# Routers!



## PierreRodrigue (Feb 10, 2012)

Well just found out my 8 year old router that I thought was doing fine is an antique piece-o-crap! I thought my internet connection was ok, but then a while ago, someone posted about a speed check site. Mine is a Pontiac Accadian in a world of Camaros! A blistering 3.2MBS My service tested at 20 MBS, not screaming fast, but a lot better than 3.2! What routers work better in a home setting, with 3 computers, I-pad, 2 I-pods, and 2 android phones (wi-fi) running at any and all times? Sorry, I'm not the most tech savy any more...


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 10, 2012)

I work at a graduate school filled with Apple and PC computers of all kinds, as well as iPhones and Droids. We use Apple Airport Extremes, and they have proven very reliable. I ditched the router I was using at home for one and have been very pleased.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057AVXJA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## markk (Feb 10, 2012)

+1 on the airport extreme at home. very easy to set up. mixed platforms at my house, apple tv, iphone, android, ipad, pc and mac. between myself and 2 teenage daughters there can be multiple devices using the wifi at any time and multiple devices streaming youtube videos, netflix shows or general internet surfing. 
I have never has an issue with the airport extreme in almost 3 years now. very satisfied.


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## zitangy (Feb 10, 2012)

ROuters:
the basic purpose of routing.. To route to the various sites and pages and keep track of it via IP addresses. A torrent application is processor most intensive as it has to remember the sites for each download and the download can be from multiple sites ( seeders)_ as we can have a lot of request files to download, keep track of multiple sites for each particular download..
SO the latest router with better processor is always preferred. Wifi.. go for the latest specifications which I believe is the N standard.. 
SO with more pcs, android or apple dvices connected, it has to remember the dynamic address assigned for that particular device connection and also all the sites for each device.. it does pose a load on the processor. 
From experience, it is best to re-start the router once a week as some times it does the memory. Sunday is the day that I re-boot all my computers and routers.. and do my weekly maintenance.. clear all cache, temp files..

Have fun.


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## rahimlee54 (Feb 10, 2012)

It could also be the modem, I had a friend that was getting really slow speeds like that with his 20 MB connection turned out his modem was bad. If your company provides them tell them to hook you up with another one.

My favorite router is anyone you can flash with a linux operating system such as DD-WRT or Tomato. For ease of setup though a linksys or the apple the others mentioned would work as well.


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## ajhuff (Feb 10, 2012)

I have had Linksys for years with no true issues. I currently have a WRT400N from them that works fine. I thought I was having some issues with it and bought a D-Link 655 router but did not feel it was in any way better than the Linksys router I had so I went back to the Linksys, DID A FIRMWARE UPGRADE and my issues went away. You may want to consider that first.

Not sure of your true issue. We have Windstream ISP here and I am paying for their fastest service 3 Mbs but Speedtest routinely rates my speed as D- or F+ with speeds just above or below 1 Mbs. What can you do?

I had hoped this might have been a discussion on plunge routers, oh well. 

-AJ


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## rsacco (Feb 10, 2012)

Johnny.B.Good said:


> I work at a graduate school filled with Apple and PC computers of all kinds, as well as iPhones and Droids. We use Apple Airport Extremes, and they have proven very reliable. I ditched the router I was using at home for one and have been very pleased.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057AVXJA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



+1 for Apple Airport Extreme - I also use an Airport Express. You can save some money by buying a refurb from Apple or cowboom.com (best buy).


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## PierreRodrigue (Feb 10, 2012)

Its old this one, I tried to contact D-link, the even stopped supporting it 4 years ago. Thanks for the tips, looks like I'm going shopping. Oh, yeah, I tested my service with the service provider, it is coming in 6X faster than the router is putting out, I disconnected the router, and connected by LAN, so I'm confident its the router. As for a firmware upgrade, the tech giggled before he said it isn't supported anymore.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 10, 2012)

As to the modem question, "Linksys" both at work and at home.


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## Deckhand (Feb 10, 2012)

I have had linksys,apple airport, and a few others. They all worked fine. Now the cable company I have provides it.


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## ThEoRy (Feb 10, 2012)

I use a DLink DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router. For me this works well as it has super fast ports, has many options and broadcasts dual bands for multiple wireless connections and I can easily set port priority on devices. This way my xbox or pc or whatever device I wish will get the highest bandwith without bottlenecking. Most decent routers have this feature but this one is quite easy to set up.

About firmware however. Please make sure you research the latest firmware BEFORE you install it on your device. 9 out of 10 times the instructions will tell you there is a firmware update you can perform right out of the box. Don't do it yet. Check the forums, listen to comments and be very careful before you install. First, if it aint broke, don't fix it! Meaning, if you have a solid connection with no drops or communication errors on your devices, just leave it alone. There may be a higher firmware version available for your device but it may be unstable or buggy for your setup. Also, in some cases once you do update to a higher version and find out it is unstable or buggy, you can not roll back to the previous more stable version. So now you are stuck with a buggy unstable connection dropping signal constantly. Further, once companies move on and stop supporting devices, you are left holding the bag as they will not provide you for a means to roll back or forward further for an escape. At this point you have to seek the community's help and hopefully someone will have a fix.

So always check the support forums for the particular device you are thinking about flashing the firmware before you do so. It can save you many a headache if you do.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 10, 2012)

Deckhand said:


> I have had linksys,apple airport, and a few others. They all worked fine. Now the cable company I have provides it.



My cable company was providing it too, however I learned that I was "renting" it from them for a small monthly fee, which was not to my advantage financially.


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## Deckhand (Feb 10, 2012)

Johnny.B.Good said:


> My cable company was providing it too, however I learned that I was "renting" it from them for a small monthly fee, which was not to my advantage financially.


Absolutely agree. I should buy another. Especially since I just increased my bill. Got a new t.v. with dvr box in the bedroom for my wife for Valentine's day she is thrilled.


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## ThEoRy (Feb 10, 2012)

I should add that my router is no longer manufactured by Dlink at this point. I would still reccomend it if you could find one cheap but for a more current option from Dlink I personally would look D-Link Systems HD Media Router 3000 (DIR-857)

That looks to be a sexy beast!!


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## rogue108 (Feb 10, 2012)

[/QUOTE]=PierreRodrigue;79895]Well just found out my 8 year old router that I thought was doing fine is an antique piece-o-crap! I thought my internet connection was ok, but then a while ago, someone posted about a speed check site. Mine is a Pontiac Accadian in a world of Camaros! A blistering 3.2MBS My service tested at 20 MBS, not screaming fast, but a lot better than 3.2! What routers work better in a home setting, with 3 computers, I-pad, 2 I-pods, and 2 android phones (wi-fi) running at any and all times? Sorry, I'm not the most tech savy any more...[/QUOTE]

Lets clear a couple of things. 

Speed testing your service does not test your router. It tests the maximum speed of your internet connection.

The theoretical speed of your service does not mean you will get 20 MB/S on all your downloads. Its the maximum speed you can get, however the speed you get depends on

- The number of people downloading or accessing the server you are downloading from (i.e. - ITunes)
The more people on the server means the total bandwidth shared get smaller (slower speeds).
- Is there traffic on the internet that is using the same path as your request
- Is the speed being capped on the server you are accessing.

If you are getting 3.2 MBP/S sustained during a download, you are doing good. Rarely are the conditions correct for getting high speeds unless the site is using a lot of servers to meet the demand.


A router is an internal traffic cop within your own personal network. A router does not affect the speed of your internet connection. It inspects the requests sent out and ensures the response is routed to the correct device when the response is sent. Rarely will your router be the bottleneck when it comes the download or upload speeds. 
The router does have maximum speeds but that is for wired and wireless connections between the router and your devices.

The maximums for wired connections
100 MB/S - older standard
1 GB/S - Newer Standard

The maximum for wireless connections are MBP/S (Mega Bits per second)
802.11b - 11 MBP/S 
802.11g - 54 MBP/S
802.11n - 130 MBP/S

Again these are potential maximums not taking into account for interference, walls, distance. If you are not having problems with the devices on your network, the router is probably fine and does not need replacement. If you are having problems check your devices to see if all of them are slow. If it one is slow and the others fine, its probably that device. Check for interference, routers transmit on 2.4ghz channel and that is shared with cordless phones, baby monitors, and a ton of other wireless devices. If there are a lot of devices on the 2.4 ghz channel it can interfere and slow speeds. Microwave ovens when running can cause interference as well. When in doubt re-boot your network (This solves 70% of all computer problems from servers to tablets). The steps to follow are.

Power down your cable or DSL modem and the router
Wait 30 seconds or longer
Reboot the cable or DSL modem and give it a minute or two to start up
Reboot the router and give it a minute or two to start up.
Refresh the connections on your devices or reboot them.

This should do it for most router problems, if that doesn't work after couple of times you might have a problematic router or device.

I would NOT buy a new router to get better download speeds, The maximum speed of your connection and router are unrelated for the most part. Routers are not stress by home use and typically last a long time. A friend and I installed a Linksys router (802.11b) at his parents place almost 9 years ago and its still running. If you must buy a router, I would choose D-Link, Cisco (Linksys), or Buffalo. 

Sorry for the untra long response, but I figured why not explain it all at once. PM me with any questions.


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## PierreRodrigue (Feb 10, 2012)

Did all the reboots, device checks, isolation test, speed test with the modem only, speed test with the router, factory resets etc. Tech dude came over and all, I have had to power down the router/modem at least twice a week foe freezing/stalling issues, the modem is new, the router has been deemed the issue, it works normally 70 percent of the time, and spazzes out like I said a lot. As far as potentials, my router isn't even close to what it used to be.


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## Flee (Feb 12, 2012)

I had a similar Problem my router was a supposed 100 mbps model and struggled to get to 9 Mbps even using a single wired connection with wifi switched off. I upgraded my router and now get the full 30 mbps on any speed test site and a lot better connection all round.


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## ejd53 (Feb 12, 2012)

I have used Netgear, Linksys, and D-Link. Personally, I would steer clear of D-Link, but Netgear and Linksys seem to do fine in a home environment. For business applications, some of Cisco's routers have had problems, so I use Netgear there.


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## SpikeC (Feb 12, 2012)

I like my Porter-Cable, with interchangeable bases!


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## Eamon Burke (Feb 12, 2012)

SpikeC said:


> I like my Porter-Cable, with interchangeable bases!



:groucho:


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## rogue108 (Feb 13, 2012)

PierreRodrigue said:


> Did all the reboots, device checks, isolation test, speed test with the modem only, speed test with the router, factory resets etc. Tech dude came over and all, I have had to power down the router/modem at least twice a week foe freezing/stalling issues, the modem is new, the router has been deemed the issue, it works normally 70 percent of the time, and spazzes out like I said a lot. As far as potentials, my router isn't even close to what it used to be.



In the realm of new routers.
It depends on what you want to spend and what you have available. I would shop at www.newegg.ca , they are the canadian division of the USA based Newegg. Their prices are reasonable and you have to deal with customs.

The ones I like are 

D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11 n/g

This router is has good range in the real world. Walls, Distance...etc. It does well in professional reviews.

BUFFALO WZR-HP-G300NH Wireless Gigabit Router Nfiniti High Power 802.11b/g/n up to 300Mbps/ Open Source DD-WRT Support

It has a signal amplifier, so if you have a distance issue this should probably resolve it. 
I am using an older Buffalo (on DD-WRT) that has a signal amplifier and I get great wireless connections.

The DD-WRT was an aftermarket router operating system, that unlocks tons of features we would never use, but it the most stable router OS I have used. I have routers that haven't been rebooted in years on DD-WRT. It is now officiall support by 

Linksys E2000-CA Gigabit Advanced Wireless Router IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab, IEEE 802.11a/b/g, IEEE802.11n

Its not a bad router, but its isn't super either. Spend a couple more dollars and you can get something nicer. The newer "UFO" shape routers from Linksys/Cisco run hot. I think they choose asthetics over function. The bottom of them needs to have an air gap or have it mounted vertically. I flashed a 2 of them to DD-WRT and they work fine, but run hot.

I avoid Netgear ones unless its a top end model (WNDR3700-100NAS and up). Typically they have poor signal strength and bad through put. I haven't used any of the newer ones, but the older ones I ran were dogs (require frequent reboots, signal strength that flucatated). You can apply the same principal above to D-Link as well.

I avoid Belkin Routers entirely. I have not had good experience with any of them.

All of this is just my opinion. I hope it helps


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