Please help me choose a router

GooseyGoose · November 2009

I am patently retarded when it comes to routers. I've never really had one that worked for more than a day or two before it needed to be unplugged / plugged back in. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. I want to connect my desktop, xbox 360, and my ps3. Connecting my wii through wireless would be icing, but not necessary since I never game online with my wii.

2. I'd like to use tversity to stream highdef stuff from my computer to my ps3 to watch on my television.

3. I'd like good speeds using bittorrent. Like I said before, I'm not very knowledgeable on routers, so a user friendly router is preferred.

The heaviest load I can honestly see me using is my fiance on the computer browsing the web, and me on the xbox playing call of duty or something. Unless streaming video is considered more of a load, then that would be the heaviest load I'd use it for. I want a router that doesn't need to be reset on a daily basis. I'd spend up to $150 for the right router. I want one that will last me and not be a pos. I've seen a couple based on some reviews. What do you think about these?

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190&cm_re=WRT54G-_-33-124-190-_-Product
Reviews say to use the tomato firmware with this one.

2. http://www.pcstats.com/NewsView.cfm?NewsID=77790

Thank you very much for your help and suggestions. I appreciate all the information and help you can give me.

bficky · November 2009

Just got rid of my 5 month old Belkin N+ router because it wouldn't play nice with PS3 multiplayer. Replaced it with the DLink 655 and like it so far.

GooseyGoose · December 2009

bficky wrote: »

Just got rid of my 5 month old Belkin N+ router because it wouldn't play nice with PS3 multiplayer. Replaced it with the DLink 655 and like it so far.

Thanks for the help. I ended up ordering the linksys wrt54gl because of the overwhelming amount of great reviews. It's an xmas gift, so I won't be able to use it for awhile, but fingers are crossed.

bficky · December 2009

No problem. I had a wrt54g for years until I wanted to upgrade to N. Worked fine. I know using custom firmware is popular on wrt54g's, but I never messed with it.

Torso Boy · December 2009

Had the 655 for a long time and haven't had any issues with it, other than the retarded pseudo-NAS system. But if you don't care about attaching a HDD to your router, highly recommended.

Racist Joke · December 2009

GooseyGoose wrote: »

bficky wrote: »

Just got rid of my 5 month old Belkin N+ router because it wouldn't play nice with PS3 multiplayer. Replaced it with the DLink 655 and like it so far.

Thanks for the help. I ended up ordering the linksys wrt54gl because of the overwhelming amount of great reviews. It's an xmas gift, so I won't be able to use it for awhile, but fingers are crossed.

I just bought this same router a couple of months ago. It is awesome. Never had any issues with it, and I've used it on heavy loads. It has the latest Tomato firmware on it and it works just fine. I use tversity to stream high def stuff and I get no stuttering at all. Xbox live is not laggy at all. All wireless too.

tsmvengy · December 2009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320026&cm_re=520gc-_-33-320-026-_-Product

I have another version of this router (520gu). Flash it with dd-wrt and it is awesome. The Asus firmware is complete and utter crap however. I ordered this earlier today and it was $24.99 but now it's up $5. $10 MIR though (and I've gotten Asus ones in the past) - for $20 I don't think you can get a better router.

shadydentist · December 2009

Whatever you do, don't forget to change the default password.

Palmer Eldritch · December 2009

you'll need a gigabit router to stream 1080p stuff to your 360 without any stuttering. It will need to be hooked up with an actual wire.

Rohan · December 2009

Palmer Eldritch wrote: »

you'll need a gigabit router to stream 1080p stuff to your 360 without any stuttering. It will need to be hooked up with an actual wire.

I don't know about that. I stream 720P and 1080P stuff across our network wirelessly, and with 802.11g, no less. There's never any problem with stuttering.

Staxeon · December 2009

Rohan wrote: »

Palmer Eldritch wrote: »

you'll need a gigabit router to stream 1080p stuff to your 360 without any stuttering. It will need to be hooked up with an actual wire.

I don't know about that. I stream 720P and 1080P stuff across our network wirelessly, and with 802.11g, no less. There's never any problem with stuttering.

You're lucky considering you're using a half-duplex protocol.

shadydentist · December 2009

Staxeon wrote: »

Rohan wrote: »

Palmer Eldritch wrote: »

you'll need a gigabit router to stream 1080p stuff to your 360 without any stuttering. It will need to be hooked up with an actual wire.

I don't know about that. I stream 720P and 1080P stuff across our network wirelessly, and with 802.11g, no less. There's never any problem with stuttering.

You're lucky considering you're using a half-duplex protocol.

Yeah, you're one of the lucky ones. 802.11b and g occupy a really noisy part of the spectrum, and the most random things (notoriously, microwaves) will destroy your bitrate.

Staxeon · December 2009

I've been running a wrt54g in my house for 2+ years now. 2 computers via ethernet, Wii on wi-fi, and most recently my HTC Hero on the wi-fi. No complaints.

Not running custom firmware, just what came stock. Though right out of the box I changed the default password, switched the SSID, activated WEP, and did a NetStumbler scan to look for other active 802.11 channels around me and switched mine to the other end of the spectrum. I had my SSID set to not broadcast either, but had to turn it back to broadcast to let my phone on.

Staxeon · December 2009

shadydentist wrote: »

Staxeon wrote: »

Rohan wrote: »

Palmer Eldritch wrote: »

you'll need a gigabit router to stream 1080p stuff to your 360 without any stuttering. It will need to be hooked up with an actual wire.

I don't know about that. I stream 720P and 1080P stuff across our network wirelessly, and with 802.11g, no less. There's never any problem with stuttering.

You're lucky considering you're using a half-duplex protocol.

Yeah, you're one of the lucky ones. 802.11b and g occupy a really noisy part of the spectrum, and the most random things (notoriously, microwaves) will destroy your bitrate.

Microwave ovens should have ample shielding, unless its an older unit or a cheapie from a hotel room or something. 2.4ghz cordless phones on the otherhand are just bleeding noise all over your wi-fi signals.

Helpless Rock · December 2009

I'm going to steal this thread so as to not create another pointless router thread since his answer has basically been answered.

I have a a Linksys WRT54GS that I've had for about 2ish years. Over the past few months out internet has randomly (typically at night, oddly, but not always) slowed to a crawl or just stopped working. I usually do the unplugging of both the router and the modem which usually at least gets it to work again, but still pretty slow. Is this about the time frame for a router to possible die? I've thought about trying to put a Custom Firmware on it, either Tomato or DD-WRT on to it but I'm super nervous I'd break it entirely. And vaguely unsure on the compatabilty since it's firmware currently is 7.50.

So basically I'm asking, should I just get a new router, is there something I can do strength it to not poop the bed weekly, or should I attempt to put a Custom Firmware on it because it would fix all my problems?

Staxeon · December 2009

I have seen wifi routers, specifically Linksys, just up and die. But usually they completely quit, not just slow down.

First thing I would do is log onto your router and make sure no one is leeching off of you. Check the DHCP or the MAC table and see who exactly is connecting to you. What makes me suspect this is that you mention its typically at night, but not always. Could be someone when they're home from work/school. If you have a leech there's a number of things you can do to secure your wifi (switch the SSID, set it to not broadcast the SSID, activate WEP, limit the access based on mac-address, turn off DHCP and use only static IPs on the LAN, etc etc etc).

If you rule out someone using your network it wouldn't hurt to try a new firmware, especially if you're considering replacing the router altogether.

Helpless Rock · December 2009

I have the security mode set to WPA Personal because I think other settings were giving me trouble with trying to connect it to something. Should I try and change that to WEP for better security? I feel our password is pretty strong, but I suppose there are other ways to get into it besides passwords these days.

I checked the DHCP Table and currently it's just me, but it's also not going as slow at the moment (still slower then it should be). So, I guess you're leech theory has some wind under it. I'll make sure to check it again next time it's crawling.
I couldn't find to look at a MAC listing.

If there isn't anyone leaching off of it, is it even possible to be overloaded for a few hours? I mean, there is a lot of action going through it daily. Torrents downloaded, Xbox Live for numerous hours possibly on two Xboxs (Xboxi?), random wifi use from phones, iPod's, and laptops. Two computers connected to it too. Just a week or so worth of use built up starts bogging it down. That doesn't seem like a logical possibility, but I honestly don't know how those things work.

I'd like to find out how to check if it's even just the router or our IP through the modem too. I've tried connection the Modem directly to both my laptop and Desktop but it lacks the drivers and seems to only want to go the USB approach. Which, I also can't seem to find the working drivers for. I did a SpeedTest the other day and it was at 6MB/sec. I did the same test at my parents who are set on the speed tier lower then us and it was the same speed. Makes me wonder if our modem is in the downhill too.

Staxeon · December 2009

It is possible to be just overutilizing the wifi for a few hours or even minutes, especially when you're talking multiple clients like you describe. 802.11b/g is half duplex, ie, that router only has one radio in it. It can only talk TO one device at a time, and can only receive data FROM one device at a time. A hard-wired ethernet connection has the advantage of being full duplex and can send/receive simultaneously. With wifi the more talkers you have running to one access point the slower they all will run, especially with streams of data like an Xbox would need for online gaming.

Like you mentioned next time it seems slow check your DHCP table and look for a leech, I still wouldn't rule that out.

Helpless Rock · December 2009

Well my computer, both 360's, and his computer are all connected via Ethernet cables. His computer and 360 are never on at the same time since he uses his monitor to play 360, however. His laptop generally is the only thing using wifi everyday. The most I could see it churning out at once would be if I was downloading a torrent while we both played left 4 dead 2 over Live. All through Ethernet connection.

Malyonsus · December 2009

Helpless Rock wrote: »

I have the security mode set to WPA Personal because I think other settings were giving me trouble with trying to connect it to something. Should I try and change that to WEP for better security? I feel our password is pretty strong, but I suppose there are other ways to get into it besides passwords these days.

WEP is pretty easily crackable nowadays, WPA is the stronger option here.

If you do have any security at all on your wifi (even WEP, I bet), the chances of slowdown being due to leeching is pretty small, I'd imagine.

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