Need Help with router!!!

Hello,

I am deeply frustrated with my step dad wasting money on crappy routers that do not function properly for more than 5-6 months.

What I am looking for is fairly simple:

802.11B/G (N is not a must but it would be nice)
At least 4 Ethernet Ports for connecting PC's
Reliable!! (BIGGEST POINT as all the ones we had have been abysmal at best)
Price is 50-120 $ CAD +/- tax.

What it will be used for is the following:

Downloading - Lots of torrents in this house

Games (WoW, Xbox 360 other Online FPS games -Lag Reduction preferred)

Computers - There are about 3 PC's Connected using Ethernet,

Xbox Live - My Xbox 360 (Notredamer17 if you want to add me)

2 Laptops - Mine is usually connected through WiFi but I do steal the Ethernet cable from my 360.

I really need to find something fast because it is really annoying, having Shaw Extreme High Speed Internet (or at least that's what I think it is) and it being as fast as Dial up and barely being able to connect to the internet.

I would like something like D-Link or Lynksis, and the price as stated above is $50 - $120 though anything within $20 - $30 is alright.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to help me out!

And Happy New Year to all, even though it is like 4-5 days away!

 

I use a Linksys WRT54G. Version 1.0 of the router first came out in late 2002, but Linksys is still releasing new versions, therefore you can still buy it brand new. I think this is the most popular Wireless router of all time, has a bunch of custom firmware releases, very stable and versatile. I’ve been using this for a little over a year and running 2 notebooks (1 wired + 1 wireless) and a desktop with a 24x7 webserver (wired). So far it has never let me down. If you want a stable cheap router I highly recommend this. But it doesn’t have Wireless N support. I think now it is time to move on to N; however, if you don’t have a very fast internet connection (less than ~ 20Mbps) and don’t transfer large files internally, then WRT54G is worth considering.

 

I would absolutely recommend the D-Link DIR-625 or above. I currently have a DIR-625, and there is absolutely no router that I have owned that can match the performance and reliability of the DIR-625. It has an intelligent QoS engine called StreamEngine by Ubicom. The reason why so many routers crash is because there are too much data flowing through them. When data starts backing up, the CPU's cache can't keep up which results in cache misses and eventual crashes when the load becomes too heavy. StreamEngine by Ubicom (found in the DIR-625 and other DIR models) helps alleviate this problem by automatically determining what traffic is most important and which is least important and allocate bandwidth accordingly. I think this is a very innovative concept and has definitely helped my online experience since I am a heavy downloader and play games while streaming movies around the house. I would strongly recommend the DIR-625 or DIR-635 or better since it has dutifully done its job for two years now.

 

I use Netgear WGR614v8. Speed is good. It has 4 ethernet ports. And its reliable also.

 

I like D-Link DIR-655.

Very stable and the range is huge. You can catch it on sale for $99 Canadian at Futureshop or Bestbuy.

 

I just bought the DIR-655 from BB for $80 CDN It's awesome... I'm still playing around with the settings now!

 

Excellent router. I've had this router longer than any other I've owned, and I've owned a bunch. It's absolutely fantastic. To the OP, run (don't walk) out and pick this one up.

 

I'd agree with everyone recommending the DIR-655, while slightly older this is a SUPERB router, especially if you have a very active network with lots of torrent connections and such. Considering the quality of the DIR-655, I would expect that the DIR-625 and DIR-635 would also be excellent choices. I usually use this site for router reviews, they gave the DIR-655 a very high score, and that specific review still gets the highest traffic of any review they've done to date.

 

DIR-655, great router i am THOROUGHLY pleased with it in every way.

I did alot of research when purchasing one and this one is the router with the most positive reviews.

 

Can you put Tomato or SS-WRT on this router? How much RAM and flash memory does it have?