Recommend a router 2.4/5Ghz simultaneous

City is not the best place for 2.4Ghz, so thinking to upgrade to 5Ghz.

Kind of lazy to research through all the 3rd party firmware forum so my need is below:

Cheap ~~
range/Reliable w/o "too much" additional cost
2.4/5Ghz simultaneous
3rd party(ddwrt/tomato, those for newbie ) firmware preferred

Was looking @ e3000 but honestly I don't need giga port or 450mbp(meh).
e2500 has some horrible review XD

What are the difference between linksys "WRTXXXN" and "eXXXX"?

 

E3000 isn't 450mbps, the E3000 is a last gen router maxed at 300mbps, but still performs quite well and can usually be found cheaply enough, 60-70$. You might want to look at the netgear WNDR3700 as well.

Linksys WRT are the older models, 2 generations or more old, the E models are the previous and current generation routers. The most recent ones are the E2500, E3200, E4200 etc. The E2000, E3000 and co are previous generation models.

You will have trouble finding a non refurb sub 70$ simultaneous dual band router. All the ones i know are high end models with gigabit ethernet etc since the manufactuers assume that if you're going for simultaneous dual band, you're going for high end equipment.

EDIT: I think Asus RT-N56U is DD-WRT compatible as well.

 

Just thought I'd chime in since the WNDR3700 was mentioned. I tried using OpenWRT on it, but apparently the WLAN driver isn't the best (unstable). Not sure if the problem is present on ddwrt as I decided to check out the latest beta firmware from Netgear before testing ddwrt. The beta firmware is doing well for me, so I dropped testing ddwrt.

 

Now i am looking @ e2500refurb $40 1year warranty or
ASUS RT-n56U @ 100ish much better review/range/throughput.
decision decision ~~
The reason i want 3rd party firmware cause my family computer internet is like this
1x BT 24/7 --> me
2x p2p stream TV(bad?, worse is that those are from china so firewall on router seem to get cranky --> parents
1x mediocre mmo/web card(alteil) gamer player --> my bro RAGE when he DC

Actually they all rage when lag/DC (RAGE ON ME).

My ISP is 15/2 cable so bandwidth should be fine.

 

I'd go for WNDR3700 rather than RT-n56U... although the latter is better
The thing is you can use good Netgear firmware, OpenWRT/Gargoyle or DD-WRT on it and all work good.

As for Asus- as always stock firmware is bad and DD-WRT which is the only alternative is simply too heavy. I've tested all alternative firmwares except for Tommato lately and DD-WRT is a shadow of its former self.

 

they do have a alternate firmware for the 56u with positive feedback
rt-n56u - ASUS RT-N56U custom firmware - Google Project Hosting

At first thought ,100 for router seem steep, but my crappy dlink dir625 had hold up for 3+ year (withe mass DC / crap firewall/securespot firmware). I think I should just jump on something more expensive instead of e2500.

wndr3700 is around 60 used/refrub.

How are those aftermarket external antennas? Do they show significant improvement?

EDIT: jump on a used WNDR 3700v1 with box and stuff for 55, which firmware would you guys recommend? Range and reliability come first place.
I don't mind reading manuals, huh.

EDIT2: downloads why your roundup not sticky, going through google serach is not fun.

 

I didn't think it was interesting enough.

 

Now I read through some reviews, I guess the problem with my old dir 625 router is probably not enough simultaneous connection, and it just crash and burn . Probably would make a nice AP.

 

The Netgear WNDR3700 I have has been solid as it can be. Mine is a v2 I picked up from Newegg for <$100. It has never locked up. The only time it is rebooted is on Firmware updates. It is supported by aftermarket firmware but the Factory firmware gives you the best performance without all the extras. Lean and mean...

 

Given the quality of the netgear, even on stock firmware, everything should run just fine unless you plan to restrict bandwidth usage for different computers, then third party FW...

From everything i've seen mentioned here and elsewhere so far, i'd say gargoyle if it's available for your router as 3rd party FW.

 

I was looking at gragoyle as well, depends if the firewall mess my parents p2p stream TVs. (Or if they use 2 much bandwidth )

 

I've got D-link 625, and that thing has worked fine for the past .. ummm ... 4 years maybe, lol.

upgrade the firmware on it, it fixes some connection issues, which I had long time ago. No complains thereafter.

I was also thinking about moving into the 5GHz range, but my router works fine so dont really want to change it.

I do have to change my network channel from time to time as other networks pop up around me like mushrooms, but no biggie, I do it manually since I dont want that to happen on auto.

 

My dir-625 was fine for 2-3 years aswell, but 5ghz is kinda needed for me. Throw up inSSIDER at night, 41AP, woot 45 Now. When my cousin downstairs router strength is better than my own doesn't help either.

Unadjustable firewall is meh also, since my family use alot of Chinese site/software.

 

I bought the WNDR3700v2 about two weeks ago and flashed it to DD-WRT, so far so good.

Gargoyle firmware is an alternative if your more into controlling web traffic and quotas.

 

if you decide to go with the E3000 newegg has refurbs right now for $45.99

Newegg.com - Refurbished: Linksys E3000-RM 802.11a/b/g/n 2.4/5GHz Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Router

i run this with tomatousb and its been rock solid

 

I finally retired my WRT54G one week ago. It serviced well for 8-9 years with help from dd-wrt I replaced it with Buffalo dualband router (it was cheapest dd-wrt:able I could quickly find).

As a nice touch it already had DD-WRT from the factory and it did bend to my will eventually, I didn't need to replace it. Little work was needed to get VPN server up and running.

Anyways, I currently have similar problem like you do. inSSIDer shows 15+ 2.4Ghz networks if I just sit here on the couch and numbers start climbing if I walk around the apartment little bit. During evening hours I get max 1MBps transfer rates, not enough to watch video and even a simple web browsing would freeze the video.

My Buffalo's 5Ghz is the only one in range and currently I'm enjoying 10x speeds. It was definitely worth the 80-something I put in the new router. A nice touch was the factory loaded dd-wrt so I kept my warranty too

 

DD-WRT on Buffalo has WPS so make sure it's switched off and your firmware is up to date (see the sticky for details on a security issue).

 

Yep, that and replacing default user/passwords are first thing to do

 

bunch of people complaining about that one getting too hot and ultimately failing due to that. How does yours run ?

 

Mine has been flawless for almost over a year. It survived 25-30C in the summer without a problem.

 

Buy a cheap USB notebook cooler and sit your router & modem on it. Use the USB port on the router for power.

 

Just got my new wndr3700 and set it up tonight. Here is my setup , let me know if this optimized
wndr 3700 - Main 5ghz 300m / 2.4 ghz 54m(What should I put max for 2.4Ghz? 54/130/300)
dir 625 - AP 24.ghz G only(for use on different floor, can I use this with the same SSID as my wndr3700?)

And I don't see option for setting 20/40mhz channel ?
Here is my device:
2x 5Ghz
2x2.4ghz ( soon to be 5 once I get my stuffs from bay)
1x 2.4 ghz on different floor

 

You can set up a bridge between the routers (WDS).

 

The dir 625 seem to cant be a bridge, I just make the SSID and password the same, the 2 router is so far, bridging probably wont help much.( Well It help with ease of connecting, but the signal strength difference is large enough that the adapter should roam over immediately.)

 

i've had zero problems using this router, my old E2000 i would have to reboot once in a while but this E3000 has been rock solid.

we have two laptops both n, a wii, a bluray player on n and a bluray player wired and a wdtv wired and we stream netflix, youtube, vudu, amazon vod constantly