The current wireless router i have is giving me alot of trouble such as disconnects, crashes, etc. The router even crashes and locks up when i try to open ports and this renders my dual xeon CS:S server useless. Anyways i'm tired of this and i started to look at new wireless routers. After searching lots of reviews the Linksys WRT54G comes out on top. However the router seems to have a downside which is the v.5 firmware. I need a really stable router so could anybody tell me what their opinion on this series of routers is. I was also looking into the linux version of this router. Opinions are welcome to any other router out there. Please help me to find THE best wireless router out there please.



Thanks

Quote: Originally Posted by degu22 The current wireless router i have is giving me alot of trouble such as disconnects, crashes, etc. The router even crashes and locks up when i try to open ports and this renders my dual xeon CS:S server useless. Anyways i'm tired of this and i started to look at new wireless routers. After searching lots of reviews the Linksys WRT54G comes out on top. However the router seems to have a downside which is the v.5 firmware. I need a really stable router so could anybody tell me what their opinion on this series of routers is. I was also looking into the linux version of this router. Opinions are welcome to any other router out there. Please help me to find THE best wireless router out there please. Thanks

I've been using a Netgear Rangemax DG834PN router for the last few months & have been quite impressed with it, stability-wise, _and_ it has pretty bloo LEDs on the top

What's been less impressive though is the signal strength, which despite all the claims about how the "rangemax" technology could take 802.11g and 9 of his mates in a fight, was invariably reported as "low" or "very low" in the s/w that came with the WPN311 cards (same manufacturer), even on a PC in the next room ... sighting (best results I've found are with the router stood end on, well away from any metal) & n/w card aerial tweaking seem to be key... disappointing, as all the claims suggest it should be able to deal with anything over a huge range, while simultaneously defrosting a chicken & sucking the chrome off a tow hitch...

7.5/10 then - "some idiosyncrasies"

Ive only trusted linksys for my networking.
Havent had any problems with their routers.

Well, I've only used Linksys, and they're alright when they work. I've got a B and G router from Linksys and they both tend to stop routing internet connections from time to time... luckily it only happens once in a while.

I've been running a Linksys WRT54G v4 with the OpenWRT firmware for over a year without having to reset it or mess with anything other than ports for certain apps. I mostly use that for a WAP. My main routing is handled by an old Dell with a 733MHz PIII. An old PC makes a great router.

hmmm I was thinking of building my own router because i just bought a 24 port switch. How does the performance compare to a normal router ?. Also can you open ports or set a DMZ in the software?.

I use one of these and it has been by far the best router i have ever used, D-Link Wireless Gaming Router, 4-Port Gigabit Switch, 802.11g, 108Mbps, 5dBi D-link

I have been using the WRT54G for over a year now too without ever making any adjustments and never had any kind of a problem. Tried D-Link early on and fixed that one with a hammer while it was still warm from the retail box.

Ill have to agree with ranger1033. The D-Link DGL-4300 is a really good router. Gigabit routing plus 108mbs wireless. Pretty reliable. Linksys is OK. But I have had some problems with them, always having to reset, wireless randomly turning off. The DGL is nice.

DGL-4300 @ Newegg

D-link 624. The only problems I had with it had to do with eMule establishing too many connections and overloading it. Once I figured that one out - zero problems.

More important is what I would not touch with a 10 foot pole - US robotics. My in-laws have one and it's junk. Bad range and configuration problems top the list but in general it's a cr@ppy product.

I too have a WRT54G (revision 2, bought second-hand), and have been satisfied; required a firmware flash for WPA to work properly, but otherwhise quite reliable.

Can't say the same for the Netgear WGR614 or something like that at work; it fell over on average once a day, and had to be power-cycled. We replaced it with some D-Link Pre-N thing for reasons I don't follow, and it's been reliable, except that one machine in the four there won't correctly retrieve a DHCP address from it (it says it's been issued in the control panel, but Windows never retrieves it)

I concur. I've heard very good things about the DGL-4300.

Wait for the new Apple AirPort Extreme - it is 802.11a/b/g/n - n being the most important for the future. Plus you can connect a printer or networked attached storage via USB directly into the router (saves you the cost of a PrintServer or NAS box).

And contrary to popular belief, Apple hardware is identical to PC hardware, just the brand name and software are different. Although in this case, software doesn't matter because you can hook this up without a PC.

pfft

just stick with the real well know names in networking
not the apple air port junk router ...

Thanks for alll the input. I ended up getting the WRT54G V6. Its a pretty stable router with the stock firmware. im on my second one because I bricked the first one when i tried to put linux on it.

Sounds like Joe over here is a little scared of some Apple superiority over "well know names in networking".... lol..

Quote: Originally Posted by Joe88 pfft just stick with the real well know names in networking not the apple air port junk router ...

Nothing wrong with using the airport to hook up a printer to a wireless setup, it's quite good actually. And extremely easy to setup (at least with a powerbook).

WRT54Gs here, never had a problem with it. Replaced an old WRT54G that got popped by lightning. Have 2 wired desktops and the network media player wired as well as the laptop on wireless ocasionally and the wii wirelessly 24/7 and i plan to add another wired server sometime. Never had so much as a hickup from it, it just works. From what i hear though, current rev WRT54Gs are a craps shoot and because of that youre better off going with the WRT54Gs, even if you dont have speedbooster cards.

The WRT54G is hands-down the BEST wireless rotuer on the market. I work for the cable company and we offer a home networking service and we only use WRT54G's. We used to carry Netgears but we were having a lot of problems with them, since we started using the WRT54G's we have had less than half as many networking-related service calls.

I liked it so much I went out and bought my own, and the neighbors across the street can access it and they're almost 400 feet away.

Quote: Originally Posted by chris_kalan Sounds like Joe over here is a little scared of some Apple superiority over "well know names in networking".... lol..

well what names come to mind when you hear networking ?

Cisco Linksys , DLink, NetGear
No one would ever think of apple

there good for macs but for a windows PC ...