Robust Router

[PatrickS]

Hi, all. I live in an apartment building with more than nine other networks in range of my unit. I believe those networks cause interference which causes my wireless connection to cut out twice a day on average. Sometimes my devices can't even reconnect to the network for hours, even though they can see it. Therefore I need a new, robust router.

I don't trust the typical retail names like D-Link, Netgear, and Linksys. I've owned most of them, and they all cut out intermittently, so I've looked into models like the ZyXel ZyWALL USG 20W and Cradlepoint MBR 1200. However, does moving to a commercial-grade router really provides higher reliability or only more security features?

Also, I looked into the Ruckus 7363 as recommended by keenanj on http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=6293&highlight=interference. However, it is out of my price range, at $430 without a router. Is technology like Beamflex the only way to go to solve my problem, or are there other less expensive routers that deal especially well with interference?

 

[JoeJoe]

Get a router that supports the 5Ghz frequency, that will travel a shorter distance. Better for small areas.

I have found a Linksys WRT54G to be still the best router around though, running TomatoUSB.

 

[stevech]

I can say the Cradlepoint MBR900 and CTR500's I use (about 5) are just appliances. Plug them in, configure them, and forget them. These are not rebooted for months, and then the reboot is due to something unrelated to a fault with the router. Many sit out in machine-to-machine applications, unattended.

What leads you to suspect interference? If you do, have you changed choice of channel on the router? Have you changed your router's SSID to something unique and enabled encryption? Have your clients been misconfigured so they might try to use a neighbor's WiFi?

I must say though, that your issues may not be the router. Need some diagnosis of symptoms - to fault isolate between clients, routers, and the ISP modem link.

 

[PatrickS]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Steve, I suspect interference because I used my Apple Airport Express (which I'm using now) in other locations for five years, and it never gave me too many problems until I moved into this new apartment. My SSID is unique, I enabled encryption, and I have a MAC address filter. The clients DO connect to a few open neighboring networks when the Airport Express goes down.

 

[stevech]

it's almost impossible for neighbors' WiFi to cause your clients to fail to associate to your WiFi. Neighbors' WiFi at worst would cause reduced throughput. Change the router to use a different channel: 1, 6 or 11.

If your clients just do not associate to your WiFi router, there is a configuration issue, likely with the client. If the clients associate but don't obtain an IP address (partial connectivity is reported by windows), there's a configuration problem with the encryption method in use - temporarily disable encryption as a test.

Ensure that your clients are not configured to use IEEE 802.1X also called RADIUS also called Enterprise authentication.

hope one of these help,

 

[PatrickS]

Hi, Steve, thanks again. The clients don't get a "partial connectivity" warning, which I believe you say would happen after connecting to the network without receiving an error message. Therefore, I assume my issue is not with encryption. Most of the time, the client will attempt to initiate a connection, remain in a "connecting" state for a minute, and then display a message saying it could not join the network. The strange thing is that, although I trust your advice that this is usually caused by client-configuration problems, I can fix the problem by cutting power to the router and modem (They are both on the same surge protector.) and plugging them back in. That makes me think it is a problem with the router. Do you agree?

This brings me back to my overarching goal: finding a reliable router that will not require rebooting nor drop connections. Do you think my problem is that of an unreliable router, a problem that a commercial-grade router like the Cradlepoints we discussed would remedy---or do you think the problem is something else like client configurations or (although unlikely) interference?

Moreover, I'm wondering; do commercial-grade routers really provide higher reliability, or do they only provide more features? Is the reliability you associate with the Cradlepoints an attribute that comes with a higher-grade router, or were you merely making an observation, not necessarily one exclusive to high-grade routers?

Thanks in advance for continuing to give me your time.

 

[sfx2000]

You mentioned that you're using an Airport Express - they have a limit of 10 clients that can be attached concurrently. You also mentioned that it is 5 years old, and one thing to consider is that it might be dying on you...

Apple has the more recent AP Express at $70USD on the refurb section of the online store, the Extreme dual bands are going for $129 for the older dual stream with GigE, and $149 for the three stream model - definitely worth considering if you want to just plug it in and not worry about things.

Another consideration - check out Buffalo, I've used several of their products, and while not as polished as some, their gear is about as stable as you can get... (bonus is that if one wants to really get into tweaking the router, most of their gear supports DD-WRT).

 

[PatrickS]

Thanks for the ideas, sfx. However, I looked into Buffalo's routers and found that they overstated their products' power.

I was decided on the Cradlepoint MBR1400 until I realized that it does not have dual radios. Then I searched for dual-radio products using the product finder and found the Trendnet TEW-692GR, but Tim Higgins' review cites poor range on both the products' bands.

At this point I'm just having trouble finding a business-class router with gigabit, VPN capabilities, two bands, and two radios. I tried using the product finder, but it appears limited to retail-class. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[claykin]

PatrickS

I bet your issue can be resolved with one of several modern dual band routers. Your 5 year old Airport Express is a doorstop. Dump it and don't look back.

See if you can find a Netgear WND3700V2. If so get it and immediately upgrade the firmware to 1.0.0.12 from Netgear's website. You'll be fine! Most retailers now have the V3 and its not quite mature yet so I'd stay away. (You can tell which version by reading the side of the carton. In one spot it actually says the V #. Read carefully.)

Also the Linksys E4200 is a decent dual band router. I think the V1 may be better than V2, but I'm not a Linksys fan so don't pay much attention to their products.

Last on this list, the Apple Airport Extreme (current version) is also a very solid dual band router. At $179 its a bit pricey but should work well for you.

No need to look at anything more esoteric.

Keep in mind that you should also check the drivers on your clients (laptops, etc..). Make sure they have the latest drivers. This is important!

Finally, be sure to disable WPS PIN code in any router you get. Apple implemented WPS best so you won't need to worry about it if you get the Airport Extreme. Don't get an Airport Express!

 

[stevech]

Using dual band router - means of course that the client devices are dual band capable.

And note that most affordable dual band routers are not dual band concurrently.

I think your problem is not one cured by spending $ moving clients and router to 5.8GHz.

I live in a dense condo complex - lots of SSIDs around. No issues.

 

[claykin]

Using dual band router - means of course that the client devices are dual band capable.

And note that most affordable dual band routers are not dual band concurrently.

I think your problem is not one cured by spending $ moving clients and router to 5.8GHz.

I live in a dense condo complex - lots of SSIDs around. No issues.

Agreed. The OP should definitely check his client drivers and make sure at least one can benefit from the less cluttered 5Ghz band.