Which ROUTER would YOU suggest ??

[SoundsGood]

Hi guys,

It's time to replace my very old Netgear RangeMax router...

We've got a pretty large house to cover with multiple devices including several laptops (3 Windows machines and a future Mac), several Apple devices (iPhones, iPods and an iPad), a PS3 and an Internet connected HDTV.

I've heard good things about these routers (in alphabetical order):

Asus RT-N66U
Cisco Linksys E4200 v1
Cisco Linksys E4200 v2
Netgear R6300
Netgear WNDR4500

Any thoughts or suggestions on which one to go with? Or perhaps a different model??

Thanks in advance!

 

[tipstir]

Hi guys,

It's time to replace my very old Netgear RangeMax router...

We've got a pretty large house to cover with multiple devices including several laptops (3 Windows machines and a future Mac), several Apple devices (iPhones, iPods and an iPad), a PS3 and an Internet connected HDTV.

I've heard good things about these routers (in alphabetical order):

Asus RT-N66U
Cisco Linksys E4200 v1
Cisco Linksys E4200 v2
Netgear R6300
Netgear WNDR4500

Any thoughts or suggestions on which one to go with? Or perhaps a different model??

Thanks in advance!

How many sq feet is your dwelling?

 

[SoundsGood]

How many sq feet is your dwelling?

Good question. 3500.

 

[tipstir]

There are a couple of choices you can deal with that brand or?

What you had been using prior for the Home.

The ones you listed.

Or you can go another way and buy a business load balanced managed router.
Some of these have WiFi in them some don't.
What I just go cost me the same if I had purchased EA4500.

Depends what you want to work with Cisco, D-LINK, Netgear, Trendnet, Zyxel, ASUS and then there is TP-LINK Load Balanced Enterprise Routers. The others have this also but cost much more.

Then if you want to use APs in the house you might want to look into Ubiquiti Networks UniFi AP Enterprise... 3x for $199. Each one handles 300 to 400 Sq Feet for 802.11a,b,g,n on 10/100 port there is the Pro version that does 10/100/1000 Gig port. Of course that cost more.

But in all you can keep it simple and stick with what is sold retail or what you can purchased from Amazon, Buy.com, Newegg an etc.

Under the sign below this you can see what I have running. There is that newer WiFi coming out but the only issue with that is most hardware is based on the old 802.11g and 802.11n. If you follow the trends it costly.

 

[SoundsGood]

But in all you can keep it simple and stick with what is sold retail or what you can purchased from Amazon, Buy.com, Newegg an etc.

Yeah, I'd rather do this. The question is, which router ??

 

[tipstir]

I am sure you read the reviews on main SNB right? ASUS seems popular here. But I would weigh in how the out-of-box-experience has really been for those.

At them I had opted for from 90's to to 2009 all prior routers from Trendnet, Linksys, DL-LINK and Netgear well didn't last so long. In 2010 to 2011 4x TL-WR1043ND after my move then later in 2011 E4200V1. In 2012 EA4500V1 and now Load Balancing Enterprise Business Router (TL-ER5120).

For you...

ASUS RT-Line
CiCSO (beware of the Cloud) EA Series.

This is where I would start if I was you. If you want to venture into the unknown there is a newer TP-LINK top of the line for home usage is the TP-Link N750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router $84 bucks gives you 128MB of RAM some extra perks.

You might want to play it safe with ASUS. Netgear has come a long way in home base routers but still I would have tried the new WD N900 HD instead as that has internal temp sensor fan and 8 gig ports (really 7 gig ports for the Lan) suppose to have demand feature to balance throughput and lag features out. Well until more here have one we won't know for sure if that works as they say. As the can say many things on the box and in the docs and online. Real-time is a different story when you get the device into your home network.

 

[SoundsGood]

For you...

ASUS RT-Line
CiCSO (beware of the Cloud) EA Series.

This is where I would start if I was you.

Seems like Asus RT-N66U is very popular.

If you want to venture into the unknown...

Nah, that's not for me.

Netgear has come a long way in home base routers...

I was all set to order the Netgear R6300 or the Netgear WNDR4500... but now I'm not so sure.

 

[tipstir]

Seems like Asus RT-N66U is very popular.


Nah, that's not for me.


I was all set to order the Netgear R6300 or the Netgear WNDR4500... but now I'm not so sure.

Do you own anything with 802.11ac for R6300 then again future needs might out weight the need for now.

Well I had some bad experiences with Netgear equipment WiFi Routers and Gig Switches. Well do your homework and feature out what you need most of what you really should look for it.

Features
CPU Power
RAM (don't want anything less than 128MB)
Larger Packet Buffering for your Ports
Ports: Gig (10/100/10000)
WiFi 801.11a,b,g,n,ac
WiFi: 20dBm (100mW)
ANT Spread: 3T x 3R Some have more.

But seems your heart is with Netgear then get one. Make sure where you buy it from allows you to return it if you don't like? I wouldn't use those choice of words when returning equipment like this. Defective is a stronger word kind of gives you more power.

If your going with the Netgear make sure you get what you have there. So if you only had 2.4GHz then you don't need dual band. Extra band can be disabled.

 

[claykin]

In my experience, the Apple Airport Extreme has been very reliable. I've used it in offices where I had trouble with Netgear WNDR series and Cisco's E/EA series. The Airport Extreme may not be feature rich, or have the best range, but I have had pretty much no need to reboot them due to wireless issues. Wish I could say the same for most other retail products. And, I'm no Apple fan!

Just today I visited an office where I previously had a WNDR3700 and later a WNDR3700V2 (tried OEM and DDWRT firmware). Both needed periodic reboots and the owner wanted more reliability (they have quite a few wireless devices). Six months ago I installed an Airport Extreme (connected to a UPS) and its NEVER needed a reboot. This is one of two Apple products I like and own. The other is an iPod.

 

[SoundsGood]

Do you own anything with 802.11ac...

No, actually I don't.

But seems your heart is with Netgear...

Nah, not really. I'm starting to lean towards the Asus.

The Airport Extreme may not be feature rich, or have the best range...

Ahhh, but I need range!

 

[tipstir]

Then get the ASUS you really want though check on this site to make sure everyone okay with it though.

 

[sfx2000]

Check the dedicated ASUS forums - review them and make your own choices - it's great HW, the SW is a moving target - but ASUS has been very good about updates, and there are alternate SW builds available. If you like to tweak about and be a alpha/beta tester, it's a great resource, and there are a lot of smart folks over there...

I do recommend the Apple Airport Extreme 5th Gen (or the Time Capsule 4th Gen of you want some Mac backup love) as they do have decent range, and great stability - plug it in and don't worry much. The Apple devices, they may not be as feature rich, but they "just work" for most folks.

 

[tipstir]

Check the dedicated ASUS forums - review them and make your own choices - it's great HW, the SW is a moving target - but ASUS has been very good about updates, and there are alternate SW builds available. If you like to tweak about and be a alpha/beta tester, it's a great resource, and there are a lot of smart folks over there...

I do recommend the Apple Airport Extreme 5th Gen (or the Time Capsule 4th Gen of you want some Mac backup love) as they do have decent range, and great stability - plug it in and don't worry much. The Apple devices, they may not be as feature rich, but they "just work" for most folks.

Is that's what your running on your end there?

 

[sfx2000]

Is that's what your running on your end there?

I run the Apple gear because it meets my needs and just works... I also have Buffalo STA's on my network, again, they just work...

I can appreciate the ASUS hardware, it's quite god, but their SW is a moving target... and ASUS seems to be struggling there - good news is they have an active community, the bad news is that they have an active community, and that is ASUS main problem - they've been a first rate HW provider, both direct and ODM...