Looking for a good router for a 'gamer'

[JarleH]

Hi

I am new poster here, and made the profile to get some advice. But I have been reading reviews and using this site for years.

Current situation:
Got a old business model firewall Sonicwall TZ170 on the inside of a ips cable modem (currently Thomson tcm 470). I recently found out I am NOT able to open ports through both firewall and modem, and I am pretty sure its due to double NAT, since I am 99% sure my modem is in dhpc mode + my firewall also run dhcp.

Almost everything works fine, but I just noticed that some older peer2peer games like Company of Heroes and the Dawn of War games, do not work properly due to need firewall openings for multiplayer.

I have made the opening in the firewall, and have been for years thinking my problems were due to other people, not myself. But when I started looking into the case online port checkers says the ports I have opened in my firewall are in fact closed from the outside. And after doing some research I am pretty sure this is due to double NAT at my end. Modem is first doing NAT then the firewall, and this do not work if the program on my net is not using upnp, which older tech games do not. I fear I also will get this problem with the upcomming Company of Heroes 2 game.

I may be able to get my isp to change the modem to bridge mode, but I do not know for sure. And since my current firewall is many years now, and not good for a home network, and I am using a separat wifi box, I am looking for good alternatives to my current setup.

Some things I am looking for in a router:
- good 24/7 operation (stable and do not overheat)
- wireless option
- cable and wireless clients in same dhcp range (want netbios names to work across cable and wireless)
- good and stable for games, upnp compatible if possible
- good interface
- work good with my Netgear lan-over-powerline plugs and switches
- good compatibility with smartphones (samsung, sony, htc) and laptops (asus, dell etc)
- good compatibility with Netgear NASes
- good video streaming capability/compability
- 'future safe', ie no old models
- good support
- DMZ option
- good VPN/remote logon/remote use or shareing of internal systems in my net
- add-on ready (like Netgear NASes)?

I have been following Netgear for a long time, also looking at reviews in different categories here alot. Currently I am thinking about the Netgear R6250, but I am looking for advices on what to buy.

So; what do you guys advice me to buy? What is a good router for me?

jarle

 

[thiggins]

If you have problems with double-NAT, a new router isn't going to help.

There is no product that meets all your criteria, some of which are impossible to guarantee, stability in particular. Switch, powerline adapter and NAS compatibility isn't an issue. Those just depend on the router switch, which isn't firmware dependent.

Trying to "future proof" is a waste of time. Technology moves too fast. If you've been reading SNB for a long time, you should know how to avoid being sucked in by marketing hype and focus on what you really need. There is a lot of value in older products. If from a good vendor, who issues regular firmware updates with fixes, they can be much more stable than products using a draft standard. Also cheaper.

 

[JarleH]

So the router cannot be set to upnp or something so the routing works through the modem? If I use the upnp setting for programs on my computer, they do work, even with double NAT.

But can anyone give some advice on what router to get? Will the Netgear R6250 be a good choice for me?

jarle

 

[jlake]

I always put my modem/router in bridge mode because typically the ISP's routers aren't that good. But you don't have to. UPnP will work fine as long as you're not hosting a game or setting up a minecraft server. If you host a game and want to portforward through two NATs, then use the link below to guide you. My DSL modem is in full bridge mode. My asus RT N66U does the PPPoE and is my primary router. I have a Linksys EA4500 cascaded to the Asus. I port forward through the two NATs for FTP but I only do gaming while directly connected to the Asus router.

I'm not an early adopter, so I don't know much about the AC routers. The two routers that I have work pretty well. They each have their own unique advantages. I prefer the Asus though and use Merlin firmware.

http://portforward.com/help/doublerouterportforwarding.htm

 

[thiggins]

If a program requires ports to be opened, those ports must be opened in ALL firewalls between the computer it is running on and the Internet.

UPnP won't help.

If you can't bridge the modem, can you open any ports or use DMZ?

 

[JarleH]

This case has taken a bit of a strange turn...

I did some more testing yesterday, and it may actually look like that it is the Win7 MS Firewall that is stopping the communication, not dobble NAT.

If I try to run a port scan on this page (http://www.whatsmyip.org/port-scanner/) with the MS Firewall On, I get "Timed out" or "Blocked" (guess this means it do not reach the port).
If I do a scan with the MS Firewall Off, I get "Closed", which I guess means it reaches the port, but it is not in use.

I have not tried to run a port scan while the game is running a match, to see if I then get "Open" or whatever. But since it changes respons after I shut off the firewall, I am pretty sure I have found the cause of the problem.

The only problem I have had is with CoH and DoW games, which uses what I guess is old tech peer-to-peer tech, that is not compatible with Win Firewall. The strange thing is that I have not see anyone else that have had problems with this games (which is rater common), to comment on the Win Firewall being the cause of the problem.

Anyone else seen such problems with the Windows firewalls before?

jarle

 

[JarleH]

The problems with DoW/CoH games (as far as I can see) was due to the inbuilt Windows firewall. If I simply disable it while I play those games, all is good. Do not know why it happens, but I guess its a old tech syndrome that do not communicate well with the software firewall.

I am still thinking about getting a new firewall/router due to my current one is old, not made for homeuseage and I think my firwall is now limiting my max speed.

Any special model you guys want to advice me to get? So far I am leaning toward the Netgear R6250. For me stability and compatibility are more important then the absolutt best of performance.

jarle

 

[JarleH]

Which to get...

My net provider has now upgraded our net, and my old firewall peeks out at about 45 mb/sec downstram, net delivered is about 102 mb/sec (directly connected to modem).

So I need a new Router. I am Netgear biased, but open to others too if they have clear advantages. Very open for suggestions, but kinda need reasons behind suggestions.

Since I am a noob in this; for example what is the differences in the N and AC routers? Which one to get? For example Netgear WNDR4500 vs R6250?

Would be very thankful on some advice in this jungle...

jarle

 

[thiggins]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...883-how-to-buy-a-wireless-router-2012-edition

 

[JarleH]

And the WNDR4500 and the 6250 should not have a problem with fully using a 100/100 line right?

Is there anything the 2 models are missing that I should be aware of?

Edit:
It looks to be difficult to get a 6250 in Norway, but the 6300 is available.
Any reason not the get the 6300 over the 6250 (except USB performance)?

jarle

 

[JarleH]

Been a long time Netgear fan, but actually considering the Linksys EA6700 and the Asus RT-AC66U also.

For me stability is very important, I can not use a router that drops connection from time to time. And I am a bit sceptical to Asus in this regard.

Any tips form people that have used these products?

And also Linksys and Asus are dropping new models in less then a month, but not sure how fast they will be available in Norway.

jarle

 

[JarleH]

Done some more digging, and started looking into the Asus 66U some more, and then started looking into the new Asus 56U. So now I am considering going for the 56U one.

JH_man

 

[JarleH]

I have ordered the Asus RT AC56U

JH_man

 

[rody]

good choice, I have the linksys and while it does what it says its suposed to, the by all the reviews the Asus routers do it much better. Also the new linksys firmware is total crap, with the asus you have the option to use merlin, ddwrt, or tomato( there may be others ).