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What's a good consumer router that's not expensive?

LoneIgadzraLoneIgadzra Registered User regular
edited September 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I just moved into a place and the router that my roommate has is an old WRK54G. There are no firmware updates for it and DD-WRT won't install on it. It is constantly glitching the connection slightly. I just got dropped from three starcraft 2 games in a row, which as you might expect is infuriating.

What brand would be most likely to be able to handle the high load of 5 people sharing a 20 Mb cable connection? Ideally something with a little memory that won't completely die when someone is running a torrent (e.g. blizzard downloader) but I will settle for basic reliability that you expect from a device like this i.e. to be able to play SC2 while the only other person in the house is playing WoW. Wi-fi is optional since I already have an airport express.

Edit: I am pretty sure this is the router's fault. I even keep getting bumped off AIM constantly and every now and then a web page doesn't load until I hit refresh. These problems get incrementally worse as more load is placed on the router.

Something that allows us to limit each computer's bandwidth use would be great so somebody watching a youtube video doesn't suck up all 20 Gb accidentally (i.e. if they were watching a video on a fast server at 5 am on a monday)

LoneIgadzra on

Posts

  • vonPoonBurGervonPoonBurGer Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Stock Linksys firmware varies in quality from mediocre to crime against humanity. You appear to possibly have one of their more genocidal flavors. If you're not put off Linksys, I'd recommend a WRT54GL. The L is import. It stands for Linux, and means you'll for sure be able to put Tomato or DD-WRT on it. It's not too expensive, but no fancy schmancy wireless N or gigabit either.

    vonPoonBurGer on
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  • ASimPersonASimPerson Cold... ... and hard.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Yeah, if you're transferring a lot of files within the network over wireless, than springing for an N router maybe worthwhile. If not, just get an older one. Either way, make sure you can put DDWRT or Tomato on it.

    I have the WRT54GL myself. I bought an additional gigabit switch for the LAN, otherwise, the router does everything I want, and runs much better with DD-WRT than it did with the stock firmware. (The behavior you describe in the OP is very consistent with typical Linksys firmware.)

    ASimPerson on
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  • Jimmy KingJimmy King Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I've also got a WRT54GL and aside from the lack of N and gigabit, it's great. I run mine with Tomato and it's been very stable even with doing stuff like streaming netflix while also streaming something on youtube and uploading a couple of smaller files(5-20MB). There's also a tweaked version of Tomato that I can't remember the name of that has had a bunch of performance changes made to it that supposedly make it really high performance compared to what you'd expect from the cpu/memory it has.

    Jimmy King on
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  • SniperGuySniperGuy SniperGuyGaming Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I actually have a WRT54GL with DD-WRT running on it and it works pretty damn well, so I'd recommend that if G is enough for you. I am looking for an upgrade to an N router though, any recommendations for those?

    SniperGuy on
  • ChanusChanus Harbinger of the Spicy Rooster Apocalypse The Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited September 2010
    NetGear routers are the only ones I've ever had zero problems with.

    Linksys, as described, is exceptionally hit-or-miss. Belkin is utter trash. I've heard good things about Buffalo, but have never used one myself.

    Chanus on
    Allegedly a voice of reason.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited September 2010
    This content has been removed.

  • bowenbowen Sup? Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Chanus wrote: »
    NetGear routers are the only ones I've ever had zero problems with.

    Linksys, as described, is exceptionally hit-or-miss. Belkin is utter trash. I've heard good things about Buffalo, but have never used one myself.

    NetGear makes great routers.

    I have an old 10/100 router from about 10 years ago. It is just that amazing.

    bowen on
    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • SteevSteev What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I've been using a WRT54GL for a few years now and it's been great. I only recently put DD-WRT on it (which was the whole reason I bought the damn thing) and am even happier with it now that my 360 can actually connect to online games.

    Steev on
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  • Shazkar ShadowstormShazkar Shadowstorm Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    yeah, I'm also looking for similar

    router right now is a belkin n router that has all kinds of slowing down and loss of connectivity business going on

    the WRT54GL seems to be the one to get apparently

    Shazkar Shadowstorm on
    poo
  • BoomShakeBoomShake The Engineer Columbia, MDRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I've had problems with Netgears overheating and greatly shortened life with heavy torrenting and whatnot. I had a Buffalo which died relatively quickly as well. But the one that has lasted:

    WRT54GL, with Tomato or DD-WRT.

    If you're fine with a G network, there's really no other option.

    BoomShake on
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