Best wireless router for under $150-$200 USD?

[johnw91498]

Our old Linksys finally crap out after 8 or so years of service. I initially replaced it with the Linksys 160N, but had nothing but problems with it. Next, I went with the Netgear 3500, but it doesn't keep a stable connection with my PS3. So, what do you think would work for me? Here's what we have in our house:

3 PC's
2 Laptops
1 PS3
1 Blu Ray Player
1 Dish Receiver

One of the PC's is our work computer and we VPN 3 times a week for telecommutting. The main thing I'm looking for is stability.

Thanks in advance...

 

[johnw91498]

Wow, either there's no one on this site or there's no one willing to share their experiances with a newbie.

Anyways, I bought a Netgear 3700 based on the reviews on this site. Installed it and was up and running in about 15 minutes. Everything seemed stable until I fired up the PS3. Played Modern Warefare 2 for about an hour and then the connection started to drop. Rebooted and was stable for an hour. Another crash and had to reboot. Another crash after 30 minutes. Finally boxed everything up and took it back to Fry's. Bought the D-Link 615, again, based on the reviews of this site. Fired up the PS3 and played till 3 in the morning. Saved myself $120.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for posting your experience. Sorry that you didn't get a response to your question. But so many people ask the "what's best" question and the answer is there is no "best", as you have found. What works for some people won't work for others depending on their environment. And with wireless, client device compatibility and behavior also plays a big part.

That's why we don't have a list of "best" products and instead focus on providing information and test data so that you can decide for yourself.

Were you running the PS3 wired or wireless?

 

[johnw91498]

The PS3 was on wireless. It's the furthest component from the router at about 30 feet. The Netgear 3700 had excellant signal strength but the connection drops were a total surprise. I heard nothing but good things about this router from this site, Amazon, Newegg, etc...

The guy at Fry's told me to just try the least expensive router and keep gonig until one of them worked for me. Nice, that the first router I tried (DI-615) worked for me.

 

[thiggins]

Guess the guy at Fry's had the best advice!

At 30 feet, range shouldn't be an issue. What wireless security are you using and are there a lot of other networks in range?

Also, since the PS3's wireless is 11g, not 11n, there could have been a compatibility problem that might have been fixed by setting the WNDR3700 to 11g only mode.

Anyway, glad the DIR-615 is working for you.

 

[johnw91498]

WPA2 was the security and there's a lot of networks within the neighborhood. At least a dozen from my last count.

I'm a novice when it comes to routers. I figure the 3700 would of been a great router if I spent the time configuring it.