heatsinks and thus without one the darn this gets so hot it can really mess up performance and shorten the life of the router.
Just plain issues daily. I fix that problem by making my own heatsinks and placing them on the PU, WPU and switch chipset. Heat drop down and router was working but not where it would be if you spend the money on Gig Wireless N router.
Everyone here going to say Linksys, Zyxel, Dlink and I for Belkin N+.. I just know Belkin N+ works without updating the firmware as the firmware they have not is just for additional support for USB HDDs. |
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  tipstir
join:2004-11-14 Enfield, CT
·Cox HSI
| reply to fonzbear2000 Go here and you'll see what others rate all the routers that are under $50 for Wireless N and over $50 for Wireless N.
»www.buy.com/retail/usersearchres···play=col
I can tell you that Belkin N+ is very good to excellent router. Don't buy G if you already have G doesn't make much sense to go that route. If you need more features which N can give you but on the premium N routers though.
USB Storage Gig ports WAN/LAN 150/300mbps |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| reply to fonzbear2000 Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I checked out buy.com and see that there are quite a few routers there that are highly rated. Also, hopefully getting an N router will fix the problem of my router losing its connection. Then I have to turn off the wireless device on the computer and reset the router and hopefully since N has a more powerful signal, that won't happen. Thanks again.  -- »Check this out! |
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 stevech0
join:2006-09-17 San Diego, CA 1 edit | Probably will not. Need to diagnose correctly problem with 11g system first. Would you get a liver transplant without a firm diagnosis? (yes, a liver isn't a $50 issue) |
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  fonzbear2000 Premium join:2005-08-09 Saint Paul, MN
| reply to fonzbear2000 Well, I decided I'm going to pick up the Belkin N+ at Target for $80. They have a pretty good 90 day return policy so that will give me plenty of time to test it. Thanks again!  -- »Check this out! |
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  Anav Sarcastic Llama? Naw, Just Acerbic Premium join:2001-07-16 Dartmouth, NS
| reply to stevech0 said by stevech0 :Probably will not. Need to diagnose correctly problem with 11g system first. Would you get a liver transplant without a firm diagnosis? (yes, a liver isn't a $50 issue) Sadly, in some places it probably is. |
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