said by Kareeser :

The WRT160NL has the same processor as the WRT54GL? I find that hard to believe.

said by RARPSL :

You have to remember that once the packet leaves the modem port, it travels over an Ethernet wire with a 42 byte-per-packet overhead. Thus the 1500 Byte TCP/IP Packet becomes a 1542 Byte Ethernet packet thus dropping back to 97.25 Mbs IF you are using 100Base-T.

said by RARPSL :

At Gigabit Speeds there is NO Ethernet overhead since the Ethernet connection can handle whatever speed the Modem and Computer is using. The issue of the lack of 100Mbs speeds at the Server Side is a separate issue.

said by RARPSL :

I can get a Cisco/Linksys Wired Gigabit RVS4000Router for $100 or a 801.11N Gigabit WRVS4400N for $170 so they are available now for under your $300 figure.

said by pandora :

If Linksys wants to release an open source enthusiast router they should provide a method for flashing to ram, and for booting off a hard drive either attached to a USB or ESATA port IMO.

said by InvalidError :

Besides the fact that very few internet servers would be able to push 100Mbps, DOCSIS still does not deliver 100% throughput and even 98% of 101Mbps falls within what is achievable on 100Mbps Ethernet... though just barely.

said by InvalidError :

Cheap consumer-grade routers are not meant to be future-proof, they are meant to address the greatest common denominator of their target market at the lowest cost possible. A broadband router with full GbE routing capability would require more than 10X the CPU power on top of the GbE switching components, easily doubling the BoM for features only a small percentage of people out there would actually need.

Most people would prefer paying $100 for a new router today that will last them until ~100Mbs no longer cuts it and buy a new 1000Mbps router for $100 at that point than pay $300 for a GbE broadband router today that may fail out-of-warranty before such speeds ever become available.

Although some areas are blessed with exceptional broadband speeds, very few places have any hope of seeing anything remotely close to 100Mbps any time soon. As for Japan and other places with bleeding-edge internet speeds, most of these networks are based on shared fiber access and these amazing speeds are only maximum attainable BURST speeds, another form of our beloved "UP TO". During high-usage times, actual speeds may drop under 10Mbps due to network congestion.

said by planiwa :

Does the WRT160NL even have shell access?

said by pandora :

If Linksys does nothing else, a flash to ram option, which would allow writing and booting from ram for developers could really help make its new routers a success.

said by RARPSL :

In the NYC Metro Area Cablevision offers 101Mbs speeds so a Gigabit Router is needed if you do not want to get Router Throttled back to the speeds that a 100Base-T port can deliver (assuming that the router's CPU chip can keep up with the Modem).

said by RARPSL Having Gigabit Ports Future Proof for when the speeds require it as well as supporting faster LAN Speeds (CPU-to-CPU transfers). BTW: I think Japan has speeds in the 100+Mbs range right now so your "Most Places Worldwide" does not apply there (and the US has very low average max rates for a number of reasons).[/BQUOTE :

Cheap consumer-grade routers are not meant to be future-proof, they are meant to address the greatest common denominator of their target market at the lowest cost possible. A broadband router with full GbE routing capability would require more than 10X the CPU power on top of the GbE switching components, easily doubling the BoM for features only a small percentage of people out there would actually need.

Most people would prefer paying $100 for a new router today that will last them until ~100Mbs no longer cuts it and buy a new 1000Mbps router for $100 at that point than pay $300 for a GbE broadband router today that may fail out-of-warranty before such speeds ever become available.

Although some areas are blessed with exceptional broadband speeds, very few places have any hope of seeing anything remotely close to 100Mbps any time soon. As for Japan and other places with bleeding-edge internet speeds, most of these networks are based on shared fiber access and these amazing speeds are only maximum attainable BURST speeds, another form of our beloved "UP TO". During high-usage times, actual speeds may drop under 10Mbps due to network congestion.

said by 51019512 :

I think we just need to get the dd-wrt creators to put MLPPP into it.

There are threads for the new Tomato routers that go into into last year and people even offer money and nothing.

There is a guy who blew over $100 and sent the dev of Tomato and router and got nothing in return.

And DD-wrt supports soo many more routers.

said by RARPSL :

[I was not trying to play "Can You Top This" or "Mine is Bigger/Faster than Yours" but only pointing out that there are some locations that ALREADY need Gigabit Ports on their routers. While I am a Cablevision Customer and could have that 101Mbs Speed, for a number of reasons I have not yet ordered it (maybe later in the year or early 2010).