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Best Wireless Router

B

BlueGoldAce

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 11, 2011
1,951
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What would everyone here recommend for a good wireless router? I have been looking at the airport extreme...but I would like everyone's advice here.

I have a late macbook pro, ipad 3, iphone, older windows laptop, xbox 360...etc. All running over the router, and I live in an apartment, so there are competing signals.

Thanks

-Blue
 
So it would be best to avoid the airport extreme? Even though I have a majority of apple products?

Thanks, I appreciate the help.
 
The dlink n600 is on sale for $30 on saleaday. Seems like a great deal. Any disadvantages to this compared to the airport? I assume the lack of gigabit Ethernet is not a big deal in a wireless environment?

I apologize, I know my share of technology related tech.... But I am at a loss when it comes to routers.

Thanks
 
I currently have the Asus RT-N66u and it's great. Great range, speed, reliability, and it looks awesome. It's a bit pricey, but it was definitely worth it.

I've heard great things about the Netgear WNDR3700, but never had used one before. I did use Netgear's WNDR4000 - it was good, but it's not as good as the Asus I have now. I've also used a D-Link DIR-655 that served me well for a couple years.

If you can, I'd give the Asus RT-N66u a look - or even its predecessor, Asus RT-N56u, which also has gotten some rave reviews.
 
I will be sure to look a the listed recommended routers. Just curious, does the new airport support 450mbs on both bands?
 
chrisvee said:
I currently have the Asus RT-N66u and it's great. Great range, speed, reliability, and it looks awesome. It's a bit pricey, but it was definitely worth it.

I've heard great things about the Netgear WNDR3700, but never had used one before. I did use Netgear's WNDR4000 - it was good, but it's not as good as the Asus I have now. I've also used a D-Link DIR-655 that served me well for a couple years.

If you can, I'd give the Asus RT-N66u a look - or even its predecessor, Asus RT-N56u, which also has gotten some rave reviews.
Click to expand...
+1, if you can afford it go for the Asus. I just bought one and man it's a beast. It looks awesome too.
ASUS_RT-N66U_front.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BlueGoldAce said:
So it would be best to avoid the airport extreme? Even though I have a majority of apple products?
Click to expand...

I would disagree with seemingly everyone else here. I won't touch a router other than the AEBS or Time Machine because it's hassle free and it just works... and works well. Set-it-and-forget-it USB sharing, trivial to set up home and guest networks, etc. And I do tech support for my family so there's no way I want to be on the phone trying to step them through "OK now type in 192.168.1.1 and tell me what it says..."

Unless you enjoy that sort of tech geekery, just get the Apple router.
 
Mike Valmike said:
I would disagree with seemingly everyone else here. I won't touch a router other than the AEBS or Time Machine because it's hassle free and it just works... and works well. Set-it-and-forget-it USB sharing, trivial to set up home and guest networks, etc. And I do tech support for my family so there's no way I want to be on the phone trying to step them through "OK now type in 192.168.1.1 and tell me what it says..."

Unless you enjoy that sort of tech geekery, just get the Apple router.
Click to expand...

This. You can't beat their reliability and ease of use. My AEBS ended many months of router headaches. Who knew it could be so easy?
 
The hassle free "ness" of the airport extreme is what attracted me as well. There is just a few things I am unsure on:

Does the Airport extreme support 450 mbs in both the 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands?

I assume that this router is great for HD media streaming, and etc. If I am wrong please correct me.
 
Over the years, I've had net gears and dlinks, and in 2009 decided to try the airport extreme. Best decision ever I have to say. Great range, and the fact that has 5GHz Wifi makes it great to use with your Apple devices.

In 3 years of use, I think I've had to reset it once.
 
How does it compare to the NETGEAR WNDR4500? I found that router on sale today. I plan on doing a lot of video streaming, so would the netgear be better due to its n900 technology?
 
BlueGoldAce said:
How does it compare to the NETGEAR WNDR4500? I found that router on sale today. I plan on doing a lot of video streaming, so would the netgear be better due to its n900 technology?
Click to expand...

I prefer the Airport Extreme because I prefer an "all Apple" environment. Smallnetworkbuilder has reviews of routers but they are pretty biased against Apple gear and often test the first AEBS version that comes out for each generation, publish the results and then ignore any Apple firmware updates even if they mean the router would score better if they ever found the time to re-test it.
 
r0k said:
I prefer the Airport Extreme because I prefer an "all Apple" environment. Smallnetworkbuilder has reviews of routers but they are pretty biased against Apple gear and often test the first AEBS version that comes out for each generation, publish the results and then ignore any Apple firmware updates even if they mean the router would score better if they ever found the time to re-test it.
Click to expand...

This link shows SmallNetBuilders were using the latest firmware [7.52] in their review http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...-apple-airport-extreme-gen-5-reviewed?start=1 so I'm not sure if your point is valid?

I too am pondering whether investment in a new router might better serve our home but am now considering a non-Apple product for superior performance.

Any further testimony of experience with alternative routers would be appreciated.
 
The only issue with the AirPort is that it can be annoying restrictive in its configuration. It's not a big deal, but it can be annoying.

In terms of performance, the Asus will be slightly quicker, but not enough to make a huge difference. Range will probably be a tad better. However, stability and reliability have always been the strong point of the AE, and I'm willing to bet that the Extreme might be slightly superior in that respect. Mine is rock solid, as was my previous router (original AirPort). Everything in between that has been so-so at best.
 
I love my Apple products, but I draw the line when it comes to this.

There is absolutely no reason to buy an Airport Extreme over other class leading routers out there that perform just as well and are just as stable. I just find it completely ridiculous to pay twice as much for a router that cannot be configured to do something a $100 router can do.
 
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