Which do I pick? ASUS RT N16, netgear wndr3700, and engenius esr9850

ASUS RT N16, netgear wndr3700, and engenius esr9850 are the top 3 routers i have read about. Which should i pick? Price obviously is an option so is paying 50-100 bucks more worth it? The Engenius esr 9850 is only 60 bucks and it has some impressive capablites. Any thoughts?



netgear wndr3700
Gentlemen, Start Your Buying: NETGEAR WNDR3700 RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router Reviewed - Wireless Performance - SmallNetBuilder

ASUS RT N16
ASUS RT-N16 Multi-functional Gigabit SuperSpeedN Router Reviewed - SmallNetBuilder



engenius esr9850
EnGenius ESR9850 300Mbps Wireless N Router with Gigabit Switch Reviewed - SmallNetBuilder


EDIT:n13u is also an option...from looking at the range aspect the n13u is cheap and has better range than the esr9850 but its router is slower.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_wireless/Itemid,200



Side note...the smallnetbuilder site is awesome! never knew about this place until yesterday...i have learned to never buy a trendnet anything ever again....they suck big cohones...however you spell that Spanish word for balls lol.

 

I can only speak from personal experience.I have the netgear WNDR3700 and I am absolutely thrilled.By far the best router I ever had,completely problem free,stellar performance.I like it so much that I am on the lookout for a second one so I have a back up if and ever this one decides to quit on me.

PS:Never new what cohones means

 

DCMAKER- I think you've made a mess out of your search for a router.
These routers are completely different- different capabilities, different price-tags etc.
It would be helpful if you could tell us what you expect of the router that would narrow it down.
What do you need the router for:
-Is the wireless range very important?
-Is it meant primarily for wired devices or do you use mostly wireless devices?
-Do you do a lot of P2P/VoIP/online gaming?
-Are your wireless devices 802.11n, 802.11g or both?
-Do you need 5GHz band- if so do you need both bands at a time?
-Do you transfer a lot of files on the LAN (if so wired to wired or wifi to wifi/wired)
-any additional requirements (print-server, removable antennas etc)?

I would strongly recommend a router that can use alternative firmware so I'd prefer Asus RT-N12 to Asus RT-N13. I'd pass on Engenius for the same reason.

I wrote about basic pros and cons of WNDR3700 and Asus RT-N16 here so I won't repeat myself. Netgear WNL3500L that we talked about in your previous thread is also quite interesting.

 

-Is the wireless range very important? yes but anything i got now if better than i got.-Is it meant primarily for wired devices or do you use mostly wireless devices? no i use both daily-Do you do a lot of P2P/VoIP/online gaming? yes
-Are your wireless devices 802.11n, 802.11g or both? both
-Do you need 5GHz band- if so do you need both bands at a time? If it gives me better coverage or whatever yes ^^
-Do you transfer a lot of files on the LAN (if so wired to wired or wifi to wifi/wired) yes on all direction stated
-any additional requirements (print-server, removable antennas etc)? no but removable atennas are nice

EDIT from what i read the engenius has great routing ability and fairly good range...and cost effertive

The netgear had the best range but lackluster router performance

asus...i forgot its pros and cons

 

You mean as in 6th overall in a group of all routers tested by smallnetbuilder?
I doubt you're gonna be able to ever take it to the limit unless you want to run a small company's network on it.
Engenius is cost effective but if you use P2P/VoIP/online gaming you would benefit more from significant amount of RAM and additional config options (like TCP and UDP timeouts) rather than from raw routing power (still I gotta admit it's impressive)
Remember that LAN-WAN routing throughput of 300mbps or 700mbps is pointless if your internet connection is i.e. 50mbps. In this case WAN-LAN routing are we talking about- max 50mbpsn (+LAN-WAN on the upload)
And when it comes to LAN-LAN transfers- it's gonna achieve close to your Ethernet speed regardless.
Another words don't get stuck admiring raw routing power- you need enough routing power (not 20 times or so faster than your connection) and you need good hardware (RAM included), config options and first and foremost stability.
BTW 5GHz doesn't give you more speed not throughput by itself- unless your 2.4GHz band is overcrowded.

 

i would say mine is i live in a barrack on camp lejeune...i see like 15 networks....and there are tons more :/

EDIT also i kinda dont want to pay so much for a router...like the netgear. The other 2 prices are much more friendly. Do you think the range performance is worth the extra cost?

 

Have a 3700 and love it.

 

I have the RT-N16 and love it. It just doesn't do 5GHz. LOTS of RAM though. I just tend to prefer the BroadCom chipsets...

 

WNDR3700 is the best in general but not necessarily the best for you.
I usually recommend it when someone asks about the best router but it's not the best choice when you factor in performance to price ratio.
There's a problem though- it looks like you could benefit from 5GHz router.
You said you have both b/g and n devices. That would require a simultaneous dual band to run 802.11n @5GHz (with the best throughput available) and legacy devices on over-crowded 2.4GHz band. That's provided you notebooks with 802.11n support 5GHz.
You have to decide if you want/need 5GHz or not.

If you don't- you could choose ASUS RT-N16, Netgear WNR3500L or TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND all are good and supported by 3rd party firmware.

BTW TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Atheros 400MHz CPU, 32MB RAM, 2.4GHz 300mbps Wi-Fi, gigabit Ethernet, and USB port all with DD-WRT support and available for like $65

 

man am i lost lol...so much different things to compare...which ones support 5ghz?

 

bump...which ones have 5ghz?

 

Unfortunately the most expensive one- Netgear WNDR3700

 

alright thx.


edit last question i looked it up and i got the centrino 1000 BGN which only supports 2.4ghz so there is no point in 5g...also it supports mimo. Do any of these routers support mimo


EDIT:also could i upgrade it?...is it upgradable or should i not even bother?

 

The Wi-Fi card is upgradable because it's probably a mini-pci express module so you can use basically any card you want (with the exception of those locked for HP or Lenovo).
And that means that 5GHz makes sense only if you plan to upgrade your card.
As for MIMO- everything is MIMO now and it doesn't really mean anything so ignore it.

 

whats a good card to upgrade to and is it worth it? is the 1000 bgn that bad?

 

See how much would an Intel 5300 cost you- that's a good one dual band, 3x3 streams so in theory with three antennas it can go up to 450mbps (with a right router so it's just in theory)
It's also not very new so it may be cheaper than Intel 6200/6300

 

i found the 6300n ultimate for this much...i noticed someone saying some fakes are being sold too....does this sell have legit you think?

for like 35 bucks...thats not bad...especially if you say its better than a 1000
Buy.com - Intel Ultimate N 633ANHMW IEEE 802.11n (draft) - Wi-Fi Adapter


also do i need to get more antanas or what goes on with that?

 

This is not a real image. Head to the thread abot these cards here and see how the situation looks with fake ones.

 

question if i get one from a company that is fake what do i do?

whats the big differences from a 1000 bgn and 6300? is lets say 35-50 bucks worth it and what about the antenna stuff? Is there anything i need or need to know before i buy one?

EDIT:Also if i need an extra antenna where do i get one?

 

Try buying from a more reputable dealer. Like NewEgg. If it's defective or anything, they'll more than gladly replace it for you. Also, about the antenna, try here.

 

what about getting hi-gain antennas...would that help?

 

what about hi gain antenas

 

Just got the Netgear last week....so far so good....fast ...gigabit to the nas
no dropouts on the ps3 from the microwave anymore LOL!!!!
both the m1530 and the 1647 connect at 300 verus 130 ...blows my old wrt300n away...and easy to set up...had 2 ps3's itouch ..desktop and nas working in a flash...no troubleshooting..and I am a novie at this stuff...auto updates for firmware was a treat too and if you want to go to the dark side you can run 3rd party FW on it...cheers!!!!

 

All my rigs are running W7 so far everything is good.....