New Router: Buy or Not

from Sins Forums

Ive had my Linksys WRT54G router for many many years now and i never even thought about replacing it. Just recently i was at circuit city browsing what was left of the videogames they had and eventually made my way over to the routers. It was then when my g/f mentioned i should pick up a new router, which got me thinking about it.

Should i get a new router? If so, then which router?

Also is wireless N a needed feature for my current ISP type?

Here is my set up to my current router:

Two notebooks that run wireless (both N capable), One PC that is wired to the router, Two 360's wired to the router and One PS3 wired to the router, I have Verizon Broadband since apparently my town in NJ doesnt have FIOS just yet.

Typical days, all the cpus are up and running either browsing or gaming for most of the day along with a console or two on at the same time. Generally the PC is there for some heavy DLing. One important fact is that one person plays a MMORPG and lately when anyone is DLing anything from either the consoles or either cpus, it would cause that person to lag significantly.

Thanks in advance for your opinions and advice.

 

49,186 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

While n is supposed to be a massive performance boost over g, that's not your problem.  54Mbits, that's the theoretical bandwidth for 802.11g, in practice it's closer to half that, but unless you guys are downloading around 3MB/s, you're not getting saturation.  Browsing and playing games are marginal uses.  If the MMO is being played on a cable connected desktop, that limitation is entirely irrelevant.

 

Your router is probably crapping out or set up wrong.  If you recently obtained a new wireless device that operates at 2.4ghz, you may be getting interference as well.  Most of them are shitty about interference too.  I've had multiple linksys and d-link routers that, even on the wired connections, would crap out when a cordless phone rang.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

well, linksys WRT54G routers very from good to suck (based on version, newer version actually have less memory.  I think the 'best' wersion of that model is 3, provided you know how to change the firmware)

routers are tough, since usually the information that matters is hidden (so you can't compare it to others, its like a industry wide ban on giving cust the "not-needed" info especially since it can be missleading.)   Gameing or other high end routers will brag about their stats (of course, because they are good but cost a lot) but most standard routers won't tell you anything.   Linksys is generally very solid, and its easy to put on more efficiant firmware if the defaults don't suit you for whatever reason. 

A big factor is what you are also doing.  It sounds like you're doing a lot of gaming, which often needs something that minimizes latency.  Gaming from 360s usually have high MTU, which means something with enough ram for all the games at the same time.  It becomes rough if the PC is doing something like P2P traffic that uses a bunch of connections at the same time.  The traffic from those are usually small quick packets.  That requires many caculations per second.  If the PC isn't doing anything most of the time, a cheaper router would probebly be fine. 

Very few networks can support the need for wireless N right now.  Wireless G (max of 54 Mbps) is usually enough.  The major part is when it comes to file sharing, if you do a lot of file sharing (PS3 can do it, I'm not sure about the 360.  Obviously the PC can do it) then wireless N might be a good move.  The reason is because it doesn't rely on your internet connection (if you have a 3 mb connection, you have a max of 3 mb for gaming and downloading, but you can still trade files between your computers at full network speed when inside your own home)  the consoles can't support N, they would run as G anyway.

 I personally use wireless N, because we have wireless N laptops and I have a "terastation" external hard drive server that supports 1gbps ethernet connection, and we do a lot of file sharing (passing around videos, 3D models, programming apps and you name it) so its worth it for me.  But not for most

*added, looks like psychoak was 2 min faster

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Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

 

I had a Linksys WRT54G as well and replace 3 weeks ago with the one ALMonty showing  Belkin - Wireless-N Router with 4-Port Switch Model: F5D8236-4 setup was very easy i like the walk thur... I run 5 pc 2 wired 3 wirless,laptop, psp3, xbox30 ,wii :thumbsup:

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Just don't buy @ CompUSA....no deals there...look online and BestBuy.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Im thinkin of switching internet providers some time in the future. The new company reccomends getting a SpeedTouch 585. Anyone used these before?

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

If you dont mind a little reprogramming of the router ,I suggest you reaad here and see if you have a compatable version!Ihave 2 of these up and going ,you would be suprised how fast "G" is if you open it up a little! ;)

 

ReFlash Your Router

 

Note it tells you you can brick (kill) your router but if you follow along it works fine and if you mess up you were fixing toget one anyway.

But From my experience just the speed increase alone will probably convince you to spend your money some where else.

Important Info:

any "Wireless G" router can transmitt faster than the fastest consumer internet connection,It is the routers software and QOS (Quality Of Service) controls that limit speed .

Taking over the control will allow you to actually send over 2x as fast off your same router!

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 5
look online and BestBuy.

OH Dr we need to introduce you to newegg.com

for a lot of items (camera, mp3 players, software etc..) they are about the same as anywhere else

BUT when it comes to computers newegg is extremely tough to beat in price and service.

the only time I buy anything for my computer is if I NEED it RIGHT NOW, and can't wait a few days for shipping, or if the egg is out of stock/doesn't carry the item I want/need (not often)

 

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Thanx, blackcurtain...I do get stuff there. And it's  good advice to Nyczzz.  :thumbsup:

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

YW,

just making sure you were in the loop...lol

 

Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top

Thanks for all the advice and help, ill take a look into seeing if i can boost my current router as suggested by AVMAN. As for where i would go to get a router if it comes to that decision, im prolly going to Circuit City near my place since they are going out of business and everythin gis about 30% off.