going to buy a router

[Kramer]

hey guys, have a few questions, I have a Linksys router that is over 2 years old (wrt54g) that had its firmware upgraded with in the last 3-4 months. I was motivated to get the upgrade b/c I kept losing the signal in the house at 15-60 minute intervals and had to keep diag/rep to get the signal again and the same thing is happening again and it's annoying. so i am wondering:

1) are routers like other hardware, after 2 years or so it is cheaper to get a newer edition and/or you will see a significant jump in performance if you just get a newer product

2) what is a reasonable low end amount to spend on a router, my wife and i both have laptops that are around a year old so i assume they function on b,g, and n

3) what are your general ideas about types/brands and what are some primary stats i should look for when i shop around for a router

thx for the help

[brinstar]

good question

i have the same one you have and i wouldn't mind upgrading either

could someone give us a quick rundown on the various pros/cons of b, g, and n?

[Tikker]

the WRT54G is one of the best SOHO routers you can get actually


I'd recommend flashing it with a 3rd party firmware, either DD-WRT or Tomato



B sucks

G is fine for virtually everything
I stream HD over mine

N is technically faster, it basically does a type of channel bonding for increased throughput

unless you're transferring a ton of big files, N is overkill

G is generally more than fast enough for everyone

[Drem]

on a slightly unrelated note, and bear with me because i don't know all the terminology for this stuff, our router is bad too. i don't think map ever notices because he doesn't play online games that hook up to a remote server, but every so often the internet will become like a one-way street. i can be on MSN, i can look at webpages, but diablo 2 won't connect to battle.net, steam won't connect, nor will the EQ patcher connect. so i have to go unplug/replug the router to fix the problem (temporarily). this only happens maybe once a day or sometimes twice. very rarely it won't happen at all.

at first i just thought it was just my network cable because it's stretched pretty far. but it happens to our other roommate's computer too and we'll be able to surf around the web, but not play any games together

do what?

[brinstar]

the WRT54G is one of the best SOHO routers you can get actually


I'd recommend flashing it with a 3rd party firmware, either DD-WRT or Tomato

really? ppppbbpbpbbllltt.. guess i'll keep it.

what are the benefits of going to a 3rd party firmware, and how would i go about doing that?

[Harrison]

It's sort of like flashing the bios on certain videocards that unlocks more pixel pipelines etc.

I don't know the specifics for that router but it is VERY common. You should be able to find some quick info without having to dig very far at all.

[Tikker]

what are the benefits of going to a 3rd party firmware, and how would i go about doing that?

lots of stuff

you crank up the power to the radios to get better wifi coverage

generally the 3rd party firmwares are more stable

you can do real routing protocols (rip and ospf anyway)

there's probably 500 added features (no exageration)
you can do captive portal redirect, WDS, etc etc

the big thing for most people is cranking up the radio power (better range) and the added stability

[brinstar]

i don't have a range issue, and i don't know what any of that other shit means~!

still worth it?

[Tikker]

it's worth it for the added stability imo

there's tons of other stuff it adds, some that might be helpful

its easy to flash, and doesn't hurt anything, so might as well do it

[Gidan]

3rd party firmware more or less turns your $50 router into a $500 router. There are a ton of features that a linksys wrt54g can do but the official firmware doesn't allow for. I have both a wrt54g and a wireless N router. The wireless N router is collecting dust because it just can not compete with my linksys.

[Kramer]

thx for the help guys, my tech buddy told me the same thing tikk and others said... A) the router we have is actually very capable and B) dd-wrt so i am gonna get on my selly with him and do it, wootzers