New N Router advice for ASUS U30JC......

My old Motorola b/g router has been acting up so its time to replace, I wanted to go ahead and get a wireless N router. I am looking for something cheap. I am having trouble finding if my ASUS U30JC X3K notebook is draft N, draft N 2.0 or a final version or what. Most cheaper routers I have looked at say draft N so I am not sure if they would be a good choice or not.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks

I looked at D-Link DIR-601 Wireless N 150 Home Router. D-Link DIR-615 Wireless N also looked at.

I thought about getting one of those USB wireless N adapters that puts out 1 watt to see how far those can reach hotspots etc too. Looks like the built in only has 25mw.

 

I wouldn't recommend D-Link- partly because they often use poor hardware but mostly because their firmware is very bad and support for it is even worse.

Still judging by prices of DIR-601 and DIR-615 I assume you want something in that range.
It's not very easy to recommend a good router for less than $40 so don't expect any bells and whistles.

My recommendation is- buy an Asus RT-N12.
Broadcom CPU 300MHz- pretty decent, 32MB RAM- that's a lot for this price as most cheap routers have 16MB on board, 802.11n 300mbps Wi-Fi with two removable antennas.
It's supported by 3rd party firmware like DD-WRT so if you run in any troubles with stock firmware you have a backup plan. It costs some $40.

 

Real Help For Your Small Network - SmallNetBuilder has done a lot of testing on routers and has a chart of the compiled results. So you can see where the ones your looking at fall into the mix. If I recall right those who met the 2.0 draft also meet the final 11n spec. Take note that some mfg firmware release may say 1.1 but is actually 2.0 Draft spec.

 

I wondered if I really needed dual band too or not?

I might order that ASUS, I'll surely pay a little more if what I was looking at isn't worth buying. Are there any models you would recommend over that ASUS that cost a little more that I might look to be on sale?

Not sure if it matters, but we have 3 desktops connected via Ethernet (one is rarely online though), Direct TV is connected to the Ethernet on the router for on-demand, and usually only 1 laptop on wireless sometimes 2 and I was looking at a TV with WiFi.

Thanks for the help

 

You can't really go for a dual-band router because they use either 2.4GHz or 5GHz- this means that you can't use 5GHz unless all your devices are capable of doing so. (and there's always something that doesn't and cannot be easily upgraded).
You would have to buy a simultaneous dual-band router (that can use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands at the same time)- these are more expensive though- over $100.
If you want to consider something else consider this Netgear NWR3500L for $70 (gigabit Ethernet, USB port, 480MHz CPU compared to Asus's 300MHz, 64MB RAM compared to Asus's 32MB) Netgear is also supported by 3rd party firmware which I consider an important insurance policy.

 

Ok, thanks, I'll probably pick one of the two then.

Right now I am using a Motorola WR850G router (have been using since around 2003, paid $9.99 after rebate).

Its been good all these years, now seems to get overloaded or something cause if too much is on it, downloads work fine but internet and email wont, ISP said one of their tests was showing that their server (or whatever) was saying hello to the router but it wasn't saying hello back (ADSL modem is set as bridge).

 

Right now I am using a Motorola WR850G is 200MHz 16MB router- very similar to Linksys WRT54G. Asus RT-N12 is kind of in the same class but a bit more
Both routers are pretty decent but if you can afford it go for the Netgear- you have quite a demanding setup and it would be safer and definitely more future-proof to get a more powerful router.

 

Thanks. I was hoping by waiting a couple days I would get lucky and see the Netgear go on sale a bit cheaper. But probably not, lol.

Is the WNR2000 v2 any good? Is there a chart somewhere you look at to see the cpu and memory of all these routers?

 

Hardware specs can be found on DD-WRT website, OpenWRT website, DD-WRT forum, smallnetbuiler tests etc.
But that's less than a half of the equation- you need to know if firmware is any good and if the hardware is working properly (regardless of is it high-end hardware or not the design may not be great).

There's no point in buying a Netgear WNR2000v2. Inside it's exactly the same CPU, RAM and flash as in the router I recommended in my first post -Asus RT-N12. The difference is that Asus uses external antennas (which is good) and some $10 less.

 

I am trying to decide if I want to get the ASUS or spend more for the NetGear, but I thought I would as what you thought of the TRENDnet TEW-652BRP because it is on sale right now $24.99/ free ship. It is listed as 32MB and 4MB with AR9130 chipset (not sure but thought one search said 400mhz) Shows as dd-wrt capable.

*not all that great reviews, budget shopping might be a waste of time, "get what you pay for"

 

It looks OK hardware-wise but I've never been really convinced by TRENDnet.
Word is they do everything to cut costs which manifests in lack of radiators etc.- which may lead to router's untimely demise.
That's why I wouldn't buy it- I'd stick with something known to be good.

 

Thanks for all your help! I am giving the ASUS a shot, hopefully it does ok. I liked the external antennas so I could upgrade them if I wanted to for range, but mainly trying to save money right now. Ordered the ASUS just now, be here next week.

I could throw some $ here and there aside and buy a real nice $100+ router next year. The Motorola WR850G was handling this connection fine until recently though. It could handle a couple pc's and lots of p2p when it was running, but I think the DirectTv vod being added a few months ago didn't help.

Sometimes I am tight with money, lol. So I will set a little aside here and there until I can buy this or that rather than just run out and buy everything I want, so I always have cash set aside for emergencies, vehicle break downs, etc... Plus I am looking for a vehicle replacement before I start college end of March (after several years recovering from severe injuries).

Three questions, please:
1.) One spec site I seen listed the ASUS as DHCP only, this isn't true is it, I have PPPOE set up now (any name and pass. will work though).

2.) Should I try the included firmware or just add DD-WRT right off the bat? (or tomato? never knew about these options until now).

3.) Quick off topic question (so i dont have to start a post for it maybe), i just got a 100 pack spindle of Verbatim DVD-R (orange label with AZO dye) and I normally had been using Sony. But they smell funny. A weird chemical smell that I have never smelled before. is this normal? Thought with your knowledge you might now.

Thanks.

 

1. It should have no problems with PPPoE.

2. Leave it at default at first and if you find that it's not enough start experimenting. Otherwise you will have no baseline to actually compare DD-WRT or tomato to.

3. Never noticed anything weird about the smell but then again I usually buy Verbatims in 25 rather than 100 spindles- it's a lot new plastic so it may be more noticeable.
Most important thing- check if the quality of the record is good (PI/PIF errors) to make sure that DVDs are actually genuine Verbatims

 

Ok, Thank You very much for all of your help. Greatly Appreciated!

 

Got it today and set it up, testing it out now.

I think our ISP is still having off and on issues cause they are changing over allot of stuff (We are in one of the states that Frontier bought out Verizon) and they said they had to wait till after the first of the year to start. Sometimes my speed is about 3.0Mb/s like it should be, sometimes 1.5, sometimes 10-30! My upload is only hitting 384Kb/s today but normally around 768 like it should be. the ping/latency is horrible though right now. One test showed lots of congestion.