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Best Wireless Router
- Thread starter BlueGoldAce
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They are also only using Windows XP, an 11 year old operating system.
There's so many variables when it comes to wireless its hard to come to a conclusion. Even wireless between a MBP 2010, 2011 can give very different results.
I personally switched from a Netgear 3700 to a 5th gen Airport Extreme and I can tell you the difference is amazing. There were places in the house that just didn't work with the Netgear. No problem with the AE.
Streaming to Apple TV and other devices is now consistent with the AE. I don't know if there is a benchmark for that, but I would get stuttering with the Netgear about every 10-15 minutes.
Anandtech has a good review on it with lots of charts showing speed, etc. But here is the summary:
"I guess the reason that I personally use an Airport Extreme (in conjunction with another device for NAT) is that it's really one of a small number of 802.11n dual-band APs I've tried that actually works without locking up, becoming unstable periodically, dropping the session from overheating when being pushed to 100% for hours, or requiring a daily reboot. There are just so many other consumer level 802.11n APs that either fall short or are incredibly frustrating and unreliable. Thus far, I've been using an Airport Extreme Gen 5 and Time Capsule Gen 4 as my primary AP with over 12 devices attached to each one for the greater part of a month without a single instability. It's that kind of stability that really sells it for me, even with 3x3:3 out of the picture."
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Andatech did write a compelling review.
Seems to me like the stability, along with the idea that the speed of the Airport should be ample... Internet connection will must likely be the bottle neck in that case.
Still debating though. Just want the best bang for my buck.
Seems to me like the stability, along with the idea that the speed of the Airport should be ample... Internet connection will must likely be the bottle neck in that case.
Still debating though. Just want the best bang for my buck.
I would also recommend the Airport
I've had netgear, linksys, and cisco routers that weren't as good at delivering a consistent signal as my AE. I presently have it connect to a linksys cable modem from 2005. And my AE has supported the following via WiFi: 2 iPhones, two iMacs, a 2011 MBP, AppleTV, PS3, and an iPad2. I normally have all of these on and connected at the same time(except the PS3 because it's pretty damn loud now) and I have never had any issues. My iMac serves as my media hub and I stream from there to my AppleTV with no issues. Even if you pick up an older one off of eBay or CL or somewhere (I got mine in 2008), you should have a good experience with it and was more than worth the money I spent on it.
I've had netgear, linksys, and cisco routers that weren't as good at delivering a consistent signal as my AE. I presently have it connect to a linksys cable modem from 2005. And my AE has supported the following via WiFi: 2 iPhones, two iMacs, a 2011 MBP, AppleTV, PS3, and an iPad2. I normally have all of these on and connected at the same time(except the PS3 because it's pretty damn loud now) and I have never had any issues. My iMac serves as my media hub and I stream from there to my AppleTV with no issues. Even if you pick up an older one off of eBay or CL or somewhere (I got mine in 2008), you should have a good experience with it and was more than worth the money I spent on it.
The Airport Extreme is a great little router. Very stable and reliable. However, there is almost no ability to customize, well, anything. No QoS. No ability to set timeouts, DHCP leases, etc. Terrible for someone with a high-traffic network in mind (though, beyond the capabilities of the Airport Extreme, I'd argue you're better off looking at pfSense for routing and just setting up wireless access points - the Airport Express being fantastic, but overpriced, as a WAP).
Honestly, for a home or a small office with no public access, the Airport Express offers the fact that it's really solid and not too expensive, really. I do recommend them fairly often. The biggest thing that puts me off them is the lack of a web configuration interface, so I can't walk someone through basic troubleshooting over the phone - you NEED the Apple software to set it up. Which sucks. If they had a web interface, they'd be all I recommend for homes and small offices.
Right now, what I recommend varies based on my mood I swear. I've found no one router I'm in love with (other than a pfSense server, LOL). I haven't set one up yet (at that price, we'd go Airport Express or a pfSense box), but the new Asus mentioned above gets killer reviews, and looks like a great unit for the money. Previous Asus routers have had reliability and stability issues though, which puts me off.
Honestly, for a home or a small office with no public access, the Airport Express offers the fact that it's really solid and not too expensive, really. I do recommend them fairly often. The biggest thing that puts me off them is the lack of a web configuration interface, so I can't walk someone through basic troubleshooting over the phone - you NEED the Apple software to set it up. Which sucks. If they had a web interface, they'd be all I recommend for homes and small offices.
Right now, what I recommend varies based on my mood I swear. I've found no one router I'm in love with (other than a pfSense server, LOL). I haven't set one up yet (at that price, we'd go Airport Express or a pfSense box), but the new Asus mentioned above gets killer reviews, and looks like a great unit for the money. Previous Asus routers have had reliability and stability issues though, which puts me off.
Draytek router
You should consider a Draytek router, I have had numerous netgear and cisco routers which have always suffered from wireless dropouts whilst streaming video.
The draytek is very well made and has a very reliable wireless signal, if a little more expensive than most. Streaming from my appleTV and other apple devices is very good.
You should consider a Draytek router, I have had numerous netgear and cisco routers which have always suffered from wireless dropouts whilst streaming video.
The draytek is very well made and has a very reliable wireless signal, if a little more expensive than most. Streaming from my appleTV and other apple devices is very good.
This!!!
I've had a 3 Draytek routers over the years all super reliable.
3 routers doesn't sound overly reliable, but:
1st router was one which allowed me to plug in my phone providers (BT) ADSL USB modem - which had to be primary connection to the internet.
2nd router was bought when the original USB modem failed. As the first router had no internal modem I had to upgrade.
3rd router was bought when I updated to ADSL2+
I didn't realize they had tested any current firmware. The last time I looked a few years ago, they seemed to be ignoring Apple firmware updates. In fact, that same 7.5.2 firmware is also running on my Gen 4 AEBS and I bet my AEBS is running faster than it was under the old firmware so I stand by my claim that smallnetworkbuilder has a negative Apple bias. I further provide a few quotes to prove it...
From the page you linked...
Also there is the fact that all their screen shots are from Windows XP.
The most blatant quote comes from the conclusion page of the article you linked...
I don't mind that they have a bias since they admit it and I still find their reviews helpful but I'd be willing to bet it was some Apple user who came along and convinced them to correct their "top dollar" comment to "$30 or so extra".
Hello...................................
Netgear N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router is one of the fastest and most reliable wireless routers that have a speed of 450 + 450Mbps. It makes use of dual band technology that ensures smooth and continuous internet access without any breakage or error. It runs on both 2.4 as well as 5 GHz bands in order to avoid intervention.
Netgear N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router is one of the fastest and most reliable wireless routers that have a speed of 450 + 450Mbps. It makes use of dual band technology that ensures smooth and continuous internet access without any breakage or error. It runs on both 2.4 as well as 5 GHz bands in order to avoid intervention.
I have a Netgear WRN1000. This thing drops speeds like crazy. I have to reboot every few days. The cable company had a free router program, so I figured what the heck. We had an old Linksys, so it was time to upgrade anyway. When the router has a fresh connection, it works great with speeds that are over what should be delivered (30+). I am looking for a router that doesn't need to constantly be rebooted because of errors, or whatever causes it to drop to almost a crawl. On our network, we have my Macbook, a newer Dell laptop, 2 iPads, 2 iPhones, PS3, Slingbox, and 4 Tivo units. And one old laptop only used for a webcam. Is there a router that isn't plagued by these lower end routers issues? Or is this a problem with any router?
IIRC, the N900 was on our list of what to look at before we took the free one. From what you said, I assume the Netgear N900 is immune to dropped connections and the need to constantly reboot?
+1. I haven't rebooted my AEBS in 2 years or so despite many blackouts, powersurges and it being more than 100F in the attic during the summer. I have no clue about networks and I don't want to learn it. Setting it up is easy, plugging in a printer is easy, it's fast, the range is good enough for a two family house, you get all the home sharing benefits. I agree it's expensive relative to other routers but for the not so tech savvy of us it's worth the money in the long run.
I have tried most of the routers mentioned on this thread except the Asus. In my case, I wanted to use Time Machine and I wanted to configure the router as an access point instead of a router. The AEBS is the only one that allows me to do both with reliable functionality.
Later, I reconfigured my ISP-provided modem/router as a bridge and enabled NAT and DHCP on the AEBS because back to my mac works that way.
I fully recommend the AEBS if your uses are similar to mine. It is easy to configure and works much more reliably than any other router I have used. Compared to the high-end net gear routers, the price difference was about $30 USD.
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If it helps, I had an AirPort Extreme and within the first month, it overheated and died.
I returned it and I bought a Netgear router that I don't even remember the name and it still working.
I returned it and I bought a Netgear router that I don't even remember the name and it still working.
Netgear, Belkin, Asus, AEBS, Draytech,Xytel etc etc etc.......... I've had several of all of these, and each has it own good points and bad points......'
just try some out & use the one that works the best for YOUR situation........
just try some out & use the one that works the best for YOUR situation........
hej... I hope I will help you with this information.
I was recently looking to buy a new router... So I spent some time searching of course what people think would be the best option. Then I found out about this website, where you have 10 products and they are ranked from best to not so good. I really hope It will help you.
Here is the link to the site:
http://best10awards.com/best-10-wireless-routers-for-home-use/
I was recently looking to buy a new router... So I spent some time searching of course what people think would be the best option. Then I found out about this website, where you have 10 products and they are ranked from best to not so good. I really hope It will help you.
Here is the link to the site:
http://best10awards.com/best-10-wireless-routers-for-home-use/
Site is useful as a starting point for possible candidates but doesn't feature any testing of its own.
I have a BRIGHTHOUSE Turbo from our cable company, Brighthouse,a Time Warner off shoot. Their router screams!
FWIW, after a month of research, I went with a Linksys(Cisco) E4200 ... it's excellent, runs cool, and very reliable in both 2.4 and 5 bands. I don't allow any 2.4 devices on the 'n' band.
Overall we have 2 iPhones, MBP, iMac, Airport Express streaming music, ATV2, HP Printer, PC Desktop, PC Laptop, Wireless Bridge (runs BluRay Player and PVR connections for updates).
It's been excellent, and has been in place for 4 months.
Overall we have 2 iPhones, MBP, iMac, Airport Express streaming music, ATV2, HP Printer, PC Desktop, PC Laptop, Wireless Bridge (runs BluRay Player and PVR connections for updates).
It's been excellent, and has been in place for 4 months.