I've been having some problems with my internet connection lately, and I think I might need a better router. There are 3 other computers connected to my network but I am the big user, with bittorrent running much of the time (I limit upload slots to 2 per torrent download). Two of the other connections are usually wireless, and the other is always wired. The connection gets dropped about once a day, requiring a restart of the router. In addition, my wireless connection gets dropped about every other day, requiring a restart of my computer, as turning the internal wifi card off and on again does nothing. I'm currently using a WRT54GS (1.1) router from Linksys running Tomato firmware (I was hoping it would be an improvement over Linksys' firmware if tweaked correctly, but it isn't). This is a pretty old wireless router, and I'd have to assume there is something better out there. So what router should I buy that will suit my needs?
I always used Dlink, recently went to a LinkSys and so much better. Dlink is crap in comparison IMHO and I've been through 3 of them from that company, plus my USB and PC wireless cards are all Dlink.
I basically use anything but Linksys. Sure they are owned by Cisco now, but I can't tell you how many of their routers lose connection like 50 times a day. I have used Belkins and I love their configuration and they are so easy to setup and secure. Their range also seems to be superior as well. Bottom line: Linksys sucks!
Couldn't agree more. I have ALWAYS used LinkSys and have never had any issues and they are very easy to configure. When my friends/relatives buy other brands and ask me to come over and set them up, before I go, I ask what kind they bought and if it's anything else but LinkSys, I tell them to take it back and get a LinkSys and call me when they get back! Right now I am using the Linksys WRT54GX2. In this particular review they say extended range isn't great but I strongly disagree. I have used my laptop from about 300-400 feet away from the router through house walls.
I currently have a WRT54G and had DD-WRT running on it. It's a version 6 so I can't really do much in terms of adding apps. Prior to that I had a Netgear that only did 802.11B that I picked up from CompUSA for a around $15 on sale. I think I actually had better connectivity with the Netgear.
I've seen people use an older linksys and it seemed to work fine. I have a router from Linksys, although not wireless... it does its job and works just fine. I'm sure I would want to stick with that same brand if I were interested in doing wireless.
Have you used the Belkin Pre-N router? That one seems to get great reviews. It looks like I'm getting anything but a consensus, but I'd like to thank everyone for their input. The thing that really ticks me off about my Linksys is that in order to accommodate everyone in the house and have it in a central location I had to put it downstairs, in the spot that is closest in a straight line to everyone's computers but hardest for a person to get to when I need to reset it. From other forums I've learned that my Linksys router has a problem with not clearing logged connections, and it just drops all connections when it's full. That seems like the dumbest "feature" imagineable. Couldn't they make it so the router just reset itself? I could deal with a momentary loss of connection, but having to go and physically reset it when it goes down seems like a very poor solution. The tweaked Tomato firmware should make it better, but so far I haven't seen much difference
I'm a firm believer in the older linksys wrt54g with Satori firmware. After a few years mine finally wore out, and I was forced to upgrade to a newer model (less memory, no firmware upgrade), which is still rock solid. If you're opening a lot of ports with p2p, it's a good idea every now and then to hard boot the router so it clears the routing tables/cache.
check out dd-wrt.com. it is a site with hacked firmware that can be installed into certain wireless routers. It'll take an inexpensive linksys, or buffalo and add more advanced features and you'll end up with a much faster and better router.
I use to run a belkin to my media center but use to disconnect something horrible. I never figured out why so borrowed a friends Linksys and never looked back. Guess just find the brand that suits your needs. There are plenty of reviews on all of these routers.
I'm using Linksys WRT54GX and it works fine for me. If you are downloading stuff through BT most the time, it might be that you don't have enough bandwidth. You might want to call your ISP and upgrade your bandwidth .