Reccomend a good router?

[Howard_Casto]

Ok so the last time I bought a router was when the Wii was new.  Wireless N has came out since then so it's time to upgrade.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the router I have now (which I paid a whole 8 dollars for) but I want N to increase the range of my wireless network.  I'm looking for something 30 dollars or less (or in that general area).  It needs to have really good range as I want to be able to pick up signal next door (grandma lives next door, so free internet for her hopefully). 

Any suggestions would be welcome, but I would prefer something you've actually used as opposed to something you looked up on the net (I can do that myself). 

thanks!

[AtomSmasher]

After years of having to replace my routers every year or two, I eventually picked up a Buffalo router and have had the same one ever since with no issues (around 4 or 5 years).  Since then my sister, mom, and now even my work have switch over to Buffalo devices and none of us have ever had any issues.  I've only ever used their mid-ranged or high-ranged routers, so only the ones at or over $50 and with DD-WRT installed, so not exactly in your price range, but I recommend it regardless: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162071

[ChadTower]

I use all Linksys/Cisco for the home.  Some of their older N models might fall into your price range.  Like AtomSmasher I recommend using a third party firmware.  I use Tomato but have used DD-WRT with success in the past.

[CoryBee]

I use all Linksys/Cisco for the home.  Some of their older N models might fall into your price range.  Like AtomSmasher I recommend using a third party firmware.  I use Tomato but have used DD-WRT with success in the past.

Love Linksys + DDWRT 

Currently using a Buffalo pokemon eared antenna router running DDWRT firmware from stock

[TopJimmyCooks]

Bosch.

[hypernova]

I also switched to a Buffalo with DD WRT and thus would recommend it.

[Howard_Casto]

Cool guys. 

Let me see if I can order from newegg via amazon or find the router on amazon.com.  I've got a bunch of bing points lying around so I should be able to knock 10 dollars or so off the price via gift cards, which would get it closer to what I wanted to pay. 

[Howard_Casto]

I picked up the Bufflo one AtomSmasher mentioned.... the range on it seems to be exceptional according to other people and a nicer router seems worth the price. 

Bing Rewards is awesome btw.  I have a script setup to do my searches each day and I had 10 bucks worth of points sitting in my account.  So I got the thing for around 40, shipping included. 

[lilshawn]

b-ing?

what's that? ...let me google that and find out...

[Howard_Casto]

I didn't say I used bing, now did I.  I use bing rewards.....  big difference.  ;-)

Google is still the only search engine I use. 

[ark_ader]

I also switched to a Buffalo with DD WRT and thus would recommend it.

+1

[kahlid74]

I'm a big fan of DD WRT and Gargoyle but not a big fan of Buffalo.  Hopefully it works well for you.  For my network I use dedicated AP's and then I use a Cisco 4507R-E as the router/core switch.  I also use a Cisco PIX as the firewall and Astaro as my captive portal.

[Howard_Casto]

Well I installed it today. 

Seemed to have a bit of trouble finding my ISP... had to reset my modem a few times.  It seems to be ok now though and the range is *almost* good enough.  (Gets half a bar at grandma's.) 

If I use my old wireless router as a repeater in the front of the house it should be more than enough. 

Thanks guys. 

[kahlid74]

Well I installed it today. 

Seemed to have a bit of trouble finding my ISP... had to reset my modem a few times.  It seems to be ok now though and the range is *almost* good enough.  (Gets half a bar at grandma's.) 

If I use my old wireless router as a repeater in the front of the house it should be more than enough. 

Thanks guys.

Many ISP's use single burn in sticky MACs for the LAN.  Anytime you install a new WAN facing device you should always reboot the ISP's device unless it's a business class device, which then you're usually good on.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I'm actually an IT guy believe it or not.  What struck me as odd was the fact that resetting the modem didn't help initially.  Had to do it more than a few times, which is odd, because our ISP is generally very forgiving. 

[ChadTower]

I've had that issue more than once with the walled garden rejecting a new modem even with their network support on the phone watching it.  Took the guy 90 minutes to figure out what was going on.

[HaRuMaN]

I just clone my MAC address on any new router to be the same as the old one...

[ChadTower]

That won't help if it's the modem being rejected at the ISP.  The ISP won't care about your router's MAC unless it's a combo modem/router.

[lilshawn]

lots of providers keep track of the MAC addresses of the connected equipment (particularly ADSL) this is so the modem can hand out the same IP addresses to the same computers, so when you do some firewall configuration to enable some game or file sharing, you don't have to keep re-configuring it every boot cause the IP it handed out changed. sadly some providers lock 1 or 2 IP addresses to you so if you change equipment, you need to reconfigure the equipment to either:

spoof the known MAC address to have the modem believe the same equipment is connected

or

clear (or change) the MAC table in the modem.

neither is easy if the provider doesn't want you to do it. usually if you call them up they can help you out by connecting to your modem remotely and re-configuring it.
 


I've used smoothwall with a multiport switch for years now with no issues.

i just drop the DHCP on the wireless router (or enable bridge mode) and plug it into my switch. easy peasy. the smoothwall takes care of the rest. (authentication ip addresses etc.)

if the wireless craps out i just swap it for another...if i need better reception, i add another one

I'm currently running 2 wireless units to cover the entire house. (basement and back of house) I need to add another to the front since the signal is a little weak from the basement unit (due to steel 2x4 construction) and rear to the front (due to...well, it's about 70 feet away)

so when i get the chance i'll grab another wireless router, disable the DHCP on it an plug it in. instant wireless.

[kahlid74]

I'm not a big fan of wireless on the home routers.  I use AP's and trunk to them so I can maintain multiple SSIDs in both 2.4 and the 5 space.

[DillonFoulds]

At one side of my house, I've got a Linksys/Cisco e3000, that doubles as my router. On the other side is a second e3000 that is a switch at my projector for the second htpc, 360 and ps3. I run stock firmware on both, but all they handle is firewall (on the router), AP, and nothing else. I have a home server running 2008R2 that handles all my DHCP and DNS. There's a gigabit switch at my main TV, and a second at my desk for the desktop, server, and optionally a laptop. I've got Gigabit speeds across the house, and my wifi never dips below 144mbits anywhere in the house.

IPTV is connected to the ISP's router, which has my primary e3000 as it's DMZ. I have to leave this in place as it's a coaxial (EoC) hub for the IPTV boxes (Telus Optik TV for the curious). I could run my STBs over cat5e instead of the RG59, but my house only has one coax and one cat5e per TV, so either I'd have to start messing with QoS contentions, or just suck it up and run a second router.

I've use DD-WRT on my WRT54G's in the past. I found it to be fairly stable, but I still had to reboot the routers about once a month. I tried out Tomato and found it to be MUCH better (6-month uptimes). It stuck with my WRT54G's until I upgraded them to the e3000's. In the transition to a WiFi-N network, I picked up a couple cheapo D-Link DIR-615 routers (20$ on boxing day deals a couple [few?] years ago). Hated them. Pieces of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

... Long story short... I loathe ISP default equipment. Linksys routers on stock have been absolutely great, provided you disable most of the daemons. I've got 99.9% (200+ days) uptime and that's due to a mandatory firmware update from the ISP for their POS router.

[drventure]

I was gonna say Porter Cable, but then I saw the rest of the thread. 

Linksys ddwrt gets my vote.

Cheap, and bridge mode works great on those things.