Looking for new wireless router
Since I?ve moved back to Charter and there higher speeds. My old Linksys WRT54G with Tomato firmware doesn?t seem to be keeping up. I?ve had drops and low signal issues with it the over the last month. I don?t always get the speeds I should be getting when I do a speed test (but when I plug directly into the cable modem I do get the high speeds consistently)
The last draw was the new ATT Microcell I got won?t stay connected or pull an IP 90% of the time. I?ve tried the unit at work and it will pull and keep an IP every time. I?ve tried different ports on the router and different Ethernet cables same with result.
So I?m ready to purchase another wireless router to see if this fixes my issues. Right now everything I have wireless is still G, but it doesn?t seem to make sense to me to purchase a new router and not get N so I?m ready when I get my first N device.
So I headed to Amazon to look at the different options and reviews, there doesn?t seem to be any consistent winners and the prices are from $50-$160 for a N wireless router. The router is in the basement so I need something with a good powerful signal.
I?ve had my Linksys for about 6 years and its served me good. We use Cisco at work so I?d think a Cisco/Linksys device (E1000 through E3000) would be a solid product but the Amazon ready seem to learn toward them being overpriced and only average performers. I was looking at the netgear lineup (WNR2000 through WNDR3700) and it looks solid.
So now I?m asking you my readers for your opinion and experiences.
Thanks,jb
I was given two WRT610Ns, the things are insane with 64MB RAM and USB! I was able to install DD-WRT and use Optware to get uTorrent and Samba going at the same time.
I’d take the WRT610N over a E3000 id only because the 610N has double the RAM.
Of course all my praise is moot since I have yet to actually use the thing. My current network is fine so this one will only take over once I move into dorm.
I also was given a WRT300 and it has gotten use covering most of my church. It dosn’t have as much RAM or any USB though.
Actually I do know for sure that the WRT610N does quite a bit better than a WRT54GL. It also managed to power a 2.5 HDD completely on USB, ran hot at 9 watts idle and ~15 watts max.
Wow, that was nice of someone to give you two of these units.
Looks like it cost about the same as the E3000, but amazon has some refurbished units for about $110, maybe I’ll have to check one of these out.
Thanks for the info.
I use WRT54G2 for almost a year now and so far I havent experienced any drops… the first time it did, what I did is have my electric fan or airconditioner as close as possible to it to avoid overheating. How retro, huh? But it works for me and the connection is stable on my laptop, I even use it to connect my iPhone at the same time. I also notice every night, my wifi doesnt work on my iPhone but it does on my laptop, and an easy fix for it would be to turn off the wifi and turn it back on after 10 seconds.
Hope that helps 🙂
I actually was using Linksys Wireless WRK54G model as well, but since we went to High Def digital TV with the PVR the whole house is a wireless router for my laptop, and I just punch in the direct cable into my desktop computer without any use of the linksys router at all.
I have gone through about 3 routers in the space of a year, actiontec, belkin and a netgear. I finally settled on Linksys WRT54GL and even that had problems getting an IP from my modem. I flashed the Linksys with the dd wrt firmware and its been running rock solid ever since.
Firmware update always won’t help.. We can also try
changing the wireless channel number for better
connectivity
I am curious what you decided to go with for your wireless N router? My WRT54G decided to brick itself (just stopped working), so I went with the Linksys E4200. I was disappointed with the strength of the signal, but it is still much faster than the WRT54G.
This is an older post, I’ve since switched to Uverse and they include a wireless router.