Wireless Router, any suggestions?

4322 Views 23 Replies 17 Participants Last post by madhatress, Jul 26, 2007

mkurtes

Discussion Starter · Jul 23, 2007

Hello, I am in the market for a decent wireless router and I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions? I don't want to spend too much on one but I want a reliable one. I currently have a D-Link 2.4GHZ D-514 which was working great up until a few weeks ago. I have an iMac G5 and a MacBook for the wife ... the iMac is plugged directly into the router and works great but when we use the MacBook Intel Core 1 2.0GHZ, the signal drops every few minutes and it's very annoying.

Cheers!

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

8127972

· #2 · Jul 23, 2007

I have a Linksys WRT54G. It's cheap and it works (you can often find them on sale at Best Buy). Expect to pay $70 for it. Oh yeah, there's about 8 different versions of this router (it's clearly labeled on the box) and you want anything that is at least a version 6 and up.

Link below:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10025695&catid=21119&logon=&langid=EN

mkurtes

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 23, 2007

8127972 said:
I have a Linksys WRT54G. It's cheap and it works (you can often find them on sale at Best Buy). Expect to pay $70 for it. Oh yeah, there's about 8 different versions of this router (it's clearly labeled on the box) and you want anything that is at least a version 6 and up.

Link below:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10025695&catid=21119&logon=&langid=EN

Thanks for the information. So I'm assuming it's Mac compatible? Have you had any issues with it? Easy to set up? I am with Rogers High Speed Extreme.

Cheers!

8127972

· #4 · Jul 23, 2007

It works with Macs as well as PC's and it's a joke to set up. Linksys has a guide on their website:

Answer

I've had no issues with it at all. You should double check the Linksys website for the latest firmware though. That will help keep you out of trouble.

Andrew Pratt

· #5 · Jul 23, 2007

Do you need VPN access to work at all? If so stay away from the Linksys models. Honestly the best cheap router I've owned was a $29 Trendnet model that was onsale at FutureShop. I've owned D-Links, SMC, and Linksys and they've all had issues of one sort or another. I gave away the Trendnet when I picked up the Airport Extreme.

guytoronto

· #6 · Jul 23, 2007

Any 802.11b/g router should work fine. No such thing as a "Mac" vs "PC" compatible router (although some do come with PC software to assist setup, but all come with a simple web interface compatible cross-platform).

I've used Trendnet, D-Link, Belkin, and others.

genuineadvantage

· #7 · Jul 23, 2007

Andrew Pratt said:
I gave away the Trendnet when I picked up the Airport Extreme.

:lmao: Right on! The Apple router is amazing! It has served me well!

8127972

· #8 · Jul 23, 2007

Andrew Pratt said:
Do you need VPN access to work at all? If so stay away from the Linksys models. Honestly the best cheap router I've owned was a $29 Trendnet model that was onsale at FutureShop. I've owned D-Links, SMC, and Linksys and they've all had issues of one sort or another. I gave away the Trendnet when I picked up the Airport Extreme.

I've used an SSL based VPN with no issues with my router as well as Nortel based VPN that used it's own port (that is one other than 443/SSL) and both worked fine. Not sure why it didn't work for you.

SINC

· #9 · Jul 23, 2007

genuineadvantage said:
:lmao: Right on! The Apple router is amazing! It has served me well!

My Airport Extreme and Airport Express have served me well with zero issues. Worth every dime compared to the Linksys and D-Links I tossed out.

madgunde

· #10 · Jul 23, 2007

SINC said:
My Airport Extreme and Airport Express have served me well with zero issues. Worth every dime compared to the Linksys and D-Links I tossed out.

I'll also put my support behind the Apple AirPort Extreme, mine is the new N, as well as the AirPort Express. Seriously, your time and frustration are not worth saving the money, especially if you don't have experience with networking and routers. I do have experience with those topics and still appreciate the reliability, stability and ease of setup/configuration of the Apple AirPort products.

I have had multiple LinkSys and Dlink routers, and have set up several DLink routers for others, and they are nothing but headaches. Not worth their weight in plastic.

Andrew Pratt

· #11 · Jul 23, 2007

I picked up the latest version of the Linksys WG54 router that has the Cisco badge on the front thinking it would work fine with Cisco's own VPN software that we use at work...but apparently that wasn't the case as I couldn't log in and there's a bunch of reports scattered across the web on the issue. Apparently something changed along the way with the WG54 revisions and it no longer worked. That was several months ago (March I think) so they may have released a firmware update to fix the bugs.

The Extreme has no such issues though :T

8127972

· #12 · Jul 23, 2007

There are two fixes for that (for anybody who might have this issue):

1. The Word on the street is to move to DD-WRT (which is open source firmware under the GPL) and that will fix your problem. More info below:

DD-WRT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I haven't tried it so YMMV.

2. Upgrade to the latest firmware and change the IP range of the router to something other than 192.168.1.xxx. In my case, I have my router set as 192.168.3.1 and all my computers start at 192.168.3.100. Since I've always set my routers to do that, I guess that's why I've never noticed this issue.

Mississauga

· #13 · Jul 23, 2007

When clients ask, I recommend and URGE them to opt for the bulletproof and user friendly Apple branded solutions. The new Extreme is wonderful.

MACinist

· #14 · Jul 23, 2007

I originally bought the Airport Express with Air Tunes as a standalone router and it had/has issues. Signals kept on dropping no matter what Mac I used same with PC. Then I got a Belkin G router - works flawlessly and was only $29. I still use AEX for airtunes, but music still annoyingly keeps dropping/cutting signal. Did everything Apple tech support suggested - upgraded firmware, moved locations and replaced it once - still issues. Although a great product when it works - I can't say I recommend it.

joltguy

· #15 · Jul 24, 2007

My first wireless setup was the original (graphite) AirPort base station, which worked perfectly for 5 years and still worked when I retired it for security reasons. I cheaped out and went for a Linksys WRT54G-C (the compact one) and that gave me no end of problems. The first one I bought died in the middle of a firmware update rendering it useless. The replacement was flaky at best. I even shelled out money for an external antenna for the thing. Still no joy. The signal strength would intermittently bottom out, the speed was terrible, and I'd frequently have to power cycle it to clear the DHCP tables.

I replaced that junk with the new AirPort Extreme (802.11n edition) and it has been rock solid! A snap to setup/administer and it works 100% of the time. I'm hoping it proves to be just as reliable as my old graphite model was. So far it has given me every reason to believe it will be. The "AirDisk" feature is sweet too as it allows me to access my iTunes library from anywhere in the house without crowding my MBP's internal 80GB drive.

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macmac

· #16 · Jul 24, 2007

Which of these routers would work on Rogers high speed and also work well with Torrent downloading? I have a D-Link 524 and get pitiful speeds...70kB/s at best..while my cousin next door on bell gets speeds up to 400kB/s

8127972

· #17 · Jul 24, 2007

macmac said:
Which of these routers would work on Rogers high speed and also work well with Torrent downloading? I have a D-Link 524 and get pitiful speeds...70kB/s at best..while my cousin next door on bell gets speeds up to 400kB/s

The router isn't your issue. It's Rogers. They throttle Bittorrent traffic. Info below:

Rogers Cable - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's also affected iTunes at times:

Apple - Support - Discussions - Rogers and Shaw ISP are the cause of ...

bryanc

· #18 · Jul 24, 2007

I just spoke to rogers technical support on the phone and they confirmed that all encrypted traffic is throttled.

If I had any choice, I'd use a provider that didn't try to police my activities on line.

As it happens, I use encryption for iChat out of privacy concerns, and occasionally send sensitive email using encryption, and I don't appreciate having my service arbitrarily degraded by nosy ISPs. Unfortunately, living in the maritimes, I have very little choice regarding who I get my internet service from, so I'm stuck with it.

On the topic of wireless routers, I've had several, and recently splurged for the Apple AirPort Extreme (with 802.11n draft support), and it's among the best purchases I've ever made. Set up was utterly trivial, and it's worked flawlessly since the day I got it. And it's *fast*. I never bother with plugging in for gaming, video conferencing, backing up to network drives or other network-intensive activities any more... the wireless connection is faster than I need for any of these. Do yourself a favor and get one of these beauties. Saving a few bucks and having to deal with the headaches of poor construction and bad software is a false economy.

Cheers

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Z06jerry

· #19 · Jul 24, 2007

$89 with free shipping.

The Apple Store (Canada) - Refurbished AirPort Express Base Station with AirTunes

IronMac

· #20 · Jul 24, 2007

I'll second the vote for a Linksys WRT54G. If you're worried about usability and/or Mac compatibility, buy the Linksys first and if it doesn't work, return it and get the Apple solution.

There is absolutely no need, unless your life/job depends on it, for you to get the Apple solution when the Linksys may easily do the trick.

My v. 2 of the WRT54 has been working great since 2004. All of its ports are now filled with two computers (one Mac and one Windows), one VOIP box, one printer and wirelessly it's gone up to 2 machines (Linux and Windows). :clap:

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