TR Forums

Hi guys,

I am looking to buy a new router for my apartment, and I have heard that the WRT routers from Linksys are good. Where should I buy one of those (assuming I can't find one on craigslist), and do they support 802.11n?

Sincerely,
tesmar

Non-N you will be looking at the WRT54GL, where you can flash with custom firmware and do all sorts of things.

Not sure if you can buy any new N routers around $50 though. May have to dip into the used market.

The best router sound you can get for $50 is silence I'm pretty sure... and no I don't have anything helpful to say...

Flying Fox wrote:

Non-N you will be looking at the WRT54GL, where you can flash with custom firmware and do all sorts of things.

Not sure if you can buy any new N routers around $50 though. May have to dip into the used market.

Of course you can, just depends on the features you need/want. Smallnetbuilder.com has decent reviews/charts. I've been eying the ESR9850, but the price seems to have gone up. The Asus RT-13NU doesn't seem like a bad choice either. There are also plenty of N routers that are cheaper, but are lower spec'd.

The WRT54 series hasn't been a good buy for a long while now.

arsenhazzard wrote:

Of course you can, just depends on the features you need/want. Smallnetbuilder.com has decent reviews/charts. I've been eying the ESR9850, but the price seems to have gone up. The Asus RT-13NU doesn't seem like a bad choice either. There are also plenty of N routers that are cheaper, but are lower spec'd.

IIRC SNB came out of Tom's, and I have something about it being payola so I wouldn't trust them totally. Are those lower spec'ed N routers really good enough? Since the N stuff is still relatively new I think you get what you pay for?

arsenhazzard wrote:

The WRT54 series hasn't been a good buy for a long while now.

If you don't need N and/or a gigabit switch, WRT54GL is still a pretty good buy IMO. All the custom firmware should now be very mature so no hassle there. I am looking at the WNR3500L but from the looks of it we have a long way to go until we can use it without worry about (custom) firmware stability and such.

I just sold my WRT54GL that ran DD-WRT for a few years. It's was an excellent router and firmware was quite good as well. Upgraded to a brand new WRT320N I found on Craigslist for $40 and it's now running DD-WRT as well. Just wanted built-in gigabit instead of a separate switch as well as n capability. If you don't need those get the 54GL. Otherwise, I'd go with320n if you can find it for $50 or less. Linksys routers have all worked well for me.

Flying Fox wrote:

arsenhazzard wrote:

Of course you can, just depends on the features you need/want. Smallnetbuilder.com has decent reviews/charts. I've been eying the ESR9850, but the price seems to have gone up. The Asus RT-13NU doesn't seem like a bad choice either. There are also plenty of N routers that are cheaper, but are lower spec'd.

IIRC SNB came out of Tom's, and I have something about it being payola so I wouldn't trust them totally. Are those lower spec'ed N routers really good enough? Since the N stuff is still relatively new I think you get what you pay for?

Their charts and reviews seem to jive with other independent reviews I've seen (on the models I've looked at, ymmv etc). If you don't want to trust them, that's fine, but at least provide alternatives and/or credible evidence that they shouldn't be trusted.

Flying Fox wrote:

arsenhazzard wrote:

The WRT54 series hasn't been a good buy for a long while now.

If you don't need N and/or a gigabit switch, WRT54GL is still a pretty good buy IMO. All the custom firmware should now be very mature so no hassle there. I am looking at the WNR3500L but from the looks of it we have a long way to go until we can use it without worry about (custom) firmware stability and such.

The firmware isn't really the issue at this point. The WRT54 is dated hardware yet still costs $50+. You could go for any number of N (or even newer G) routers with faster hardware that can run DD-WRT/Tomato for the same price. Even if you don't trust SNB to be objective, you can at least compare the same manufacturers on their charts (e.g. compare the wrt54g and the wrt160n). There was even this thread a while back that more or less verifies the WRT54's throughput that's on SNB.

I've used a couple cheap-as-free D-Link DIR-615 802.11n routers and in my experience they have been solid. Only a single 2.4GHz radio though.

arsenhazzard wrote:

Flying Fox wrote:

arsenhazzard wrote:

Of course you can, just depends on the features you need/want. Smallnetbuilder.com has decent reviews/charts. I've been eying the ESR9850, but the price seems to have gone up. The Asus RT-13NU doesn't seem like a bad choice either. There are also plenty of N routers that are cheaper, but are lower spec'd.

IIRC SNB came out of Tom's, and I have something about it being payola so I wouldn't trust them totally. Are those lower spec'ed N routers really good enough? Since the N stuff is still relatively new I think you get what you pay for?

Their charts and reviews seem to jive with other independent reviews I've seen (on the models I've looked at, ymmv etc). If you don't want to trust them, that's fine, but at least provide alternatives and/or credible evidence that they shouldn't be trusted.

Flying Fox wrote:

arsenhazzard wrote:

The WRT54 series hasn't been a good buy for a long while now.

If you don't need N and/or a gigabit switch, WRT54GL is still a pretty good buy IMO. All the custom firmware should now be very mature so no hassle there. I am looking at the WNR3500L but from the looks of it we have a long way to go until we can use it without worry about (custom) firmware stability and such.

The firmware isn't really the issue at this point. The WRT54 is dated hardware yet still costs $50+. You could go for any number of N (or even newer G) routers with faster hardware that can run DD-WRT/Tomato for the same price. Even if you don't trust SNB to be objective, you can at least compare the same manufacturers on their charts (e.g. compare the wrt54g and the wrt160n). There was even this thread a while back that more or less verifies the WRT54's throughput that's on SNB.

SNB is my only source too that's why it is a bit frustrating for me. If you know of another source I'll be happy to look too. I do need a new router myself with a gigabit switch. No sense to not get N since I'm not exactly on a tight budget. Not sure if this dual radio thing is needed yet. I don't have any N device so far but considering that I am going to upgrade components inside the chassis more often than the router...

crazybus wrote:

I've used a couple cheap-as-free D-Link DIR-615 802.11n routers and in my experience they have been solid. Only a single 2.4GHz radio though.

Is there any good one out there that is dual radio and is around ~100? Is dual radio that useful at present already?

Thank you guys. Actually, a coworker offered to give me an old Cisco Access Point, but since it has no router, I turned him down.

Thank you for the mentions of the relatively new N routers that can run the custom firmware. Custom firmware would be nice to have, as long as the router itself is reliable and not finicky. I'd rather have a rock solid router w\out the ability to run custom software than a flake with lots of mods. If I can find an old G router for $25 I'll get it, but don't want to pay more than that.

Thanks again, most helpful!

Flying Fox wrote:

IIRC SNB came out of Tom's, and I have something about it being payola so I wouldn't trust them totally.

SNB has existed in one incarnation or another long before it came under the Tom's umbrella.

Payola:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/myincludes/google_search_results.php?cx=partner-pub-7758349771417914%3Aqhoz714xm9c&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=disappointing&sa=Go#1021
If payola is involved, companies aren't getting their money's worth.