What is the very best wireless router available right now? - Page 12

I have the NetGear WNDR3700 Dual Band Gigabit Router.
Great router. There are newer versions at NetGear now.
Not sure which one is the best but NetGear is good bet.
Before this one I had the trust old Linksys WRT54G.

If you want the "Best" wireless router, check out Meraki or Pakedge.
By far, the best routers and access points I have ever used!
Meraki makes cloud managed network appliances that can notify you if they are down.
Pakedge has both managed and unmanaged devices.

Did not read all the pages of posts. Why its recommended?

1. Been using it for so many years running 24x7. Mine is the first generation from 2007.
2. The large heat sink at the bottom does very well in dissipating heat even under very heavy loads. Heat does weird things to routers - seen that in some other makes.
3. Very easy to configure including adding other Apple routers to the network.

It just works silently in the background

Hands down best wifi performance is Ruckus Wireless. They are AP's only, so use whatever NAT device you have handy. They use off the shelf ships like everyone else, but they do their own antenna from scratch. Its amazing technology that ignores a lot of the interference that messes with other traditional antenna types.
For home use I'd recommend the Zoneflex 7363.

Network monitoring and notification is nothing new. It's been a mainstay in enterprise IT for over a decade. Even some lowly Netgear routers can send alerts to you via SMTP. What's cool for small quick deployment scenarios are Aruba's Instant Access Points. These IAPs can operate in stand alone or as campus APs. Setup is fast and quick. Where by you get many of the features of their traditional controllers in a cheaper and easier to administer package. The IAPs form a hive with each other when they are brought online and configuration information is propagated through all the member IAPs via a wireless mesh. One goes down, it's no big deal to pull it off the network and add in a replacement. You still get all the benefits of Aruba's RF management with ARM and band steering which I have yet to see any of the cheaper competition match. The biggest test of any of these wireless system is how well it will do with a quality of service sensitive protocol like VoIP running over a wireless network with other IP traffic thrown in while the client is roaming. I bet few will even be able to deal with this scenario.

And if you want to chalk up any certifications to prove the quality of the gear from a security standpoint, none of the manufacturers mentioned has the US government certification for FIPS 140-2 compliance except for Sonicwall and Cisco.

Premiertek POWERLINK Boost N Wireless Router. I've been using this router for over a year and it is rock solid.

No more Netgear for me! I've owned three of them: two lasted less than a year and a third less than six months.

All my gear is always plugged into surge protectors, even our counter top microwave. (Do the same for all your electronic gear and it will last longer - that plus good ventilation.)

I've been using Linksys - the WRT54GS (an old model) - even had a backup unit but never needed it. Bullet proof. The only reason I migrated away was that AT&T forced me to use their proprietary 2Wire.

While I've heard of some Linksys models overheating, I'd still lean toward them in the future.

Wireless routers are now in the $150 price range are nearly commodity items now. I wouldn't buy an AC router until you have some AC components all other things being equal. I'd get the best 'N' available. Now USB 3.0 is something you can use today if you have a Disk Drive attached and is worth paying for. I usually have to replace my router every year and a half or so so longevity and future proofing are not an issue.

I bought an expensive Netgear wireless router about 8 years ago when I 1st set up my network w/ my Xbox 360. I was on the phone w/ Netgear/Xbox/Cox/Cisco(modem) tech support for a day and a half w/ no internet. I eventually had the Geek Squad come do it for $200. About 5 years ago the Netgear bit the dust, so I decided to buy an Apple Time Capsule to go w/ my new MacBook Pro. I unpacked it and followed the idiot-proof instructions and was connected to the net w/ my Xbox and blu-ray player within 5 minutes. It took longer to unpack the stuff than get connected. That in and of itself for those of us that aren't network savvy made the Apple Time capsule worth it. Also, I was able to put my Xbox in the DMZ in like 2 minutes. That's something I was NEVER(tried many times) able to do w/ the Netgear. It also doubles as a 500gig automatic daily back up. For all the plug it and 4get it simplicity/ease of use the Apple router for my money was worth it. I live in a 2 story w/ a lot of walls and a floor in between my router/clients btw. Just my 2 cents...

I just got the Asus RT-N66U. Replaced my old Linksys WRT54G (v1.0). The Asus is nice. Upgraded the firmware to newest available. Everything seems fine. I have many computers and wi-fi devices connected. No dropouts yet (over two weeks strong). It has all the features you could want and more. My wireless G adapters work much better now. Will have to upgrade those soon, though. I wouldn't worry about AC now. It's always smart to wait 6 months before adopting new PC tech.

I am very happy with the DD-WRT firmware an old Buffalo Giga Airstation 802.11n.
Do the new Asus and Netgear 802.11a/c offer the following features out of the box, that you may know of?
1. Antenna power boost
2. Mac Address and/or IP filtering for bandwidth usage, priority, type of service allowed (block P2P)?
Thanks

From The Netherlands

A. Apple Airport
B. Fritzbox; very versatile!

http://www.fritzbox.eu/en/products/index.php

Maybe hard to get outside Europe .....

The *best*?

That's an incredibly subjective measurement.

As a user of a few different brands of wireless routers, network stability is the primary quality in a wireless router.

The Apple Airport Extreme is fantastic in this arena. Connected for a few months now without a single slowdown, or drop-out. It's been truly a miracle compared to other routers I've used.

In addition, it has all the features you'd expect from other quality wirless N routers. Duel band, guest account, easy port forwarding, etc.

There are only two things the AAE doesn't do at all:

1) QoS
2) Custom Firmware

If you don't care about those features, it's a solid choice.

12 pages. plenty of opinions. die thread! die!

or sorry, was just supposed to be in my head.

netgear wndr3800 running Brainslayer's DD-WRT.
simultaneous dual band
vlan capable switch
virtual access point support
usb port for a hard drive etc

so you can have, say, a guest access point and use iptables to prevent it accessing your home network

by the way, many home access points and routers become unstable as they get old because of crappy power supplies. I have a netgear wndr3300 which was solid for two year but began acting up crashing several times an hour. I got a new quality Phihong PSU and it's been perfect since.

I havent read thru all 12 pages but I'd like to chime in and recommend the Netgear n600 (Wndr3500L I think). Its supports Tomato and ww-ddrt. I've loaded tomato on mine and have not had to reboot it in over a year. I have a usb printer connected to it that can be shared with the wired and wireless devices (as long as you have drivers)

I've been really please with this very affordable router.

So all great points and a LOT of comments so I figured I'd just throw in my own to mix and add to the thread count!

I think I am the only one to mention so far in the thread that I was looking for a router/NAS device. I'm a minimalistic type of guy, and don't like a lot of cabling nor clutter on my TV console. I also work with computers ALL DAY LONG and don't even own a full fledged PC at home except for a Dell mini 10 for torrents. With that said I wanted to make sure my router could replace the WD 1TB My Book NAS and my Belkin N+ router. Never had a problem with either one for either wireless/wired services nor for the NAS/DLNA hosting thru the built-in Twonky server.

I recently, within the last 7 days, picked up the WD N900 My Net Central 2TB edition. It seemed to fulfill all my requirements as far as wireless performance was concerned AND was capable of serving up my media on the same device w/o the need for attaching a USB drive. I wanted GB ports for my TV and PS3 connected directly to it as well. So far I've had excellent through-put for both wired & wireless connections, no reboot issues, no dropped connections and excellent playback of movies & music.

I have yet to fully test out the FastTrac QoS services and see if they are really providing any benefit but that will come a bit later this week. Just figured I'd mention the device in case anyone else was in the same boat as myself. I was sick of waiting for the WNDR-4700 that was shown at CES back in January which looked like a promising device given Netgear's track record and current device support.

That's an interesting point. I am looking to replace the router I bought in 2003. Someone told me I should consider the AC routers. I don't have any AC devices and I don't know when/if I will.

Sorry for taking so long to respond, I went on sabbatical after pulses got raised on this thread and I did, admittedly, go a wee bit off topic.

In case you haven't gotten it yet, the Tomato firmware I linked to does have QoS support. I have not used it yet because the heaviest user in the house is me by a long shot. The only caveat for this router is the relatively slow usb HDD transfer rates. You'll only get around 7Mb/s transfer rates with a usb connected hard drive using Fat32/NTFS. This is a hardware limitation and not firmware. If you format your HDD to .ext3 format the speed increases to about double. Just wanted to give you a heads up. The HDD I have set up as a DLNA device through my router is fine for my purposes (music, pictures, etc.) but you MIGHT have issues with 7.0GB + blu-ray rips with DTS-MA 7.1 channel audio...... But all in all its been rock stable and I have great reception through my house.

Here is a screen shot of the main firmware QoS support screen to ensure it has the functionality you require:




Edited by Mark the Red - 8/28/12 at 12:46pm

The ASUS RT-N66U isn't even listed.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Agreed. Made me suspicious the moment I didn't see it there. I installed one in my mom's house the other day and I was impressed with it in the little I used it. By all the reviews I've seen it should at least have made the top ten so maybe this site had an axe to grind.

OT: Man I hate websites that start shouting at you the second you arrive to it....

Can someone explain what Tomato/QoS is/does? I have an Apple Time capsule, will that program improve it?

^^^^^^^^

QoS is a means of ensuring certain clients (I.e., gadgets, computers, etc.) are guaranteed priority on limited bandwidth. For instance, not letting bit torrent on one computer clouding out online gaming performance on another. Very handy in multi user shared living accomodations like college dorms, or Duggar family reunions, etc. Much more eloquent explanations are out there no doubt, but you get the idea.

Tomato is an open source router firmware that allows certain routers to perform at a much higher router class by installing.

I would not upgrade the time capsule. By all accounts its a fantastic piece of hardware and you get a 2tb iTunes server to boot.

FWIW I've been running a refurbished linksys E3000, less than $50 shipped, and has been rock solid. Intentions were to buy something cheap to get by........... but for my needs see no reason to replace.

I'm not going through this entire thread.. short version

Due to BS pulled by Cisco / Linksys with routers phoning home and WORSE I will never touch or supply their products again.

Yes I am an IT pro and have been for many many years.. (C-pet anyone?)

For those wanting more details listen to this:

http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm Ep 147

[deleted by poster]
Edited by Racklefratz - 9/4/12 at 8:06am

I've owned netgear, I've had 2 airport extremes, I've recently had a cisco e4200 - they all fell short.

Based on the above recommendations, I bought the ASUS RT-N66U "dark knight" and it has been a great success!

Wireless range is much (!) better, throughput (especially on uploads) is improved and so far stability has been excellent.

The interface is good and the monitoring feature is really nice (be able to see what data transmission going on in real time at the router level)

I can't recommend it highly enough and thanks to folks in this thread who turned me onto it.

My RT-N66U is out for delivery today. Pretty excited!

I've had an Apple Time Capsule for about 6 months now. It replaced an older Cisco wireless N router that had very inconsistent performance. I couldn't be more pleased with it. Expensive? Yes, it was - but well worth no longer having any aggravation whatsoever. It gives me rock solid performance. I do stream some media via a couple of Roku devices - which the Linksys just couldn't manage to keep up with - and the Apple device provides solid throughput. Like you, I have dozens of wireless devices in my home that all connect through the Apple Time Capsule. It never misses a beat.