- This topic has 12 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I’m looking for a new wireless router for my apartment. I’d prefer to get one with the latest technology (N I think?), but my laptop only supports G. I’m looking for tips and suggestions.. I really don’t know much about networking or routers.
Spend the money and get a nice Linksys N. Regardless of which your laptop uses, both N and G adapters can connect to the N router. Almost all N routers can broadcast in the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequency ranges and some of the nicer ones can use both ranges simultaneously.
I use a 120N and it’s ok but I wouldn’t recommend it. My dad has the 310N and it’s great but they discontinued the model after screwing up the later revisions :\
For best performance, you’ll want a simultaneous dualband, this gives the raw range of the 5Ghz frequency and the obstacle penetration of the 2.4Ghz frequency. I would recommend the WRT400N or E3000. The E3000 is pricey but you want something that’ll last and this is an area where you definately get what you pay for. Both support DD-WRT.
Unfortunately right now there’s really not a good middleground in terms of price. The WRT610N is a perfect balance of features and price but has a severe overheating problem. The E1000 is 100Mbit and only has a 2×2 antenna config with 2 antennas, making it pretty much worthless in terms of useful wireless. The E2000 has gigabit wired but isn’t simultaneous dualband and only has 3 antennas. Better but not great compared to the E3000’s 6 antennas
Your WRT160N is identical to my 120N except you have the full 300Mbit capability and I don’t. Like I said though, I haven’t had any problems with it but if you’re going to buy a 802.11N router you might as well get one that supports 5Ghz. Neither of ours do.
Also, the newer versions of the 160N have serious firmware issues, to the point where they randomly crash and/or stop resolving DNS. The typical fix is to use DD-WRT. Similarly, the newer 120N firmware is abysmal.
The basic rule of thumb for linksys routers is to buy the v1 or v2 of them, in probably 90% of their models the quality nosedives after that.
I ordered the E3000… it should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, Kip hasn’t lead me astray.
I’ve also read that you can replace the firmware with dd-wrt. I’ve heard good things about this, but I don’t know that they have covered all the features in this router.. and honestly I don’t know enough to understand any of the advantages. I just remember someone giving a presentation on it in the Clemson Linux Users Group.
Anyone done this before?
Major Lemm said:
I ordered the E3000… it should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, Kip hasn’t lead me astray.
Looks like you’re fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Just like someone else…
Unless you’re having problems or need a feature that it doesn’t have, I would stick with the stock Linksys firmware.
DD-WRT, Open WRT, and Tomato are good but they void your warranty, can sometimes be tricky to install, and occassionally prevent you from going back to Linksys firmware.
I still have my age old WRT54G with tomato. It may be only G but i can do so much more than the ones they sell now.
I probably have no use for DD-WRT but I may put it on there at a later time..
It looks like the E3000 build is not fully developed though, but I might have misread.
Also, I think my apartment locks the router connected to the cable modem away in the closet with my water heater.. is that going to be a problem?
I mean.. I don’t think it would because I have ports throughout the apartment.. well really just 3 .. 1 in the bedroom and 2 in the living room.
It shouldn’t be a problem. So long as you can get an IP, your router will get one too.
Now playing games and other things that require open ports and an unshared connection (IE not slow) are probably going to be a problem. I had trouble with my last appt’s “included internet” and had to get my own cable connection. You might consider getting Roadrunner, they should have 1 year intro rates that’ll blow your mind.
MasterP said:
It shouldn’t be a problem. So long as you can get an IP, your router will get one too.
Now playing games and other things that require open ports and an unshared connection (IE not slow) are probably going to be a problem. I had trouble with my last appt’s “included internet” and had to get my own cable connection. You might consider getting Roadrunner, they should have 1 year intro rates that’ll blow your mind.
It seemed alright playing last night. I had everything setup really fast.. they have two ways to control the router.. 1 being the web interface (more advanced) on the network and the second being a control program used for initial setup (extremely easy). I was able to setup the network password as well as setup a guest wifi. (Only thing is if you start using the web interface you can’t really use the really easy setup software anymore because they don’t play well together).
I have the router sitting pretty much right next to the PS3 (which is on the network) and I didn’t really notice a difference.. On my laptop I was getting 27 Mbps down with a ping of 33 on speedtest.net (I have Time Warner Cable). I don’t know if it will continue to work this well, but I am happy with it so far.
- The forum ‘PC Hardware Discussion’ is closed to new topics and replies.