Need help on the final decision.

[little_scrapper]

Hello everyone at SNB. my first post!

My WRT54G is dying so I need a new router in the $100 range.

I do not actually 'need' dual band, I game a bit (FPS), and download a torrent or two here and there.

I definately want good range so that when I buy my house, it wont matter where the den and AP are in relation to the rest of the house. I also would like to avoid any lag in gaming when the wife logs on wirelessly to surf or email with her laptop.

I guess it boils down to which one will give me the best wired throughput while gaming and/or downloading, the best range (wireless throughput not a big issue but I need a good connection regardless), preferably wont lag my gaming. Best bang for the buck. I pretty much narrowed it down to these four. I'll look into any other recommendations i can get also in this proce range.

D-Link DIR-655 ~ $70 at newegg
Belkin N+ ~ $67 on Amazon.com
ASUS RT-N16 ~ $95 at Newegg
E2000 ~ $100 at Newegg

I have been trying to figure out the beast path for several days now and I am about to drop the names in a hat and let my 5yr old pick for me. Hehe. In the mean time i'll be referring to the router chart. Please advise.


Thanks,


little-scrapper

 

[tipstir]

For you ESR-9850 $50+ or if your a die heart gamer online ESR-9855G $99+.

 

[little_scrapper]

For you ESR-9850 $50+ or if your a die heart gamer online ESR-9855G $99+.

I looked at the 9855G and was about to pull the trigger on it, but I figured I might as well get a usb for file sharing. Basically no usb is the ONLY reason i didnt order it already.

I'm not a die hard gamer but when I do game, I want smooth!
I'm leaning toward the DIR-655: Its older tech but its also tried and true. Seems to have about the best wired throughput in the price range, and its a "gaming" router.

I'm having a very hard time figuring out the "range" aspect of the wifi.

 

[thiggins]

No wireless router will guarantee what you want. High (and variable) latency (lag) is inherent in wireless technology.

Of the choices, I'd try the DIR-655 first due to it's automatic QoS which should do a decent job of managing upstream bandwidth between gaming and web browsing and email. But if you are going to game and load Torrents or watch online video at the same time, no router is going to do a decent job.

Buy from a retailer with no or minimum restock charge (Office Depot is one) because you may be trying a few routers.

 

[little_scrapper]

No wireless router will guarantee what you want. High (and variable) latency (lag) is inherent in wireless technology.

Of the choices, I'd try the DIR-655 first due to it's automatic QoS which should do a decent job of managing upstream bandwidth between gaming and web browsing and email. But if you are going to game and load Torrents or watch online video at the same time, no router is going to do a decent job.

Buy from a retailer with no or minimum restock charge (Office Depot is one) because you may be trying a few routers.

So its the automatic QoS that makes it a "gaming" rouoter?

 

[thiggins]

So its the automatic QoS that makes it a "gaming" rouoter?

No. marketing makes it a "gaming" router. Automatic QoS makes it do what you want.

 

[little_scrapper]

I ordered the DIR-655 from the egg yesterday, and it arrived this morning! Way to go newegg. Got it for $70 shipped and they gave me a ASUS USB-BT21 mini Bluetooth for free

Anyways, I dont even know what 90% of the setting in this device do, but i managed to get it set up for WPA2/AES with a very long password random upper/lower case and numbers, IP range limited to 2 (laptop and computer), allow only two mac addresses.

Is there anything else i need to do to secure this router? On my old linksys i had changed the page to log onto the device to Https: do i need to do this on the D-link also? Does it make any difference?

Do i want "Advanced DNS Server" enabled or disabled?

 

[thiggins]

WPA2/AES is the way to go. Setting admin access to HTTPS is important only if you are going to administer the router remotely (from the Internet side).

Changing the router password is good practice, but not essential if you're the only one in your household.

I have no advice on the Advanced DNS Server setting. Check the online help to see what it does. I'd just leave the defaults if they are working.

 

[little_scrapper]

Changing the router password is good practice, but not essential if you're the only one in your household.

No password needed? Does that mean that this router cannot be accessed remotely? Because i live on campus and I figure there are probably a ton of computer engineers around here just itching to practice thier haxor skills!

 

[thiggins]

I think you answered your own question.

 

[jdabbs]

Changing the router password is good practice, but not essential if you're the only one in your household.

I'd recommend it for any circumstance. In the past, malware has used compromised systems to modify router configs.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/06/malware_silently_alters_wirele_1.html

 

[stevech]

password is good practice, but not essential if you're the only one in your household.

If you do unwisely elect to have no good password on your router's admin, be sure to disable router admin via WiFi!

 

[tipstir]

I looked at the 9855G and was about to pull the trigger on it, but I figured I might as well get a usb for file sharing. Basically no usb is the ONLY reason i didnt order it already.

I'm not a die hard gamer but when I do game, I want smooth!
I'm leaning toward the DIR-655: Its older tech but its also tried and true. Seems to have about the best wired throughput in the price range, and its a "gaming" router.

I'm having a very hard time figuring out the "range" aspect of the wifi.

Range? I only measured 360 degree radius with a direct line of sight about 150 to 250 feet away from the building then the same indoors about 50 to 100 ft.

802.11g = range was 150ft
802.11n = range was 250ft

For me in mix mode 200ft outside and 100ft inside was tested.