Wireless Router: Which is best?

[sirjpbear]

Hey all,
I'm in the market for a wireless router for my cable modem. My TWCNY download speed tops out at a fairly constant 10 Mbytes/sec, and wondered if this a factor? Any suggestions or favs, Apple or otherwise?
-Jim Bear

[celticpride678]

Do you have PC's and Mac on your network? Or just Macs? Or just PC's?

[Heb1228]

Linksys would be my first recommendation, always have been very reliable for me. I've got a D-Link right now and I'm not all that happy with it.

[geoffreak]

The speed of your internet connection is irrelevant so long as it is not higher that your internal network speed.

Internal network speeds only matter if you plan on sharing large amounts of data quickly between computers on your network. Even then wireless G (54Mb/s max) is more than suitable in regards to wireless.

If you want to go all out, just buy a new Airport Extreme. If you want a more budget conscious router, go with something i Linksys's lineup. I recommend the WRT54G as a great budget router.

[Sdashiki]

Lets just be the pessimist here and make sure that you know this now and not later...

NO router, wired or wireless, is any good.

Sure, youll hear people here and elsewhere say theyve had NO problems with their router, or this brand or that. And Im sure they will post below me their experiences. But, hey, some people get lucky. Though, the Airport base stations have a good reputation...

But, truthfully, unless you are Enterprise sized and equally wealthy, the router you buy WILL fail. It WILL break. It WILL give you problems. You WILL replace it in the future.

You get what you pay for...and when you see how much a "pro" router costs, youll know why your $50 one breaks after a year or two. Buy name brand (Cisco, Linksys, Netgear...something youve at least heard of before) and be happy. Just dont be surprised at how it acts!

[nissan.gtp]

Lets just be the pessimist here and make sure that you know this now and not later...

NO router, wired or wireless, is any good.

Sure, youll hear people here and elsewhere say theyve had NO problems with their router, or this brand or that. And Im sure they will post below me their experiences. But, hey, some people get lucky. Though, the Airport base stations have a good reputation...

But, truthfully, unless you are Enterprise sized and equally wealthy, the router you buy WILL fail. It WILL break. It WILL give you problems. You WILL replace it in the future.

You get what you pay for...and when you see how much a "pro" router costs, youll know why your $50 one breaks after a year or two. Buy name brand (Cisco, Linksys, Netgear...something youve at least heard of before) and be happy. Just dont be surprised at how it acts!

my Linksys has never given me an instant of trouble (it's 3 or 4 years old). I have never upgraded it or messed with it. it just works.

[geoffreak]

NO router, wired or wireless, is any good.
You clearly have high standards because I completely disagree. Certain routers are better than others, but all brands of routers can produce duds. If this is the reason you call all routers bad, then I assume you call everything no good.

[sirjpbear]

Do you have PC's and Mac on your network? Or just Macs? Or just PC's?

Whoops! I forgot to mention; it will be a new MacBookPro 13".

The speed of your internet connection is irrelevant so long as it is not higher that your internal network speed.

Internal network speeds only matter if you plan on sharing large amounts of data quickly between computers on your network. Even then wireless G (54Mb/s max) is more than suitable in regards to wireless.

If you want to go all out, just buy a new Airport Extreme. If you want a more budget conscious router, go with something i Linksys's lineup. I recommend the WRT54G as a great budget router.

The Earthlink/TimeWarnerCable speed is rated at 10Mb/sec download, and will only be using two separate Macs; mine and my roommate. I don't know if that qualifies as a network, but I'm new to this.

Some of the reviews for the Express and/or Extreme came back as not being as strong at max distance or not as reliable, and so the reasoning for the thread. Thanks for the info.

Lets just be the pessimist here and make sure that you know this now and not later...

NO router, wired or wireless, is any good.

Sure, youll hear people here and elsewhere say theyve had NO problems with their router, or this brand or that. And Im sure they will post below me their experiences. But, hey, some people get lucky. Though, the Airport base stations have a good reputation...

But, truthfully, unless you are Enterprise sized and equally wealthy, the router you buy WILL fail. It WILL break. It WILL give you problems. You WILL replace it in the future.

You get what you pay for...and when you see how much a "pro" router costs, youll know why your $50 one breaks after a year or two. Buy name brand (Cisco, Linksys, Netgear...something youve at least heard of before) and be happy. Just dont be surprised at how it acts!

Huh. Keep in mind I asked for input, not just happy input. Your info is welcome and I'd like to hear more of your personal experiences with routers.

[toxicdrift]

Just adding up to the thread coz I'm in a similar situation myself, since the new 13 supports the n range, isn't it good to buy a n router rather then regular g ones as they have more range, ?? Any suggestions ?? If not I think I'm going for the linksys or buffalo one.

[Heb1228]

An N router is definitely an advantage in terms of speed and range. If you are any distance from the router or do even moderate file sharing an N router will give you noticeably better performance than a G router.

However, I'm about to switch back to my good G router (Linksys, 6 years old, has worked flawlessly) from a sucky N router (D-Link) even though internal transfer speed and range matter to me.

In short, get a decent brand first, then figure out if your budget can afford a little more for the N version versus the G.

[kellen]

I have had excellent luck with the airport extreme and a time capsule. Just works and never a problem.

[pastrychef]

D-Link DIR-655. Reviewed here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30087/96/

or D-Link DIR-825. Reviewed here:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30588/96/

Both work great and never needs to be restarted like lots of other routers out there. The things that I like most about them are their abilities to handle tons of connections and the built-in gigabit ethernet.

Good luck.

[fehhkk]

Lets just be the pessimist here and make sure that you know this now and not later...

NO router, wired or wireless, is any good.

Sure, youll hear people here and elsewhere say theyve had NO problems with their router, or this brand or that. And Im sure they will post below me their experiences. But, hey, some people get lucky. Though, the Airport base stations have a good reputation...

But, truthfully, unless you are Enterprise sized and equally wealthy, the router you buy WILL fail. It WILL break. It WILL give you problems. You WILL replace it in the future.

You get what you pay for...and when you see how much a "pro" router costs, youll know why your $50 one breaks after a year or two. Buy name brand (Cisco, Linksys, Netgear...something youve at least heard of before) and be happy. Just dont be surprised at how it acts!

Unless anything of what you do is absolutely mission critical, no regular user would justify spending more than $300 in a home router. Go ahead and spend $200,000 in a Catalyst 6509, and it will still fail. Your post sounds overly dramatic.

[skye12]

Still using my AEBS (Apple flying saucer) from five years ago. I keep
hoping it will break so I can justify buying one of the Apple "N" routers.

Go Apple imo-worth it.

[designgeek]

I'm all for Apple routers. If it's just you and your roommate I'd get an AirPort Express 802.11n because you can connect it to your stereo and with 11n there aren't any bottlenecks for your internet connection. Not to mention that it's really easy to set up.

[J&JPolangin]

...here's my experience:

I live off base in Japan (stationed with the USN) and I only buy name brand routers.

Before I came to Japan I had a belkin die on me with-in 3 months and and belkin refunded my $$ which was great customer service but I chose to use that $$ on a netgear.

The netgear lasted 7 years = it was a b router and died when I moved to another off base house.

I replaced that with a linksys which died after 7 days.

Linksys had great customer service and they got the on base PX to RMA the item for me since they wouldn't ship via USPS to my FPO military address.

The replacement linksys WRT54GS still works ~5+ yrs later but its on back up duty in the OEM box.

I also was given a ~7+ yr old linksys WRT54G when my friend upgraded to a linksys N router (don't remember the model) and I donated that "old" router to use in my office and its in use even as I type this.

Above I say my WRT54GS still works but its now a back up router to my sim dual band AEBS = I was very hesitant to spend what apple wanted for the AEBS but the new sim dual band and the rest of the features intrigued me... there were cheaper "similar" offerings from linksys, etc... but they didn't offer all the features of the apple AEBS.

A friend gave me a $50 gift card for my birthday and the AEBS was on sale for $169 so OTD it only cost me $119 out of my pocket = not much more than what the other brands would have cost at the time of purchase (~$25 before shipping cost)...

I've been using the apple AEBS now for almost 6 months and its been great, I highly recommend it!

I would also STAY away from the airport express unless its for a tiny room only (they are also not sim dual band) - the range is not good and they do drop connection (yes I also work in a building were the manager is an apple freak). This guy tried to save some $$ by getting the express for the building, 1 didn't work well due to the size of the building so he added a 2nd, then he added a 3rd = he would have been better off with one current gen AEBS and maybe one airport express (if it was needed at all).

Good luck with your decision.

[Redlander]

I have had Siemens, NetGear, Linksys, and currently D-Link wirless routers. They have all done what they were supposed to do.

The comment on the N router is not bad advice.

I think it is best to buy the newest and the best. This is because, when they start lowering the prices and putting them on sale, they seem to be the out-dated ones, with waning support from their makers.

Remember to keep a good record of your set-up configuration. If you can print the pages, even better (not often the case in the past). This is especially important for newbies, as once these products are out of the support period and warranty, the brand name people will indeed charge for any furhter assistance, without any grace.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

The Redlander

[adamfishercox]

The Airport line is pretty much the only Apple product I can fully recommend without qualifying it somehow (usually price) It's competitively priced, extremely easy to interface with and set up on Macs or PCs and just generally does a great job.

[Carmellom]

Get an Airport if you can afford it. Apple makes the best stuff. If not Linksys should be the alternative.

[steve knight]

they will all fail if ants build nests in them. don't ask me how I know this. ants love routers. they don't care what brand it is.

[sirjpbear]

they will all fail if ants build nests in them. don't ask me how I know this. ants love routers. they don't care what brand it is.

ANTS!?! Ok, now fess up. Tell us.

...here's my experience:
but its now a back up router to my sim dual band AEBS = I was very hesitant to spend what apple wanted for the AEBS but the new sim dual band and the rest of the features intrigued me... there were cheaper "similar" offerings from linksys, etc... but they didn't offer all the features of the apple AEBS.

I would also STAY away from the airport express unless its for a tiny room only (they are also not sim dual band) -= he would have been better off with one current gen AEBS and maybe one airport express (if it was needed at all).

Good luck with your decision.

What is "sim dual band"? What does "AEBS" stand for? It also seems to me that the dominant opinion is that Apple works best with Apple.

To be clearer: The wireless connection has to be rock solid, not the limiting speed factor or slow down from my 10Mb/s ISP, and it must simultaneously connect another MB 'g' from the floor downstairs in a woodframe house.

Everyone's experience is welcome... and still want to hear about the ants. Ugh....

[adamfishercox]

Apple works best in my experience period. It's not a "work better with Apple" thing, it's just a router. AEBS = Airport Extreme Base Station. The Airport Express can do much the same thing on a smaller budget too.

[rfrankl]

AEBS works great. So simple to set up.

[theimacdude]

Linksys would be my first recommendation

I had a Linksys and after about a year, the internet in our house just went so slow (Both Wireless and Wired) So for me, I've not had a good experience with Linksys, but thats just me.
I'm currently using a Belkin.
Also an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station is perfect, it allows you to connect both wirelessly, and with ethernet, and it allows you to share drives over the network.

[skye12]

AEBS=airport extreme base station. As I said earlier, the new Apple
dual band router looks great. Amazon has it for around $170, free shipping
and no tax. Also, yesterday the Apple refurb store had them again for $149 (but you'll pay tax).

[J&JPolangin]

What is "sim dual band"? What does "AEBS" stand for? It also seems to me that the dominant opinion is that Apple works best with Apple.

To be clearer: The wireless connection has to be rock solid, not the limiting speed factor or slow down from my 10Mb/s ISP, and it must simultaneously connect another MB 'g' from the floor downstairs in a woodframe house.

Everyone's experience is welcome... and still want to hear about the ants. Ugh....

"sim dual band" are two freq's that are transmitted at the same time from the AEBS so your G and N devices get their own full strength bandwidth signals all the time.

[steve knight]

ANTS!?! Ok, now fess up. Tell us.
sometimes these little black ants get out of control in the summer. they just seem to love routers and build a nest in them. lost a couple tat way.
We were going through several routers this year they all kept having problems. found it was the cable modem got a new one and all was fine.

[maigado]

Count me with the crowd that says not to expect much out of your router. If you set it up, connect a single computer to it and it never causes any problems, that's no surprise. But try having multiple wired and wireless connections, mixing both Windows and Mac machines that come and go from the network and see what happens. Under those circumstances, I haven't had a router that was reliable and neither have most people I know.

That said, I'm not a network admin, haven't had the level of experience that some have. So I don't doubt that there's something out there that has reasonable speeds over household or small office distances and can hold up under changing connections.

If there's something that people really like under these terms, I'd like to know about it, too. The aforementioned review for the D-Link DIR-655 seems like it could be a match.

[deceiver]

I got a linksys wrt-54L and an airport extreme base. Both were used to connect a mix of 1 macbook, 2 win laptops, 2 pc, 1 printserver, 1 voip router.

The wrt54L:

+Very versatile through 3rd party linux firmware. You can set up pretty much everything you can imagine.
+QOS
+Insanely stable. At the moment mine has an uptime of over 120days.
+Price
-54mbit max theoretical speed
-No gigabit lan
-No usb connectors. So no disk/printer sharing

Airport:
+USB. Disks and printers sharing
+Strong signal(similar to the linksys)
+N draft. 300mbit or so theoretical speed (dream on :P )
+Gigabit lan
+Dual band - guest mode
-Price
-Settings are a bit minimalistic. No QOS

I kept both since they complete each other sort of :D

[quantum003]

I'm a hardcore Mac enthusiast, but I have to admit I've never gotten my Airport Extreme "space ship" wireless router to work as well as my Linksys WRT54G. I'm truly surprised that it plays with Macs as well as it does.

[JoeG4]

I have a DIR-655, it's a great router but it won't do 300mbps N unless you run it on 40MHz only, meaning no B/G clients in that mode. Otherwise, it does 160mbps N, and the chances are good you wouldn't be able to get 300 anyway.

The airport extreme and time capsule are great dual mode routers that can run N on 5.8ghz, and then you're all set!

Of course, they're also really expensive - I just saw a mention on fatwallet for a $70 DIR-655 while the airport extreme is $200.

[ooninay]

I've had about half a dozen wireless routers over the years and the best have been Apple's AEBS and Time Capsule (I'm actually using both). Very easy to set up and very reliable. Also I don't care for all the tacky flashy lights the other ones have, but that's obviously subjective. Before these I had a Netgear that dropped its wireless connection every few minutes from Day 1, a couple of Linksys (one good, one bad), and a couple of D-Links (one good, one bad). The biggest problem with the bad routers isn't so much that they're bad because you can always get your money back. It's the hours you spend trying to make them work before you finally realize that you're wasting your time and give up on them.

[gugucom]

I have used SMC routers for some years until my cable company made me a deal for an AVM Fitzbox!Fon 7270 for 50€ in a package deal with flat internet and flat telefon. The 7270 is a full blown base station for 5 wireless DECT telefone sets. It can act as a ADSL modem or receive an IP connection from a cable modem. It supports ISDN Telefones and Faxes as well as analog telefon and fax all over SIP connections via the internet or by POTS and ISDN. It has four Gigabit Ethernet ports, wireless N, USB 2.0 connection for printers and mass storage. All the newest hardware and software features are supported including seamless firmware updates by the push of a keyboard button. This is by far the best solution for every bit of communication I use in my home. It is a small sleek unit with one power supply. It replaced 6 different boxes and power supplies I had before. I also have an Apple TC but the 7270 is head and shoulders over it.

[IrishSniper87]

Since Apple upgraded the Time Capsule, I was thinking of trying to score a 500GB model to work as my primary router for cheaper then normal retail (just under $200).

However, I have a few concerns.

I currently run a Linksys WRT54G with tomato firmware.

It is regularly managing:
-my XBox 360 (phyically connected, I had a pre-existing physical ethernet connection running from upstairs into the basement from back in our houses pre-wireless days)
-My MacBook Pro
-2 or 3 wireless PC laptops
-1 wired desktop located near the modem and router itself
-1 Hackentosh'd OS X laptop

(luckily, we never use all these devices at once, haha)

I like that with my Tomato firmware, I can set-up QoS for my XBox and I love having the ability to disconnect users from the network if a family member decides to steal bandwidth when I'm playing games. :D

Now, I have heard that the Time Capsule does not have QoS, so how do I ensure no one throttles my bandwidth? Can I eject specific devices from the network? Will port forwarding help?

Otherwise, I might leave the current set-up in place, or buy a wireless n linksys and plug an external HDD into it. I know I might be able to wirelessly back-up to it, but I wouldnt be able to enter time machine from it.

[maigado]

There mention of the Linksys WRT54GS/GL here, along with the various newer routers. I'm interested in the GL for the third party firmware options, price and the reputed reliability. What won't I get with that that I would get with something like the D-Link DIR-655? I realize the D-Link has L support.

Generally, I'm using a 3 year old Windows desktop and a 2 year old MBP with the occasional other laptop that appears here and there. We'll probably add another machine to the mix before too long, too. So I don't think I have anything that uses the L standard right now, though that could change, I suppose.

More than anything, I want stability when machines come and go from the net, particularly via wireless, which tends to cause my current router to need rebooting.

[pastrychef]

There mention of the Linksys WRT54GS/GL here, along with the various newer routers. I'm interested in the GL for the third party firmware options, price and the reputed reliability. What won't I get with that that I would get with something like the D-Link DIR-655? I realize the D-Link has L support.

Generally, I'm using a 3 year old Windows desktop and a 2 year old MBP with the occasional other laptop that appears here and there. We'll probably add another machine to the mix before too long, too. So I don't think I have anything that uses the L standard right now, though that could change, I suppose.

More than anything, I want stability when machines come and go from the net, particularly via wireless, which tends to cause my current router to need rebooting.

1. DIR-655 has gigabit ethernet. WRT54GL has 10/100Base-T. This is a huge plus if you ever need to transfer large amounts of data between computers!!
2. DIR-655 CPU is 275MHz. WRT54GL is 200MHz. I think this helps the DIR-655 maintain far more connections without freezing and requiring a restart. Even with DD-WRT, Tomato, or whatever custom firmware can not compensate for the lack of raw power.
3. DIR-655 supports 802.11b/g/n. WRT54GL supports 802.11b/g. 802.11n is a big plus if you transfer files between computers on the LAN or if you use something like usenet were you will see that 802.11g gets fully saturated quite easily.
4. DIR-655 has a USB port which features SharePort that can be used on Windows computers. (I have never used this feature.)

In terms of stability, I have set up four DIR-655s in different locations and none of them ever require a restart. This includes one location where my friend's kids use P2P extremely often. It is absolutely rock solid.

My experience with custom router firmware dates back several years. I used to experiment with them because I was looking to make my old WRT54G (before the GL was available) router more stable. I haven't had to deal with that since moving a D-Link DGL-4300 and later to a DIR-655. They do what they are supposed to without need for tweaking. Unless there's a specific feature of the custom firmware that you require, I'd just as rather avoid them.

I've messed with many different consumer level routers. In my opinion, the current generation of D-Link routers are top notch. Netgear firmware is rally bad (there was one instance where I could not even enable DMZ). Linksys has really fallen behind. They even tried to slip the horrible WRT54G (v5) by unsuspecting customers. Belkin has always made garbage. My experience with Apple's routers are very limited. But one of my friends did try one and went back to a DIR-655 citing lower throughput.

Again, much of this is just my opinion. YMMV.

[drummerlondonw3]

personally I have had great success (mainly in the ease of the software) with Airports Expresses and Extremes

Great integration, easy way to learn networking (as I have done) and good wireless performance

[RMo]

4. DIR-655 has a USB port which features SharePort that can be used on Windows computers. (I have never used this feature.)

Just wondering: I'm assuming this feature does not work on the Mac (?)--or, if it does, then w00t. If not, does anyone know of any non-Airport routers that allow printer or storage sharing (like the AEBS) that play well with OS X?

[pastrychef]

Just wondering: I'm assuming this feature does not work on the Mac (?)--or, if it does, then w00t. If not, does anyone know of any non-Airport routers that allow printer or storage sharing (like the AEBS) that play well with OS X?

Your assumption is correct. SharePort does not work on OS X.

[RMo]

Your assumption is correct. SharePort does not work on OS X.

Oooo, I did some Google-ing, and it looks like you might be able to get it working on OS X with a bit of work: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=148273. Better than nothing, I suppose. And there is an unofficial rumor that D-Link is working on an OS X version of a SharePort app.

Alas, Airport is clearly your best bet (or should I say, my best bet...as I am looking for a router :)).

[pastrychef]

Oooo, I did some Google-ing, and it looks like you might be able to get it working on OS X with a bit of work: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=148273. Better than nothing, I suppose. And there is an unofficial rumor that D-Link is working on an OS X version of a SharePort app.

Alas, Airport is clearly your best bet (or should I say, my best bet...as I am looking for a router :)).

Thanks for the info. May come in handy one day! ;)

[maigado]

Thanks for all the detail, pastrychef. This is a big help. I had been thinking that my MBP didn't even support 802.11n, but it does. I think the DIR-655 is where I'm headed. Hopefully, there will be good Shareport support for OS X before too long.

I take it that the DIR-655 allows for wireless security settings like restricting access to a defined set of MAC addresses, etc. Is this true?

[5DollaFootlong]

airport extreme because it is covered under apple care if you have apple care for one of your macs. it is worth the extra price because it is ridiculously easy to set up, never crashes, can produce 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz frequencies, supports a guest network, has multiple ethernet outputs, and simply looks awesome.

[pastrychef]

Thanks for all the detail, pastrychef. This is a big help. I had been thinking that my MBP didn't even support 802.11n, but it does. I think the DIR-655 is where I'm headed. Hopefully, there will be good Shareport support for OS X before too long.

I take it that the DIR-655 allows for wireless security settings like restricting access to a defined set of MAC addresses, etc. Is this true?

My pleasure, maigado. However, I may have spoken too soon... After leaving my post, I did a bit of reading and found that D-Link upgraded the firmware on the DIR-655 and they are problematic. From what I read, firmware 1.10 and 1.11 are fine (I am on 1.11 and never upgraded. My belief is that if it isn't broken, don't fix it). Anything beyond 1.11 is unstable. Unfortunately, upgrading to 1.3x (1.31 is the latest) prevents users from downgrading to older firmware! I don't know what firmware is being shipped with current DIR-655s, but I would assume it's the latest versions...

In regards to MAC address filtering, as far as I know, all routers allow for this.

[maigado]

Uh-oh. That's not such good news.

I may wait a bit. This is not an emergency situation, though it can quickly become one when other computers are added to the mix and my Netgear WGT624 starts to cough.

I'll see what I can read about this firmware issue.

[quantum003]

I got a like-new Airport Extreme 802.11N base station on Craigslist for $60 and I am truly appalled at how simple and painless the setup was.

I've used Linksys routers for years and thought they were relatively simple and user-friendly, but setting up one of those is like brain surgery compared to the smooth simplicity of the AEBS. Amazing how Apple does it. It's so darned easy to do you feel like you couldn't possibly have gotten it right, but it works!

[ckennedy6104]

I'm an iMac newbie (very new). I decided to change a 5 yr old d-link that was working fine to a fairly new netgear router. Once configured, the netgear connected fine but was very very slow on sites that required a username and password (such as yahoo mail). I looked at all the settings I could find but ended up switching back to the d-link. Once again, the d-link works fine. Have you ever heard of this?

I'd like to use the netgear because it give me a much stronger signal for using my laptop around the house.

[RMo]

I'm an iMac newbie (very new). I decided to change a 5 yr old d-link that was working fine to a fairly new netgear router. Once configured, the netgear connected fine but was very very slow on sites that required a username and password (such as yahoo mail). I looked at all the settings I could find but ended up switching back to the d-link. Once again, the d-link works fine. Have you ever heard of this?

I'd like to use the netgear because it give me a much stronger signal for using my laptop around the house.

Since it deals with username-and-password sites, a good guess might be that you are having problems with HTTPS traffic. This could be a port issue (HTTPS runs by default over...port 443, I think?, as opposed to regular HTTP's default of 80), so maybe your router is having issues with this. Do you have any special firewall or port settings configured on your router?

Alternatively, this could be a software issue, as well, if you have on on your computer.