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    What the best cheap (~$60) router?

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by abaddon4180, Aug 8, 2011.

  1. abaddon4180

    abaddon4180 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Topic title says it all. My old router sucks and I am tired of dropped connections and having to reset it daily.
     
    abaddon4180, Aug 8, 2011
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  2. downloads

    downloads No, Dee Dee, no! Super Moderator

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    TP-Link TL-WR1043ND or Netgear WNR3500L.
    Netgear has slightly faster CPU and more RAM but TP-Link has three upgradeable external antennas which may help in wireless department if an upgrade is required. Both have USB port, Gigabit switch, 300mbps Wi-Fi and are supported by 3rd party firmware like OpenWRT, DD-WRT or Tomato yet in both cases stock firmware is good enough so 3rd party firmware is an option.
     
    downloads, Aug 8, 2011
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  3. abaddon4180

    abaddon4180 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Would you recommend one over the other for reliability and consistency?
     
    abaddon4180, Aug 8, 2011
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  4. downloads

    downloads No, Dee Dee, no! Super Moderator

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    Not really- it's hard to choose one of those. Price may help you a bit- TP-Link should be cheaper- if it's not than Netgear is the winner.
    Basically Netgear's advantage is 64MB RAM while TP-Link has 32MB- that may come in handy with heavy P2P etc.
    On the other hand Netgear's wireless performance is- as smallnetbuilder put it- "undistinguished" which says it all. And you can't to a thing about it.
    To counter this- TP-Link has three removable antennas that you can upgrade to ones with higher gain or some specific antennas i.e. directional.

    All in all both are good.
     
    downloads, Aug 8, 2011
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