802.11n Wireless Router Recommendation

I am desperately looking for a fast and reliable 802.11n wireless router/access point that can handle the following requirements

* Gigabit ethernet ports, at least 2.
* USB port for adding external hard disk to my network, i would prefer to have 2 ports but 1 can do for now.
* QoS (quality of service) option to prioritize traffic and distribute bandwidth equally among all the clients in my home network. Extremely important.
* Built-in ADSL modem, however I can live with an external modem if I have to.
* WDS (wireless distribution system) option to install a 2nd router at the ground floor to extend the range and eliminate deadspots. I will be using my existing U.S.Robtics 802.11g router as a 2nd access point so the new router must be backward compatible with 802.11g standard.

The router will be sitting in the center of my home network and will be connecting 2 desktop PC's (wired), 1 laptop, XBOX360, Nintendo Wii, PS3, and very soon a Mac mini. I will be using it heavily to stream HD/SD video content and music from my storage server to one of the media hubs, e.g. PS3, XBOX360. Very often the internet connection and other network resources will be accessed simultaneously by multiple clients so the router has to be able to manage the traffic and prioritize based on application type.

I have been researching the net for a couple of days now but I don't seem to be able to find anything that can handle all of the above.

The closest router I found to meet my requirements, is the Linksys WRT600N. However it got some mixed reviews at Amazon and seems to be difficult to configure.

Any suggestions ?

 

I had a search around on the internet and i cant find one that has everything you asked for, hopefully someone else can.

The best ones i found were:

Belkin N1 Vision
NETGEAR WNR3500
Linksys WRT350N
and the other Linksys Router you had found.

If the USB connection is a problem you can buy hard drives with an ethernet connection which could solve your problem.

There are also ethernet to USB converters but i dont know if this would work with a hard drive and router.

Hope that gives you more options to looks at.

Cheers

 

One has not been made yet. 11n is still draft expect problems.

Don't buy belkin unless you just want problems, not reliable hardware.

I prefer my componets to be seperate for several reason. 1 is heat, the more stuff you put in a plastic case the hotter it gets. 2. it's easier to trouble shoot if seperate. 3. More versetial with seperate componets. If one device fails you only have to replace the 1 componet. Easer to upgrade if seperate.

I admit it not as clean, but can be if you have hardware that can be stacked.

 

There are a number of reliable N routers out there, but you are correct, nothing yet that's going to handle your requirements...you are going to have to go with multiple pieces of equipment at a minimum, and your bandwidth requirements are not going to work w/ a single unit. That's a massive hit you are getting ready to put on an access point. A single item running, maybe, but if you start running multiple services at once (music, games, video, etc.) you are going to get hammered somewhere on the network (assuming it's all wireless).

Besides the 2 wired PCs, do you plan on having all that other stuff wireless, or just some of it?

Chris

 

Linksys WRT600N or the soon to be released D-link DIR-855.

don't take Amazon reviews to heart, keep in mind that average consumer is not very smart


with those routers you can run both 2.4 and 5.0 networks at the same time

 

Yes, those two seem to be the best two routers at the moment, I don't know any that have an inbuilt modem yet, but blue68f100's idea sounds very good,, I'll stick with a separate modem myself.

But yeah, if you can wait, wait for 802.11n to reach full maturity. I however can't wait, so I'm shopping for one now. So I'll know to expect a few growing pains and hope for (and order whatever is) the best. But DIR-855, once it restocks again, looks like the most "forward-looking" router of them all, for many reasons.

 

It would not hurt to setup 2 wireless networks, have one on 5ghz and another on 2.4ghz. With dual band 2 radios you can do this with one router. You do not need a full router, just the Access Point. You could use your old 11g routers as a AP with out any issues.

 

I have the linksys wrt600n it super easy to set up.....and can do everything you need it to dont get me wrong i have had issues getting N speeds stable but it is my wifi card not the router i had the D link DGL-4500 it worked great too but cant get higher then 130mbps with G running too.

 

the 3 dual band routers, to my best knowledge at this time are the apple
airport extreme, the linksys wrt600n and the soon to be, re- released dir 855

none have a built in modem as already noted!!

the apple has been around the longest, yet they still have problems w/ the usb- so others are probably behind them, imo

blue is right, but if you must have an N router, I believe the linksys and d-link will also have dual radios for 2.4 and 5.0

i believe all 3 of these will be upgradable to the final N spec thru firmware updates, but WHO knows........

 

wrt300n is not dual band, wrt600n is dual band

 

I heard reports that the new Airport Extreme update that came out recently fixed many of the USB issues. Not sure if HP printers will play nice yet or not though.

The Airport has a great price for a dual band router though.

Once the WRT-600N comes down in price a bit, I do want to score one, but for the time being my Buffalo is doing everything I need..

 

I\'ve been using the WNR854T from Netgear for a few months now with no problems at all. 1 uplink + 4 Gig ports, and the draft n 2.0 wireless is really nice.

You can ofcourse still use it backwards with g and b, but keep in mind you can\'t really get the full specs from a n router if your aiming for backwards compatibility.

Replaced all my cards with n and the new range and speed is nuts, operating cordless phones is annoying tho as your router is now using 2.4ghz and 5ghz at the same time

 

linksys wrt 600n , it is dual band dual radio , so thr A band is a seperate radio from the g-n radio . it's like having 2 routers . i stream my video on the A band and have my other comps on G-N radio , that way there is never a low bandwidth problem

 

Thank you all for your responses, I really appreciate it.

Now it looks like that I have 2 options, wait for the DIR-855 to be re-released or get the WRT600N now. I really like the fancy display on the DIR-855 but I will be missing the USB port on the WRT600N. Both are having dualband radios which can run simultaneous. Both seems to be sharing similar features but I wonder why all the hype around the DIR-855!!

Any idea how the WRT600N compares to the DIR-855 in terms of performance and functionality ?

 

I think the D-Link DIR-655 will fit those requirements. Its what I have. I've went through two Netgears and a TrendNet before this and this one has been the best and hasn't crapped out on me like the others.