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Wireless Routers

N

Newbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 10, 2007
58
1
USA
Recently, I ordered a MBP and therefore I will be moving the computers and printer over to wireless. I don't have a router so I am looking what routers should I buy :confused:? Does anyone have any opinions on Cisco's Linksys E3000? In view of the continuing updates of internet protocol, I am concerned about the specifications needed for the router that will last for a good period of time. Additionally, I would like to know what router works for you. Your comments will be appreciated.
 
we use the airport extreme, and it has been perfect. zero problems in 2+ years. probably one of the easiest things to use ever.
 
Of course the Airport Extreme works like a charm for me. I have had good luck with NetGear, LinkSys/Cisco, and Buffalo (pretty much in that order). I wouldn't ever recommend a Belkin as the Customer Service is horrendous and the software is an abomination. I have heard good about Asus and one that starts with and X but is not very prevalent in the US. I would say to make sure that whatever you get has dual radios to do 5GHz and 2.4GHz n bands simultaneously. I have pretty much Apple in my house (mini-server, MBPs, and iPhones, as well as a few Windows computers), so I highly recommend the airport extreme. I have had no issues with it and the uptime is phenominal for me (the Linksys/Cisco required routine reboots for stability, but that is/was my personal experience and recommendations).
 
I use the NetGear WNDR3700 for all my home network needs. Works very well with Apple and Windows, as well as with Home TVs that can stream videos from a computer.

It is a highly rated router and very capable.
 
As just posted in another thread, the Apple routers will work the same as anyother router out there that is dual-band, the Apple one will just cost a good amount more and be a little easier to setup initially. I would just stick with the linksys option.
 
They don't all work the same. One thing the Apple has that not many others do is the guest network ability, if that is something you may need.
 
larmonkm said:
we use the airport extreme, and it has been perfect. zero problems in 2+ years. probably one of the easiest things to use ever.
Click to expand...

Same here, bought one in late December 2010, have not had to restart the router once! At all. Always on connection. I love the fact you can plug in a USB HDD and use it as a NAS and Time Machine backup. Also it can be formatted as HFS and both Windows and OSX can read/write to it due to whatever the Extreme uses to share the drive, I forget what it uses but yeah no problems for any of my machines at home. Got a wireless Brother 2270DW hooked up too. EZ!! Expensive? yeah but saves you a lot of headache and it definitely works. N speed even on DSL has been tremendous for my ping in gaming too =D
 
larmonkm said:
we use the airport extreme, and it has been perfect. zero problems in 2+ years. probably one of the easiest things to use ever.
Click to expand...

+1
well almost, i'm having throughput issues with it and my new MBP, but its one of the older models.
 
squeakr said:
They don't all work the same. One thing the Apple has that not many others do is the guest network ability, if that is something you may need.
Click to expand...

The only point I really want to make is that as far as the actual wireless connection, it will be the same speed and performance as long as the routers have the same specs, I've seen a few people that think just because its an Apple computer they need an Apple router, or the computer just won't work as well on another router. I guess if the guest network is deal breaker, go with Apple, if not I would go get something else.
 
If you want something headache-free and easy, avoid Linksys/Cisco. I have a Linksys Wireless-G router that I absolutely love, but that's because I replaced the horrid stock firmware with a third-party open-source solution, which isn't exactly a walk in the park for a casual computer user (and you can only do this with certain models).
 
Stiil not true. Dual band is not always the same. Some (in fact lots) can't do simultaneous 5 and 2.4 and only a few will not roll back to the weakest protocol. Most will set at the slowest protocol, so if b, g, and n are on the same radio, you will only get b speed. The Apple and the D-Link Extreme I had both will somehow negotiate each on its own merit, so b, g, and n can coexist. Don't know how they do it, but they do (None of the others I have, Linksys/Cisco, Buffalo, or the Belkin would do this, can't speak for NetGear as never owned any, although would have been my next choice if the Apple didn't work out and that was 1.5 years ago and only had to reboot when making changes or updating firmware). I just want the best and most thorough information out there. If you have a heavy PC household I wouldn't recommend the Apple though, as the interface uses a software package, which I am not sure it is available for PC, and not the standard ip addressing like most for editing settings, my one real complaint with the Apple).
 
Airport extreme. Best router I've owned. Don't buy a Linksys or Belkin, worst customer service I've ever experienced. That aside from having multiple problems with the routers themselves.
 
squeakr said:
Stiil not true. Dual band is not always the same. Some (in fact lots) can't do simultaneous 5 and 2.4 and only a few will not roll back to the weakest protocol. Most will set at the slowest protocol, so if b, g, and n are on the same radio, you will only get b speed. The Apple and the D-Link Extreme I had both will somehow negotiate each on its own merit, so b, g, and n can coexist. Don't know how they do it, but they do (None of the others I have, Linksys/Cisco, Buffalo, or the Belkin would do this, can't speak for NetGear as never owned any, although would have been my next choice if the Apple didn't work out and that was 1.5 years ago and only had to reboot when making changes or updating firmware). I just want the best and most thorough information out there. If you have a heavy PC household I wouldn't recommend the Apple though, as the interface uses a software package, which I am not sure it is available for PC, and not the standard ip addressing like most for editing settings, my one real complaint with the Apple).
Click to expand...

Like I said, as long as they have the same specs, such as the Simultaneous Dual-Band, which many companies have including the linksys E3000 which the OP is looking at.
 
Brettla said:
Like I said, as long as they have the same specs, such as the Simultaneous Dual-Band, which many companies have including the linksys E3000 which the OP is looking at.
Click to expand...

Show me where anyone specs out the ability to simultaneously run b, g, and n at their native abilities within the spec sheet. This is not in any spec sheet, and only comes out through testing and marketing. Like I said not all the same.
 
I have the Airport Extreme and it's been great. I like it so much, I would recommend it to someone even if they had no other Apple products.
 
airport extreme on my end as well, over 3 years no issues. First Apple product ever bought as well and I was using an HP laptop. Then my company uses a mix of pc's and mac's and we have a couple airport extremes with no issues.
 
TxdoHawk said:
If you want something headache-free and easy, avoid Linksys/Cisco. I have a Linksys Wireless-G router that I absolutely love, but that's because I replaced the horrid stock firmware with a third-party open-source solution, which isn't exactly a walk in the park for a casual computer user (and you can only do this with certain models).
Click to expand...

that IS THE reason I went with the Airport Extreme. I paid $100 for a WRT 300 (or whatever it was) and it wasn't not very reliable - plus there was no DDWRT written for it at that time. So I went out and shelled $160 for the Extreme and could not be happier!
 
I had a Linksys for several years, worked just fine. Then once it wore out, I decided to go with Airport Extreme. It works great too. I had Best Buy Reward Zone certificates saved up, so I got $30 off.
 
squeakr said:
Simultaneous dual band is not what I asked you to link. I asked you to link routers that allow b, g, and n simultaneously on the same radio. these don't list that. What I am asking allows the radios to maintain their rates at the correct native speeds, b running b, while g is running g, and n is running n all simultaneously on the same radio, not different radios. Most roll back to the slowest speed, so they would all be running at the slowest speed of b.
Click to expand...
How many current devices run on b? The vast majority of devices run at g or n, since g was introduced in 2003. They would only run at b if you had a b-only device on the network.
 
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