Asus RT-N56U Is this the router for me?

[JOE.G]

Hi, I am not to good with this stuff.

I have a two story with a basement home, its about 3,000 sq ft.

Router will be in basement where my current one is. I have on main floors and usptairs one PS3,one Wii three Laptops and one Blu ray player and a printer that I use wireless.

I do Game online with the PS3.

Will this meet my needs?

If Not what should I get? Please feel free to ask me for any more info that you may need. Thanks a lot

 

[thiggins]

What is your current router and why are you replacing it?

 

[JOE.G]

I have a SMU Router I think that is supplied by Time Warner Cable, It seems to work pretty good but I am unable to View Netflix using my Panny Blu Ray Player since I need certain ports open and I have no control over it since they have it locked. I also pay $6.00 a month to use it.

 

[stevech]

I have TimeWarner cable - and I use just their modem and my own router of choice. No port blocking issues.

 

[JOE.G]

That is what i plan to do, I just dont know which Router to get I need some help here guy's.

 

[Shikami]

The RT-N56U is not a bad router at all but there are some issues that can occur that can lead to the user disabling HW NAT acceleration just to be able to use basic networking functions such as VPN.

I have owned the router for a while now, and I have mixed feelings about it. Firmware support has been at least nominal but the firmware needs a face lift to correct interfacing issues and corrections need to be made for horrible English translations, port 22 is always closed (still has not been fixed with latest firmware), if passthru needs to be enabled for VPN you will disable hardware NAT acceleration, and if you enabled QoS the HW NAT acceleration will be disable, and backups to a NAS can lead to missing or incorrect file attributes. There are a few more "problems" such as no possible IPv6 support in site, but nothing to really say this is overall a bad product. It is not thought out as well, and can be an excellent product if handled correctly by Asus. This is how I feel.

Rather than that it performs really well, but as with any router YMMV. After the good review of the DIR-827 was released, I instantly made purchase after I felt the review was favorable for me. However, I always had a soft spot for Ubicom based routers from DLink.

 

[JOE.G]

I am open for ideas, I know nothing about this stuff or what any of those terms you used meant. I am not stuck on this router I just want a good router that has good speed good signal strengh and works well.

 

[stevech]

Suggestion:
read WiFi router reviews on this forum.
Assuming your client laptops/handhelds are 11g/n, ordinary needs...
Choose a $50 WiFi router looking at reviews here and user reviews on newegg.com.
IMO: rarely is there a turkey from Linksys or Belkin (they often use essentially the same hardware). I avoid Netgear and D-Link due to inconsistency, not to say all models are bad but it's a gamble. In your situation, you may wish to avoid some of the unfamiliar brands and high end ones that the experts here like to use. The mainstream ones have good documentation to simplify setup. I use Cradlepoint because of their cellular backup option.

 

[JOE.G]

I have been reading for ever about these brands, I kind am looking for someone to tellme what they reccommend and why, My needs are above and yes IO have G and N Laptops.

 

[Shikami]

My real choices would be, if I was to be you, between DLink's DIR-827 or Linksys' E4200v1. They perform good on all aspects, have certifications for the most important: UPnP, DLNA, and IPv6 gold, and are both from reliable corporations for support and user base support within forums.

But one thing is for sure, your router being located in the basement might not be the best placement. The signals made degrade to the point that it might be unusable. You may need to install an Ethernet connection to particular points or try using powerline adapters.

 

[JOE.G]

As it is now I game on the PS3 online which is two floors up from router with out a single Problem. Ill look into those routers, I am looking for a plug and play deal dont know much about changing settings.

 

[JOE.G]

They are a little pricey as far as I can see, How are the D Link DIR-655 Extreme-N Gigabit orhte Dir 825?

 

[Shikami]

I would at least spend a little extra and get a capable performer such as the RT-N56U. I just tested out the DIR-827, and I can say I am way more disappointed with it than the RT-N56U. It is not bad of a router, but after using the RT-N56U it does not compare to it. The routers you recommend are older, and a bit less performing for today's standards.

 

[JOE.G]

Ok Not tryin to be a pain but Ikeep reading and reading can you give me a list of routers that you Reccomend then I can research them. I use it for internet surfing Online Ps3 gaming, Streaming movies to Ps3 and Blu Ray player and I have a printer Wireless also. Thanks

 

[Shikami]

What is your budget? What is the absolute limit you are willing to go for cost?

 

[JOE.G]

Id Like to stay between $50 and a $150

 

[Shikami]

Same price ($128.49) at both locations. So, perhaps it is the router for you.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320062&Tpk=rt-n56u

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049YQVHE/?tag=snbforums-20

Get it, flash it, configure it, and see if it is the router....

 

[JOE.G]

Flash It?

configure it?

Have no idea what to do.

 

[rhombus]

Don't worry, you don't need to flash anything or do anything complicated, nor do you need the latest and greatest equipment.

How did you determine Netflix isn't working because of the need to open ports on the router? Which ports did you try to open? That's fairly advanced stuff.

Did you ask your ISP if they could supply a different router that is capable of working with Netflix? I think they should really.

Do you have a separate modem that you plug into the router?

What are your current speedtest.net results wired into the router, and also wireless at your blu-ray location?

 

[Shikami]

Don't worry, you don't need to flash anything or do anything complicated, nor do you need the latest and greatest equipment.

Part of his problem(s) is that he wants to save $6 a month by not renting the SMU router from TW, and have control if need be.

Flash It?

To the latest firmware. Instructions are in the manual, part of the firmware, and you can easily be helped here.

configure it?

You can leave it at default configurations, or change to what you want to configure the router too. For instance SSID to MyWireless, instead of the default.