i currently have this router




i want to upgrade to another router with a stronger signal. I live in a larger townhome now and my neighbor and i want to start sharing internet, so i need something that can fully cover both our homes. Does anyone have any suggestions for something I can grab at best buy/walmart/wherever? thanks

2/5/2011 10:32:52 AM

NETGEAR WNDR3300 RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router

This is what I have, I don;t know if you would need a daul band, but I like it because I put both my consoles on the wireless N and my PCs on the wireless G (or maybe switch them to wireless N as needed).

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-WNDR3300-RangeMax-Wireless-N-Router/dp/B0017TFVUW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296920378&sr=8-1

2/5/2011 10:41:26 AM

thanks

would you recommend the WNDR3700 at all? seems like its a newer model w/more speed maybe?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/NETGEAR+-+N600+Dual+Band+Wireless-N+Router+with+Gigabit+and+USB/9331403.p?id=1218089527534&skuId=9331403

2/5/2011 11:25:43 AM

also in an effort to save a little cash is there something i can buy that would boost the range of my current router? Maybe get some longer antenna?

2/5/2011 11:47:19 AM

Probably not an option if money big factor but the Apple Airport Extreme base station is pretty awesome. Independent dual band G/N USB port for hosting networked harddrive or printer, 3.5mm jack so you can hook up speakers and play through network. Not to mention it is super easy, albeit not cheap, to extend the network with airport express which also have USB and audio jacks. I have one base station and three express stations and it's been nothing short of awesome.

2/5/2011 12:02:55 PM

Intrex had some 34.99 TP-Links that supported dd-wrt and these hi gain omni directional antennas.

2/5/2011 12:07:00 PM

^^how about the express base station? is the range capability similar to that of the extreme? i don't need 50 users, printer sharing, harddrive sharing, etc. just N

2/26/2011 8:33:05 AM

pick up a used one

linksys/cisco WRT310N: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/sys/2235437494.html
d-link DIR-655: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/2184304021.html
linksys/cisco WRT160N: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/sys/2232379818.html
linksys E2000: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/sys/2231719730.html

2/26/2011 9:32:02 AM

How much bandwidth do you need to push across it? We use an open-mesh network at our large facility just because it's stupid easy to setup. The only hitch is that for every hop you lose half your bandwidth. No big deal for us, we're only using internet on it - and the ping increase is ~5ms/hop, hardly worth caring about.

One advantage it did give us, however, is a dual networks. We run the one network wide open and the second network rate limited. (This is hard core quality of service - limit people on facebook to only 1Mbit of your connection for example.) You can also expand range or connect a ethernet only device just by adding another node to the network and waiting a minute for it to pull down it's settings from the web - no configuring, no bull. For low bandwidth applications it's sweet.

2/26/2011 11:37:31 AM

I have this one, and it works great
Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041LYY6K/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002HWRJY4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1N7KV58NS0WE1T5J383J

got it last black friday at best buy for like $40 if i remember right

2/26/2011 11:49:43 AM

Netgear WNDR3700 RangeMax 802.11n Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N 300Mbps Gigabit Router (DD-WRT) $116.10 Free Shipping , Feb. 26 8 AM
http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/244600

2/26/2011 12:24:52 PM

Whatever you do, make sure you get a DD-WRT compatible router. Reset the firmware with DD-WRT.. it makes a huge difference, especially if you plant to link routers together.

2/26/2011 1:00:56 PM

^^ I would have to agree 100%. I bought one in the summer and it is amazing. When I leave my house I get signal a good 100 yards plus away from my house.

2/26/2011 8:03:09 PM

i nabbed the TL-WR1043ND for $40 AR a few months back and slapped DD-WRT on it...it performs great on its own, but i had 3 d-link 7dBi antennas lying around that i swapped out...i get solid coverage just about everywhere (inside and out)





[Edited on February 26, 2011 at 8:47 PM. Reason : dual-band would be nice, but for the price premium, it's not worth it]

2/26/2011 8:45:36 PM

^Oh, yeah, I don't have a need to justify dual-band, and so I picked up a Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162031&cm_re=buffalo_wireless_router-_-33-162-031-_-Product from Amazon's Gold Box deal when it was about $50. It's pretty outstanding for the money.


[Edited on February 27, 2011 at 4:32 PM. Reason : .]

2/27/2011 4:28:00 PM

i ordered a refurbished airport extreme from apple last night for $129. i found slightly better stability ratings for it on mixed networks (we have a MBair, imac, thinkpad, iphone, ipod, ps3, wii, dish receiver). we'll see...

2/28/2011 9:52:31 AM

Quote :

"Netgear WNDR3700 RangeMax 802.11n Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N 300Mbps Gigabit Router (DD-WRT) $116.10 Free Shipping , Feb. 26 8 AM"

Thx. Just ordered this one. I have an old belkin that has surprisingly good signal strength (3rd floor to first floor = full bars), but when I am on xbox and my wife tries to use her laptop things go badly.

Hopefully this will fix that... maybe even allow Netflix + Xbox at the same time??

2/28/2011 11:41:30 AM

I'd be interested to see how quality of service handles that scenario. Video and gaming are both top-tier applications in most implementations. You'll want lots of bandwidth to make netflix HD and xbox happen at once.

2/28/2011 12:26:03 PM

Quote :

"i want to upgrade to another router with a stronger signal."

just thought I'd put this out there. you can but a $1000 aironet cisco AP but that won't help your issue. you've only beefed up the signal you're RECEIVING on your wireless device. you've done nothing to increase the TRANSMIT power on your device, which is half of the communication. your laptop is probly 400mW while a carrier grade AP is going to be around 1000mW. consider an external WNIC for your device

2/28/2011 3:17:30 PM

Quote :

"i ordered a refurbished airport extreme from apple last night for $129. i found slightly better stability ratings for it on mixed networks (we have a MBair, imac, thinkpad, iphone, ipod, ps3, wii, dish receiver). we'll see..."

I've had an Airport Extreme for several years with basically no problems.

The only issue I've had was recent, when I "upgraded" to firmware 7.5.2. After a few odd problems I put it back on 7.4.2 and haven't had any problems since.

2/28/2011 5:50:21 PM

Just avoid routers with internal antenna.

3/2/2011 8:41:16 PM

So my new Netgear WNDR3700 RangeMax 802.11n Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N 300Mbps Gigabit Router seems pretty cool.... but none of my wireless shit has 5ghz potential apparently, but it can connect to "N" stuff. The best I can stream Netflix to my tv is 2.4ghz

Oh well. My shit will catch up eventually

3/2/2011 10:17:18 PM

Quote :

"I have this one, and it works great Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router "

yup, I use it and it is by far the best home router I've used to date.

[Edited on March 4, 2011 at 10:49 AM. Reason : .]

3/4/2011 10:49:16 AM

the airport extreme came in yesterday & i set it up last night. MUCH better range than my old belkin & the internet has gone from 6.5mbps to 10.2mbps. damn brick wall w/ oven in it! not a problem anymore i guess

3/8/2011 10:14:38 AM

^i ordered a refub one yesterday. Can you keep us posted as to the reliability? I got it b/c the reviews touted it as the best with regards to not dropping out, thus minimizing the number of times you have to reset/cycle power.

Our 4yr old NETGEAR has to be reset just about every day. Probably something I could fix with some research, but wanted an upgrade anyway.

3/8/2011 10:37:52 AM

I love the Airport Extreme, I've used them in other scenarios and they are just as reliable as my home router... both of which I'd say are incredible, both expensive.

D-Link DGL-4500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127243

I've had the 4500 & 4300, both complete beasts. I have never to date ever needed to power cycle or reset either router, incredible reliability going back a couple years constant on.

For an inexpensive route, I'd highly recommend Buffalo like the one gs7 mentioned. Great reliability, DD-WRT compatible and last nearly forever.

3/8/2011 11:12:07 AM

anything that takes ddwrt

3/8/2011 2:03:46 PM

Quote :

"i ordered a refub one yesterday. Can you keep us posted as to the reliability?"

will do

3/8/2011 2:12:40 PM

Just wanted to add myself to the list of satisfied Apple Airport Extreme customers. I'm not an apple fanboy or anything, but this router has been a serious upgrade from my previous netgear basic router. I'm sure just about anything would have been, but nonetheless I've been very pleased with this product.

I've had it for about 3 weeks and I haven't had to reset or power cycle yet. No issues with xbox 360 or directv box, speed on iphone and ipad are fantastic. No overload crap-outs like before (i.e. uploading photos + playing xbox) Networked external HD functionality is really nice. I love the guest networking, too. My wireless printer (Dell v305) is finally working consistently!

3/28/2011 10:40:14 AM

I think I currently have a slightly older model of what the OP posted, and am also looking to upgrade. Just looking for something cheap and easy in the $50 range, as I'll have my main PC and 360 wired and just using the wireless for ipod/phone/laptop web browsing/etc. I might eventually go wireless on the 360, so wouldn't mind something to compare that would be solid for that. I'm considering that Buffalo nfiniti posted above. Any other recommendations?

3/28/2011 3:36:56 PM

I grabbed a N300 from Netgear for $60 based on this thread. Yea, it's a banging upgrade from the WRT54G even with DD-WRT. I haven't found anything that's really lacking other than the fine-tooth firewall controls found on DD-WRT. Traffic monitoring, dual radios, excellent throughput, etc.

NOTE: The stupid LED's are freaking BLINDING on the netgears with the circle on the top. That's a LONG CRY from a "gentle glow". And despite it not being in the manual you can push the circle down and turn them off

3/28/2011 4:42:10 PM

I ♥ routers with enough internal Flash storage to hold a build of DD-WRT that has IPv6 and still have enough room left over for a decent ad-blocking solution.

3/28/2011 4:50:12 PM

I like WHR-HP-G300N

It ships with DD-WRT standard.

3/28/2011 7:13:37 PM

bttt...looking a good, cheap <$50 router...any recommendations. prefer to be N not G.

5/9/2011 6:40:02 PM