Routers

[Capm]

If you were to have to choose a particular brand/model of router & wireless router, for installation in customer homes (in combination with a broadband connection), which would you choose and why?

[Krom]

Whatever Linksys WRT54G variant shows up (preferably the GL), because its cheap and they won't know any better.

I use a D-Link DIR-655 (A2 hardware/v1.21 firmware) for my own connection.

[roid]

i'd definitely choose one that uses the new 802.11n (the N being the part in question) wireless standard. Much faster as far as i can tell, i'm pondering whether to upgrade my current setup to it so i can stream more HD content over the network at once.
(My current 802.11g setup seems to max out streaming 2 HD programs at once.)

The problem is though that they say the new 802.11n standard gets significantly slowed down if there's any other device using the old 802.11g standard within range. My neighbours all have wireless networks so there's no avoiding it. Still - i imagine that the N setup would still be faster than my current G setup even with all that under consideration.

[TechPro]

Hey, Krom ... Have you had to reset (power cycle) the DIR-655 from time to time?

Also, any reason you haven't upgraded to a newer firmware?

I'm just asking. Seen a bunch of reviews and wondering more about your experience with it.

[Canuck]

I have a DIR-655 too and it beats out the newer Cisco (Linksys) models hands down. Last few models of Cisco for consumer are awful compared to the earlier models. I knew D-Link was cheap but the DIR-655 has been rock stable for me and the wireless works fantastic. I'm sure there are N standard routers out there and more to come but bang for your buck and performance the DIR-655 works well for me and the Gigabit Ethernet is nice, streams 1080P to a modest HTPC with no problems. I have an older version of an WRT54GS broadcasting in another area of the house on a different IP. Its been a solid router too but is fussy when power gets glitchy.

[Krom]

Hey, Krom ... Have you had to reset (power cycle) the DIR-655 from time to time?

Also, any reason you haven't upgraded to a newer firmware?

I'm just asking. Seen a bunch of reviews and wondering more about your experience with it.

Haven't upgraded the firmware because I've read there are a few issues with the newer firmware on various forums (although the internet is huge and someone will find issues with almost anything), it can't be downgraded back once its done, and it is working perfectly fine for me so why take the chance... As for uptime, its on a battery backup and commonly runs for several months at a time without ever rebooting, when it does reboot it is almost always because I changed a setting somewhere. It has been rock solid ever since I got it. Also it is indeed a very fast router, I can frequently download torrents faster than people with better connections than mine simply because their router can't handle traffic anywhere near as quickly as this router can.

[TechPro]

I decided to get a D-Link DIR-655, and also got a LinkSys WRT54GL.

The DIR-655 is working well (it replaced a beloved LinkSys WRT54G running DD-WRT), seems to clip right along and file transfers seem to be quite a bit faster. Settings reservations was easy, setting access rules was easier too ... but most of those kinds of settings are done in the \"Advanced\" settings, and some of the advanced settings are way beyond most user's understanding and the help is ... present but not very informative.

For giggles, I setup the new WRT54GL right next to the DIR-655 and then (using inSSIDer) I compared them. The WRT54GL was substantially stronger signal than the DIR-655 when I was anywhere from 10 to 15 feet from them, but when I was at 30 feet or more, the WRT54GL was weaker signal than the DIR-655 but not by much. Next, I went into my basement and watched the signals. By the time I got as far away as I could (and still be in the house), through several walls and a floor, the WRT54GL was getting pretty weak signal (but still usable), while the DIR-655 was still strong enough to use reliably.

Krom, this DIR-655 is hardware version A4 and firmware 1.32NA. So far, works good (tho the blue LEDs are a bit bright).

Something I really like about the DIR-655 is the \"Guest Zone\" feature. Almost like running two wireless routers in one.

[Canuck]

You'll find torrents are faster and LAN access is peppy with the DIR-655. And as you have noticed the wireless is pretty solid. Most of the latest updates are for implementing pay per year features which I am not interested in so I don't bother flashing the router with crap I don't want.

A bug with the Cisco WRT54GL series causes slowdowns with torrents and large files. Also the router continues to try and hookup with torrent ips for over two weeks after the connect has ended... Cisco has cut the consumer models of their line to suck levels and has earned them a spot on my do not recommend list.

[Krom]

(tho the blue LEDs are a bit bright)

Yeah, its a blue death ray router in a dark room. Definitely the type of router that you want to keep in the closet. But nothing a bit of electrical tape can't fix otherwise.