Router for Bigfoot Killer Wireless card

My new Sager (see signature) is on it's way to me, and I've realized that my technologically impaired household has no wireless router. We have cable internet and an ancient desktop. I need some recommendations on the best wireless router for me. I'd like to make use of the Bigfoot card, but I'd also like to stay within a budget of around $70 max. We don't really have any other devices that would use it, although I'd like it to support various devices (iPod Touch, xbox 360/ps3, other computers without Bigfoot card, etc.). Any help would be awesome!

 

For a 3x3 card, my first recommendation would be the Linksys E4200 v1. The v1 is important as the v2 uses a marvel processor instead of a broadcom one and Linksys has been rather mediocre when writing firmware for non broadcom chips so far.

 

The Linksys E4200v1 looks nice, but it's a little more than I want to pay. I'll keep it in mind though. I've been looking at this, D-Link DIR-655, anybody use it or have experience with it?
Newegg.com - D-Link DIR-655 Wireless Broadband Router Xtreme N Gigabit 802.11b/g/n up to 300Mbps/ USB port x1/ Intelligent QoS Technology for Gaming
Thanks!

 

D-Link has terrible firmware support.
What about a Linksys E3000 or a Netgear WNDR3700?
Both are less good than 4200 but also cheaper.

 

I was suggesting the E4200 v1 since you have a 3x3 card and the E4200 is one of the few routers that can take advantage of that fact, all other 450mbps routers are in the same price range and unless you do some heavy file transfer/HD Streaming, a 300mbps router will do just fine.

Maybe a refurb E4200, they tend to be more affordable.

 

Yeah I agree with your recommendation of E4200v1 but since D-Link mentioned by OP is some $80 I tried to fit into this budget (...and failed)

 

To the OP:

Why not try an e3200? I have one (just bought it), and it's more than enough for my surfing / youtube / bittorrent needs. Speedwise, it's a step up from the WRT54 that died this morning... reception-wise, I wish I had an e4200v1 too. (Strangely, where I am, I can find e4200's without any effort, but I have yet to see an e4200v2 in a store (brick & mortar or bestbuy)... they seem to exist only online)

Jason

 

I just bought an E3200 and it's fantastic ! No heat issue from it's predecessor. Having the extra antenna just help the range and that +150Mpbs. 300 is great enough and I'm sure you're into gaming, that extra 150 doesn't matter much. Beside you can set QoS priority for your games

 

If you are looking for a good inexpensive router, why not try the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND? It has incredible reviews across the board as well as featured in a top 8 best routers of 2011 stacking up nicely quite nicely against the others. While the only criticism might be that it is a single band router, it still recorded the fastest speed in a 1gb wireless transmission test.

I myself have also purchased this router and even though I am 3 floors away from the router, I still have excellent latency and have no issues with wireless gaming.

I am not sure of where you are located, but you should have no issue getting this unit as it is well under your proposed budget.

Source: Best wireless router: 8 reviewed | News | TechRadar

 

The main drawback of the E4200 is that it's only up to 300Mbps transfer speed on the 2.4Ghz band but it is up to 450Mbps on the 5ghz band.

Save your money and get what will work best with the BFN-1103.

Recommendations:
Trendnet TEW-692GR
Netgear WNDR4500
ZyXEL NBG5715

See my signature

 

Those you recommend are really out of OP's budget, and it's literally "over-kill" imho.

I believe either the Linksys E3200 or NetGear WNDR 3700 suits your need and stays in your budget. Here are two eBay links:

Linksys E3200 - $75 free shipping

NetGear WNDR 3700 - $60 free expedited shipping

I recommend the E3200 although it's $5 over your budget. The User Interface is user-friendly, very easy to setup if you're not an advanced user. It does come with a free iOS app to manage devices on your network, etc. Quality of Service management is super easy to use. USB Streaming is neither slow nor fast to me, I was able to stream Bluray movie without a hiccup 10 ft from the router. That's all the reasons why I'm a satisfied owner of the E3200, though I'm doing an antenna mod for it
That WNDR 3700 is popular too, I haven't got my hands on it yet so can't tell much. E3200 does not have "full" (Lacks 5Ghz band support) support for 3rd party DD WRT firmware "yet" , WNDR 3700 does.
Hope this helps your decision.

 

Overkill????

More like getting the best available compared to settling or mediocre.

The exact reason why I stated save up more money and get a router that can work best with the Ultimate N 6300 or Bigfoot 1103.They're 3x3!

The WNDR3700v3 is not as good as the WNDR3700v2

I have a WNDR3700v2 aka AV37 that was replaced with the WNDR4500.

I think we're talking underkill with the has been routers that are being recommended.

The WNDR3700v2 would be great with a BFN 1102 and Intel 6200,6205 and6230.

In Q3 2012 802.11ac will be working it's way onto retail shelves and then we'll be having a new discussion while the stuff being recommended in this thread will be even more outdated.

Netgear 802.11 AC

As usual,you get what you pay for.

 

But yeah it's out OP's budget and it shouldn't make a big difference having that extra 150 mpbs

 

I'm in the same boat (looking for a router to fit the BFN1103). Nobody seemed to come to an agreement with which one was best.

I don't personally care about flashing different firmware on it or not, I just want the fastest connection speed and longest range I can get. Which router will give me those things? E4200? Airport Extreme? N900? <---i might be wrong on some of the model numbers LOL.