AP0ll0UK
10-15-2006, 07:17 AM
My last two Wireless routers have ended in sudden death pretty much.
The first was the D-Link DI-614+ which was ok for a while but then the wireless interface used to drop at will. The second which has just died is the Netgear WGT624 v2. The Lan interface just disconnects every few minutes. It's running the latest firmware but it's just utter crap. Even prior to that it used to reboot at it's leisure, and just shut down other interfaces as it saw fit which only a reboot of the router would fix things.
The two that I bought were both referbs from eBay so there was warranty. I'm currently hard wired straight into my Cable Modem which I don't like one bit so I need a new router as soon as possible. Plus my wireless devices now have nothing to talk to so they are all offline.
My network currently consists of the following:-
Main Rig [online gaming, heavy web browsing, downloads, storage] - Hard Wired into the Router
Upstairs Rig [online gaming, web, occasional downloads] - 54MB/s D-Link Wireless PCI
Son's Rig [streaming media from Main Rig] - 54MB/s Linksys Wireless PCI
XBox [streaming media from Main Rig] - 54MB/s Netgear Bridge
PSP [streaming media from Main Rig, very light web browsing, online gaming]
My Son's rig is being added as we speak so I never had all of the above running simultaneously. I'm also planning on adding a Windows 2003 DC into the equation sometimes soon and using that for storage as opposed to my main rig). My sig needs to be updated with my Conroe machine spec as that is my Main Rig and the Opty 146 has been retired to a bedroom upstairs but it's still running strong.
I really don't want to buy anything else that is D-Link or Netgear as I've had bad experiances with both. However, I hear good things about the Netgear RangeMax stuff which also supports MIMO. I've been mainly looking at the Linksys WRT300N and I was recommended the WRT54GL which also looks very good, plus there are plenty of custom firmwares for the WRT54GL which I like.
The WRT300N seems to be getting itself a bit of a bad rep at the moment due to poor sginal strength, something which apparently Linksys were supposed to have fixed in a June firmware udpate but haven't. I'm guessing it will be fixed sooner or later but there are people out there that have nothing but good things to say about.
The WRT54GL I'm a little bit hesitant about buying as I believe I need to make sure that I get the correct version which supports custom firmware. The only way I can be sure would be to buy one off of ebay as retailers in the UK aren't very forthcoming with that information usually. As above, I don't want to go down the ebay route as I'd like a valid warranty that runs for a year or two, I think the WRT300N has a 3 year warranty.
On one hand, I could just pickup the WRT300N from dabs or anywhere else that has it, have a play around with it and if it doesn't work then send it back for something else. Either that or I could do the same with the WRT54GL and hope I get a version that I can flash with customer firmware.
Alternatively I could go back down the Netgear route and try one of the RangeMax routers and see how they compare to the WGT624 load of crap that I have at the moment. Maybe the RangeMax will be of better build quality and more stable firmware than the cheaper routers......maybe??
Or, look at something totally different, but other than the ones I've mentioned I don't know what decent routers there are. I would like whatever I end up buying being able to cope with a resonable amount of traffic from the devices listed above without devices loosing wireless connectivity, stability is very important. I don't want to go above £100 and I'm hoping that should be able to get something decent that is going to last a few years. I've found the WRT300N for about £91 + shipping which is fine).
I also like to be able to throttle the up and down stream of the difference devices, maybe on a port by port basis per ip, dunno if off the shelf home user stuff is that sophisticated, I don't a spare £300+ to be buying wireless Cisco kit for home. However, I'm wondering if one of the custom firmwares for the WRT54GL would be able to do this?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I need to get one urgently and I don't want to throw money at something which is isn't going to last long.
The first was the D-Link DI-614+ which was ok for a while but then the wireless interface used to drop at will. The second which has just died is the Netgear WGT624 v2. The Lan interface just disconnects every few minutes. It's running the latest firmware but it's just utter crap. Even prior to that it used to reboot at it's leisure, and just shut down other interfaces as it saw fit which only a reboot of the router would fix things.
The two that I bought were both referbs from eBay so there was warranty. I'm currently hard wired straight into my Cable Modem which I don't like one bit so I need a new router as soon as possible. Plus my wireless devices now have nothing to talk to so they are all offline.
My network currently consists of the following:-
Main Rig [online gaming, heavy web browsing, downloads, storage] - Hard Wired into the Router
Upstairs Rig [online gaming, web, occasional downloads] - 54MB/s D-Link Wireless PCI
Son's Rig [streaming media from Main Rig] - 54MB/s Linksys Wireless PCI
XBox [streaming media from Main Rig] - 54MB/s Netgear Bridge
PSP [streaming media from Main Rig, very light web browsing, online gaming]
My Son's rig is being added as we speak so I never had all of the above running simultaneously. I'm also planning on adding a Windows 2003 DC into the equation sometimes soon and using that for storage as opposed to my main rig). My sig needs to be updated with my Conroe machine spec as that is my Main Rig and the Opty 146 has been retired to a bedroom upstairs but it's still running strong.
I really don't want to buy anything else that is D-Link or Netgear as I've had bad experiances with both. However, I hear good things about the Netgear RangeMax stuff which also supports MIMO. I've been mainly looking at the Linksys WRT300N and I was recommended the WRT54GL which also looks very good, plus there are plenty of custom firmwares for the WRT54GL which I like.
The WRT300N seems to be getting itself a bit of a bad rep at the moment due to poor sginal strength, something which apparently Linksys were supposed to have fixed in a June firmware udpate but haven't. I'm guessing it will be fixed sooner or later but there are people out there that have nothing but good things to say about.
The WRT54GL I'm a little bit hesitant about buying as I believe I need to make sure that I get the correct version which supports custom firmware. The only way I can be sure would be to buy one off of ebay as retailers in the UK aren't very forthcoming with that information usually. As above, I don't want to go down the ebay route as I'd like a valid warranty that runs for a year or two, I think the WRT300N has a 3 year warranty.
On one hand, I could just pickup the WRT300N from dabs or anywhere else that has it, have a play around with it and if it doesn't work then send it back for something else. Either that or I could do the same with the WRT54GL and hope I get a version that I can flash with customer firmware.
Alternatively I could go back down the Netgear route and try one of the RangeMax routers and see how they compare to the WGT624 load of crap that I have at the moment. Maybe the RangeMax will be of better build quality and more stable firmware than the cheaper routers......maybe??
Or, look at something totally different, but other than the ones I've mentioned I don't know what decent routers there are. I would like whatever I end up buying being able to cope with a resonable amount of traffic from the devices listed above without devices loosing wireless connectivity, stability is very important. I don't want to go above £100 and I'm hoping that should be able to get something decent that is going to last a few years. I've found the WRT300N for about £91 + shipping which is fine).
I also like to be able to throttle the up and down stream of the difference devices, maybe on a port by port basis per ip, dunno if off the shelf home user stuff is that sophisticated, I don't a spare £300+ to be buying wireless Cisco kit for home. However, I'm wondering if one of the custom firmwares for the WRT54GL would be able to do this?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I need to get one urgently and I don't want to throw money at something which is isn't going to last long.