Asus RT-N66U + DLNA?

[nampramos]

Hi guys!

I'm looking into buying a new router and while searching the net for info I found this forum.

I read the review on this Asus router and it mentioned very good specs and features. One negative point was the not working media sharing function. Has that been taken care of with new firmware updates?

Is there any other router on this price tag that I should be looking at also?

Basically I want to have a good wireless range, connect two mac laptops, two iPhone's and one iPad to it. Transfer my weekly tv shows wirelessly to the iPad or stream media from the connect HDD to any of the laptops.


Thanks a lot in advance! Cool website/forum!

 

[RMerlin]

I read the review on this Asus router and it mentioned very good specs and features. One negative point was the not working media sharing function. Has that been taken care of with new firmware updates?

It was working when I did some basic tests with it, and I know some people are actually using it. Note however that MiniDLNA (the DLNA server it uses) is pretty barebone, and might trip if it encounters a corrupted media file, so it's possible the reviewer simply ran into an issue specific to his setup.

 

[nampramos]

So would you say that for a DLNA server this Asus isn't the best bet?

Which would be, with still similar wireless performance?

 

[RMerlin]

So would you say that for a DLNA server this Asus isn't the best bet?

Which would be, with still similar wireless performance?

To be honest, Asus's DLNA server ain't worse than the rest - they're pretty much all the same. Netgear uses the same program as Asus BTW - MiniDLNA is the non-branded version of ReadyDLNA. Same code, MiniDLNA/ReadyDLNA is actually developped by a Netgear engineer. I don't think any router uses more advanced solutions such as Twonky - this is usually found in more expensive NAS solutions.

For many people, MiniDLNA will be just fine. I'm just spoiled, having used a commercial DLNA server with support for Smart Playlists on my desktop PC for over a year (before switching to plain SMB, now relying on XBMC's library management to fulfill the playlist side of things). As long you don't have too many esoteric file formats, it should get the job done.

You could also look if there's an optware version of Mediatomb that you could run on the router. It's more advanced than MiniDLNA, however it's no longer actively developed.

 

[xrecar]

I'm using dnla on the router as I type - streaming to one of two wdtvs on my network. The only complaint I have is the slowness of the scanning if you switch out a hard drive but then again its making its way through a 2tb drive. The files show up fast via network smb shares, but you take a hit on the streaming throughput that route. Been playing with it for 3 weeks now, I like the signal strength better than the wndr4500(tried that one first). With the dnla I see streams hitting 11Megabytes/sec for some 1080 content two walls and a floor away.

I talked my buddie into getting one unfortunately his modem is on one end of the house and the 5ghz won't do well through 6 walls and a floor he's thinking of getting a pair of moca adapters to use in conjunction.

No complaints, wish I could tell if the hdds are spinning down though when idle- I usually disconnect at night, then plug in and wait 45 min when I get home.

Hope that helps.

 

[RMerlin]

I talked my buddie into getting one unfortunately his modem is on one end of the house and the 5ghz won't do well through 6 walls and a floor he's thinking of getting a pair of moca adapters to use in conjunction.

Unless he has a lot of interferences from neighbours, he should use 2.4 GHz if he's having so many walls to go through. 2.4 GHz has better range than 5 GHz.

 

[nampramos]

Great input guys, thanks!

The other two routers I was looking at was the Linksys EA4500 and the Netgear 4500.

I guess all you would go with the Asus over these two, correct?


Is there any other brand/model I should consider or should I just order the Asus already?

 

[RMerlin]

I would avoid Linksys. While I used to be a big fan of them, their products have gone downhill since Cisco bought them. First, they have pretty average radio coverage compared to the RT-N66U. And now with their recent Cloud debacle, where Cisco more or less controls your router? No thanks...

 

[Nix]

Beware!!

Great input guys, thanks!

The other two routers I was looking at was the Linksys EA4500 and the Netgear 4500.

I guess all you would go with the Asus over these two, correct?


Is there any other brand/model I should consider or should I just order the Asus already?

Dude, follow my thread here . I also bought the router for its DLNA and file sharing capability. I have been quite upbeat as I've been waiting a few years for this technology to be mature. I want a central external drive with some multimedia which I can access reliably from a multimedia device such as any laptop or home theatre. I want to be able to copy downloaded content from laptop to the central HDD and then play it via DLNA to the home theatre as the home theatre only supports DLNA connection. Unfortunately the SAMBA server on my RT-N66U and that of two others int the thread corrupts files on the external drive. As soon as you manage files wirelessly from a laptop/desktop etc. you will run into file corruption problems. The RT-N66U has excellent connection speeds and response (probably the best by comparison), but regarding the integrity of data securtiy, be warned... rather go with the Netgear WNDR4500.... or similar

 

[lazik]

Dude, follow my thread here . I also bought the router for its DLNA and file sharing capability. I have been quite upbeat as I've been waiting a few years for this technology to be mature. I want a central external drive with some multimedia which I can access reliably from a multimedia device such as any laptop or home theatre. I want to be able to copy downloaded content from laptop to the central HDD and then play it via DLNA to the home theatre as the home theatre only supports DLNA connection. Unfortunately the SAMBA server on my RT-N66U and that of two others int the thread corrupts files on the external drive. As soon as you manage files wirelessly from a laptop/desktop etc. you will run into file corruption problems. The RT-N66U has excellent connection speeds and response (probably the best by comparison), but regarding the integrity of data securtiy, be warned... rather go with the Netgear WNDR4500.... or similar

You can try Shibbys Tomato. DLNA is inside and there is no problems at all to play fullhd content from disk, no corrupted files etc.

 

[Nix]

@lazik.. as I mentioned, follow my thread here. There is no problem with DLNA in ASUS fw or Toastman either. The problem is the SAMBA server. So, if you use SAMBA to manage files on the HDD you will corrupt the files. Once the files are corrupted DLNA will get stuck at the corrupted files... whilst it was never DLNA that corrupted them in the first place. I haven't tried Shibby but I'm willing to bet money that Shibby has the same SAMBA problem.... just follow my link. I've tested every ASUS fw as well as latest Toastman... FAT, NTFS, ext3.... you name it. I just don't have the patience anymore. I don't think Shibby has it sorted either ... they all use the same Paragon driver for the SAMBA server. RMerlin might be able to make changes there but he hasn't had any real answers other than how the ASUS router is set up. ASUS refuse to commit a date as to when they will resolve the issue.... again, follow that thread....

 

[lazik]

Sorry cant confirm that. I have 2 external hdd connected through usb hub and never have problems with samba and corrupted files.

 

[xrecar]

No problems here either. Could be your drive failing?

 

[Nix]

@xrecar.... then it means I have a Toshiba 500 GB, a newish Samsung 500 GB, a 4 GB and 8 GB Kingston flash all failing at the same time, especially when they work perfectly on my pc's. There have been two other cases where people had the same problem (see my thread as mentioned earlier). Have you actually gone into subfolders, created new ones and moved files in and out of them? Afterwards, run a CHKDSK......

 

[lazik]

No problems here either. Could be your drive failing?

or local wifi card, firewall issue.

 

[nampramos]

So all others have no problem with the DLNA and corrupted files?

I still haven't bought the router but am thinking of doing so...

 

[rtuser]

Hello,

I've got same Problem with DLNA an corrupted files. I'm waiting for a reply by Asus. If there will be no solution in next time I will return this router.

 

[Nix]

@ rtuser... follow my thread..... Most recent post is more interesting as I returned unit for a new one and compared RT-N66U with Netgear WNDR4500....@nampramos, something you might want to check out....WNDR4500 rock solid on SAMBA server but dodgy on DLNA.... The new unit didn't repeat exact same cross-linking issues but still did have them on .avi files .... no, I haven't tried Shibby, but I have tried Toastman... I can't see how Shibby will make a difference.... unless somebody tells me Shibby uses a different SAMBA server or USB driver to Toastman... yes, maybe I should try Shibby on the WNDR4500... I'm just running out of time here... can't spend my whole life working through expensive, average quality products.... @nampramos: there is no clear cut answer here if you are looking to use SAMBA and DLNA extensively.... the way I see it... maybe you should look at ASUS HD2 media player....

 

[Nix]

@nampramos... I today received a post from RMerlin on how to address the cross-linking issue. He finally made the suggestion to do the following before switching off or umounting HDD:
Type following URL in new tab/window in Chrome/IE/etc....(depending on gateway IP used for the router) (... or Telnet of course):
http://192.168.1.1/Main_AdmStatus_Content.asp

In the script box type:
sync && sync && sync
end press [Enter]

I.e. the router is not unmounting correctly. I couldn't get the router to cross-link my HDD again.... so I guess, if you know about this issue and ASUS, Toastman, RMerlin or Shibby (maybe they have it already in... sounds like they are confident about their case) write this into their next fw the problem should be solved and I would suggest you go for RT-N66U rather than WNDR4500... due to the unpredictable DLNA server...

 

[nampramos]

Thanks!

Do you know if the is any new fw version in the works? Does it have any launch date?

I could probably wait a month or so before buying it since I'll be traveling quite a bit the next weeks...