Medking Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 (edited) Hi everyone, I am so completely sick of having to buy a new router approximately every year, because of the crap standard quality ones, that i think I am just going to buy a bit more expensive router, which should last a lot longer. I need some recommendations, and as to what type of router to get. Should I go for the Wifi-N, and does that work with 802.11g? I know little about router hardware, so please, tell me what I should go for. It's to spread the signal throughout an entire house. And btw, I have two, dont ask why, Wireless Extenders from Linksys, so Im wondering, whatever I purchase, will it be compatible? Thanks, Medking Edit: Checking Amazon: What are these like? and which would you recommend? http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F5D8233-4-N-W...2978&sr=8-6 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT150N-Wire...2978&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT160N-Rang...2978&sr=8-3 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT600N-Rang...2978&sr=8-5 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT300N-Wire...2978&sr=8-4 Edited May 7, 2008 by Medking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan in St Louis Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 What on earth are you doing to them? I've installed LinkSys, D-Link, NetGear, 2WIRE, Apple, ... and I have yet to see one die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gary7 Subscriber² Posted May 7, 2008 Subscriber² Share Posted May 7, 2008 Buy yourself a box of Cat 6E wire and wire up the house. I do not like wi-fi. There are security issues and performance issues. I have had a Linksys Router for over 6 years and it has not failed me yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J400uk Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Avoid belkin, my experience with them suggests they regularly drop-out and randomlly stop working completely. Only good thing is they send you a replacement for free. linksys are a good solid brand with rock solid reliability but again some users have experienced problems. I know its not on the list but imo the apple airport extreme basestation is the best router on market today packing in everything like gigabit and wirelless N networking and its supposdely like the linksys very reliable. Your choice, but steer clear of belkin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted May 7, 2008 MVC Share Posted May 7, 2008 And why is it you think you have to buy a wireless router every year??? What have you purchased - and why is it you buy new ones? My current wrt54g version 3.1 (puchased in 2005 sometime I do believe) that I bought years ago is still going strong 24/7/365 The only time it has not been on is during power outages. Have its power output increased to 90 using dd-wrt, etc. 802.11n is not final yet.. So unless you have some specific need for higher wireless speeds, and plan on buying wireless N cards from the same maker as the router you buy there is little point to spending the extra money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruAmbitionz Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 WNDR3300-1BYNAS http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1197074537600 If you really want your moneys worth get this. You seem to be having bad luck though. Neatgears are really easy to setup too, all you gotta do is hit that big blue button and it does the work for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medking Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 (edited) ok i have a WRT54G currently. Last year it failed, as in, the router simply did not respond. It could very well have been a product of my maid dropping it, but I will never know. Anyways, the store happily changed it, because I had a warranty, and so now I have another one. However, my house is brand new, and yes, i cannot believe this either, they built it without internal wiring. Quite literally, there is one ethernet cable, or access point for internet, in the whole house. Which is, surprise surprise, connected to the modem, and subsequently the router. To wire the house in my opinion would take time and money which I dont feel like sparing, and although I recognize the added speed and benefits of ethernet, wireless is simply more convenient. However, this cable which is attached to the router, is downstairs, and in the TV room. Guess what. When I have my router in there, the signal doesn't exit the room. That is why I had to buy an extender in the first place. Now I have my router in the middle of my hall, with two extenders, and the signal barely reaches upstairs. So if you guys could tell me another source of the problem, I shall listen with open ears, I just need a solution. I had a suspicion about a year ago that the wiring from the street to the room is faulty, and that packets are being lost along the way....I dont know if that's even possible? Thanks, Medking EDIT: Another question to that, you mentioned that Wireless N require N cards? So that means you have to change the internal card of your laptop etc? A currently operating laptop which works on a g network wont work on an N network? (that shows my lack of knowledge in this field haha) Edited May 7, 2008 by Medking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted May 7, 2008 MVC Share Posted May 7, 2008 Your G will work with a N router, since the N router supports G (unless you disable G, like you can B with a G router) -- but you will not get any increase in speed or range running G card to a N router. And for N to work, since it not final -- its quite possible that your N card will need to be made by the same people that made the N router. How big is your freaking house?? My sister-in-laws is well over 5000 square feet.. A HUGE freaking house - HUGE!! and a nonsense little wrt54G v5 router sitting on top of her subwoofer, under her granite desk covers the whole house.. Attic to basement.. All I did was bump up the output to 90 using dd-wrt vs the 28 default. No special antennas, no repeaters. So unless your house is made of LEAD.. it makes no sense that your router can not cover a normal size house with coverage.. You do not need FULL bars for wireless to work either. Did you unscrew the antennas or something? I would suggest you grab a copy of netstumber and report the signal strengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medking Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 umm ok, thanks budman, you've been a great help! what you mentioned, dd-wrt? im researching that a bit. i dont want to brag or anything, but my house is big. i live in panama, costs of living are low, and the housing market just soared. the houses here are also built quite differently to houses elsewhere, so i dont know whether that influences. there is certainly a lot more concrete.... umm perhaps my router has been "tampered" with, i can check and report back....what i often find though is that the combination of the local only problem in vista, and lack of signal, makes it almost impossible to get a signal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted May 8, 2008 MVC Share Posted May 8, 2008 Well I can tell you for sure wall here in the US are not made of concrete in day to day house, that for sure. I would suggest you grab a copy of netstumbler and report some readings.. So we can see what kind of signal strength your getting. Yes either dd-wrt, tomato or openwrt will allow you to bump up the default power out of the routers. They default to 28mw, which is too low ;) They want you to buy the range extenders - hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBOURNE Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Hi everyone, I am so completely sick of having to buy a new router approximately every year, because of the crap standard quality ones, that i think I am just going to buy a bit more expensive router, which should last a lot longer. I need some recommendations, and as to what type of router to get. Should I go for the Wifi-N, and does that work with 802.11g? I know little about router hardware, so please, tell me what I should go for. It's to spread the signal throughout an entire house. And btw, I have two, dont ask why, Wireless Extenders from Linksys, so Im wondering, whatever I purchase, will it be compatible? Thanks, Medking Edit: Checking Amazon: What are these like? and which would you recommend? http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F5D8233-4-N-W...2978&sr=8-6 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT150N-Wire...2978&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT160N-Rang...2978&sr=8-3 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT600N-Rang...2978&sr=8-5 http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT300N-Wire...2978&sr=8-4 Buy this one http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1428532 It will murder anything you throw at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vivicidal- Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Avoid belkin, my experience with them suggests they regularly drop-out and randomlly stop working completely. I have had the same experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pargo Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 best router... hands down http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16833124190 dont be fooled by WRT54G..... it is horrible, this GL is still linux based and is amazing just look at the 11x winner of customer choice award Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Vila0 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Build yourself a full pc linux router. Can put whatever hardware you would like into it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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