Need a router for gaming and multiple connections.

I am living in a dorm/suite. The major use for the router will be gaming. But what I really need is router that can handle a PS3, 360, and about 4-6 laptops at once. I also need a router that does not break 2 months after I plug it in. As far as cost $100 would be great. $150 is do-able. $200 is pushing it. Thanks.

 

The best home router currently available is Netgear WNDR3700 which is EOL at the moment. It's being replaced by... the same router under new name- Netgear WNDR37AV. It costs some $150 and has basically everything you might want to have- great routing performance (thanks to 680MHz CPU) a lot of RAM (64MB), gigabit Ethernet, simultaneous dual-band, USB, stable firmware etc.
If you want to cut the costs a bit Asus RT-N16 is worth a look- Quite fast CPU, 128MB RAM, USB, 802.11n 2.4GHz.
Asus has firmware that lacks in several ways but you can replace it with DD-WRT or Tomato. That may reduce performance a bit but you still get a good router for some $90.
Linksys E3000 is somewhere in the middle- with hardware similar to that of Asus it has better firmware (resulting in better throughput) and is simultaneous dual-band. So in general it's better than Asus but the price tag is around $150. So it's slower and worse than Netgeat but equally expensive and faster and better in some respects than Asus (dual band & better firmware) but more expensive.
Final word- Netgear WNDR37AV if you can afford it.

 

Have the Netgear referred to and it is quite good.

 

ditto everything downloads said.

i have a WNDR3700 myself.

 

That speed test BTW is my actual connection. Thanks for the replies. What about reliability for the Netgear? I hear just about every manufacturer has problems. How does NG rank?

 

On my scorecard Netgeat is still behind Linksys in terms of reliability.
Linksys is pretty consistent whereas Netgear has some ups and downs. Still Netgear WNDR3700 seems to be OK.
As for Asus- I've seen a few of them die after about 2 years. I don't know what to make out of it yet- it may be a coincidence but it also may not be one. I need more information to decide. Still Asus would be the last one in that respect.

 

I've had my 3700 since release late last year and so I think it's gotten a year working so far without issues. That isn't a perfect guarantee since Netgear has had their issues in the past, but it seems to be a good product so far without hints of anything going bad. Very few resets have been needed as well which is a good sign (on 24/7) and I'd bet a fair amount of those resets have been more modem related (Comcast) than router related. I just reset both when I bother to go down and do it.