Belkin 750N+ vs Netgear WNDR4000 vs Linksys EA4200

[brucet9]

My old D-Link 601 delivers poor throughput in an upstairs room 45ft away through one floor and two walls. Internet speed tests show 27Mbps downstairs within 25 feet and just 3 to 5 Mbps in the two problem rooms upstairs. Present location is the most central possible.

I am only interested in Internet access speeds on basic 2.4GHz band, as my desktop computers are linked via Ethernet and my wife and I have no interest in streaming media, nor wireless file-sharing. My grad student daughters, when they visit, use their MacBook Pros and we all have iPhones on iOS6. It would be nice to have good throughput in the upstairs rooms while making FaceTime calls or downloading/uploading.

I do not care about special firmware because I wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. I just want to get the thing set up and never have to touch it again.

The best candidates in 2.4GHz 20 MHz mode, according to real-world reviews on this site, are Belkin 750N+, Netgear WNDR4000 and Linksys EA4200, in that order. They are priced at $100 to $160, so cost difference is not a huge factor. Netgear does offer a lifetime warranty on the WNDR4000.

Are there reasons to avoid any of these products/companies?
Are there reasons to choose one over the others?

Thanks

 

[NXIL]

Apple Airport Extreme

I am only interested in Internet access speeds on basic 2.4GHz band, as my desktop computers are linked via Ethernet and my wife and I have no interest in streaming media, nor wireless file-sharing. My grad student daughters, when they visit, use their MacBook Pros and we all have iPhones on iOS6. It would be nice to have good throughput in the upstairs rooms while making FaceTime calls or downloading/uploading.

I do not care about special firmware because I wouldn't know what to do with it anyway. I just want to get the thing set up and never have to touch it again.


Are there reasons to avoid any of these products/companies?

Linksys "cloud connect" firmware is an abomination. It is awful. Please boycott until they pull it.

Are there reasons to choose one over the others?

Thanks

Your quote:

I just want to get the thing set up and never have to touch it again.

This may be a bit controversial here, but: Apple Airport Extreme.

Set it and forget it. And: you have iDevices. It will of course work very well with them.

Has great range. Simple, easy, no tweaking, and has a reputation for rock solid reliability.

It top tier in all the tests here at SMB: if you read the review, it gets criticized for being a little more expensive than other routers in its class. How much is your time worth?

Money where my mouth is: house of college students, six Macbook Pros, six cell phones, iPads, and who knows what else: got it for them in July, put it on a UPS. In four months: no reboots, glitches, slowdowns, or problems of any sort.

Oh: the iPhones will use the 5ghz band, as will the iPads you'll probably get at some point--that will take some pressure off the 2.4 band.

HTH

 

[NXIL]

Airport Extreme

AAE review here:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31564-apple-airport-extreme-gen-5-reviewed

The AC66U gets a lot of buzz, the review is popular, it's got blinky lights (which, to be quite honest, I really like), it looks like Darth Vader's router.

And it's got buggy firmware:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...-band-wireless-ac1750-gigabit-router-reviewed

Buyers in search of a high performance wireless router should stick with the RT-N66U Dark Knight vs. the RT-AC66U, at least for now. Given the reports in the SNB Forums, it looks like the AC66's firmware is not yet stable, with some features disappearing to be worked on and others partially functioning. So if you are expecting smooth sailing with the AC66U, you may be unpleasantly surprised.

I read a lot of reviews--here, Slashdot, other forums, before deciding on the Airport Extreme for that house full of university students--oh--and since I would be the one troubleshooting the network in general (free phone tech support), I decided that the AAE was the router least likely to results in calls, router restarts, etc. So far, so good.