Single band wireless router for around $50

Hi everybody
I need a good router with rock solid stability. After going through many threads, almost every router seems to have complains of dropping connection/need to reboot etc...
Don't want to over spend on dual band routers as i just have Intel wireless N-1030. But i do need a good range, it should be able to rock my lowly 2Mbps connection in 100 feet range easily.
No gaming or watching HD movies over wireless. Just need for internet sharing, but i really want it to be stable 24/7.
Usually i have 3 laptops and 3 cell phones connected.

Previously i had a Dlink 5** something which started dropping connection after one year use. Now i have DIR 615 which also worked fine for about 2 years but now it is also giving trouble.

 

Asus, Buffalo, Linksys. Since u have limited budget. no specific about the model type Just make sure is N type. pick the one that suit ur budget.
also u can consider upgrading ur internal N-1030. its not that expensive actually. worth the upgrade.

 

I would go for a TP Link TL-WR1043ND and replace a stock firmware (which is rather good but not as stable as you would like it to be) with Gargoyle firmware which should do the job.

 

well it has been working pretty solid for me for 2 years.
I live in a small town, not wifi crowded at all. so don't see much reason to upgrade to dual band card.

After a lot of reading, i am leaning to this router as well. but even this one has firmware issue
why is it so hard to find a good stable router.

 

It's not like TP-LINK is not stable but it's not as stable as I would like it to be.

 

Hmm
since TL-WR1043ND has firmware issue, what about TL-WR941ND ???
It lacks USB port and Gigabit switch but i won't be using them anyway... plus according to CNET review, it seems to perform great at long range.
so what you guys think???

 

TP-Links don't perform well at long range- no amps due to cost savings, so I wouldn't trust CNET review on this one.
It's also very likely to suffer from the same issues 1043 suffers seeing as both are made by TP-Link, based on Atheros chipsets and use firmwares provided by TP-Link.

Buying 941 seems like buying a worse router hardware-wise with pretty much the same chances of being problematic.

 

but still 1043 would give better range than my old DIR 615???

 

use 1043 with dd wrt.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

DD-WRT is far from being optimal and has been for years. OoenWRT would be the best 3rd party firmware to use but it's also insanely complicated to understand for beginners so Gargoyle (which is based on OpenWRT) is a better idea.

I wrote a 3rd party firmware comparison - it's somewhere in this sub- forum. All tests have been conducted on 1043 so it should be relevant.

 

What DD-WRT does is cobble different software together and pray that it works.
What OpenWRT is design and create a consistent framework while ensuring it doesn't break for all routers. Patches are developed for software and hardware and they are integrated upstream.
OpenWRT is like Debian of Router OS.