# Best wireless router at present (June 08)



## ajapale (22 Jun 2008)

My old linksys wrt54g router has started behaving badly (crashing, slow speeds etc) and rather than trying to fix it I intend junking it and buying a new wireless router.

What is the best wr out there at the moment. I want one that is robust is easy to set up and maintain. Setting up securtity on the old linksys was an ordeal and took over an hour everytime I had to do a cold reset.

I not concerned about expence but bacically I want a wr that I can set up securely, easily and then forget about it.

Any advice?


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## ClubMan (22 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> My old linksys wrt54g router has started behaving badly (crashing, slow speeds etc) and rather than trying to fix it I intend junking it and buying a new wireless router.


Are you using the very latest firmware for the device in case that makes a difference?


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## ajapale (22 Jun 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Are you using the very latest firmware for the device in case that makes a difference?



Im not! Is it difficult to get the up to date firmware onto the router? How would you go about doing this?


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## serotoninsid (22 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> Im not! Is it difficult to get the up to date firmware onto the router? How would you go about doing this?


[broken link removed]


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## aircobra19 (22 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> My old linksys wrt54g router has started behaving badly (crashing, slow speeds etc) and rather than trying to fix it I intend junking it and buying a new wireless router.
> 
> ...


 
How do you know the router is causing that?


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## car (23 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> Im not! Is it difficult to get the up to date firmware onto the router? How would you go about doing this?



Aja, Ive the same router and upgrading firmware is supposed to resolve most issues.   As above, upgrading the firmware is real easy, go to the [broken link removed] website, support, download the latest version of the firmware and follow the  instructions.  Takes a few minutes tops.


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## efm (23 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> What is the best wr out there at the moment. I want one that is robust is easy to set up and maintain. Setting up securtity on the old linksys was an ordeal and took over an hour everytime I had to do a cold reset.
> 
> I not concerned about expence but bacically I want a wr that I can set up securely, easily and then forget about it.
> 
> Any advice?


 
I would be interested in the answer to this question as well - I have a Netgear Wnnnn(something) which is contrary at best (there is a known overheating problem with the original chipset that causes random network drops) and need to change it. The other problem I have is that the router will be visible (ie in my hallway) so it needs to be visually pleasing to my resident interior designer!

I have no need for "n" spec wifi as my laptop can only do "g" anyway but I do have a wifi music player and I will be adding a NAS and another laptop to the network at some stage - anybody with any personal recommendations?

BTW - sorry for highjacking your thread ajapale


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## ClubMan (23 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> Im not! Is it difficult to get the up to date firmware onto the router? How would you go about doing this?


Start here and click through. The available firmware updates and instructions for applying them should be easily available.


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## ajapale (23 Jun 2008)

aircobra19 said:


> How do you know the router is causing that?



Because I dont have the problems when I connect directly to my bb (wireless) provider.


Thanks to all for the advice. Ill try downloading and applying the firmware tonight.

aj


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## ClubMan (23 Jun 2008)

What exactly happens when the router "crashes"?


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## Bootdog (24 Jun 2008)

I've gone through a few router / modem contributions over the past 2 years.

I had a Linksys, unsure of model, but it came in a pack with a laptop PCMCIA card. Useless, kept crashing, needed a reset before the laptop could see the network again. I brought it back within a few days.

I had a netgear DG834G for about a year, it was pretty good.
[broken link removed]
It would crash sometimes if there was heavy traffic (e.g. downloading a big file onto one PC, and surfing on another), needed a power cycle to reset it. Eventually got sick of having to do this every couple of weeks, and there were also reception issues in one part of the house.
Best thing was that it had a built in modem, so no need for 2nd box and power supply etc.

Changed about 6 months ago to a Belkin Wireless N router, which came packaged with a USB N-receiver for the laptop. This is much more stable, and handles wired & wireless traffic no problem. I had intended to use the N-receiver, but the reception is good enough in G-mode that there's no need. It may be down to the second aerial. 
[broken link removed]
- there's no modem built in, so I had to dig out the old BT router again.
- it doesn't have the same level of features that the Netgear did - for example you cannot assign fixed IP addresses in the DHCP pool
- its geared for simplicity of use ... simplified setup, and the lights on the front change from blue to yellow if you have a problem in one part of the chain (e.g. if the modem has lost its connection, it will flash yellow).
- compared to the netgear, I can't remember the last time it needed a reset


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## Dearg Doom (24 Jun 2008)

I'm a fan of [broken link removed] devices. They are stable, solid devices, richly featured and straightforward to set up. I've deployed many in various situations and have yet to be disappointed. The last couple of Netgear devices I've deployed have proven to be unstable and have both had to be replaced. I'm no fan of Belkin devices either for much the same reason.


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## ajapale (24 Jun 2008)

ClubMan said:


> What exactly happens when the router "crashes"?



One of two things:

1)Upload speeds reduce to a crawl or a full stop. 

2)I can see the router but cant get out no ping or tracrt beyond the WR.

In both cases when I disconnect the WR and connect directly to my providers I get the correct upload and download speeds.

In both cases if I hard reset the WR and operate the the WR without security I can acheive good performance. Randomly after a few days performance drops off stops completely.

After resetting the WR if I set up securtity I can see the WR but cant access the internet.

I know very little about WR but I have a suspicion that when I was operating with out security that a neighbour may have performed some massive downloads or up loads causing the router to "flood". Is this a possibility?

In any case Im tired of the linksys and am not inclined to spend countless hours trying to fix it. Hence my question about an alternative that is robust and easy to set up.


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## MugsGame (24 Jun 2008)

> I have a suspicion that when I was operating with out security that a neighbour may have performed some massive downloads or up loads causing the router to "flood". Is this a possibility?



A power cycle would fix that if it did happen. Some providers will restrict users who transfer large amounts of data, but that wouldn't explain why the problems go away when you don't use your wireless router.


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## ClubMan (24 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> One of two things:
> 
> 1)Upload speeds reduce to a crawl or a full stop.
> 
> ...


It would still be interesting to know what effect might be achieved by making sure that the router is running the latest firmware and that the client computers are running the latest drivers and _OS _patches etc.


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## ajapale (24 Jun 2008)

OK Ill try to apply the latest firmware... but I need a little assistance.

The router is WTT54G*S* I left out the "S" in the original post.

When I go to the linksys page Linksys.com...../Wireless Routers/WRT54GS/Downloads
I cant get a listing for my version V5.1 - the list jumps straight from V4 to V6! What to do?

aj

PS thanks BootDog and DeargDoom for the advice! I try getting the linksys going first before considering a new WR.


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## serotoninsid (24 Jun 2008)

ajapale said:


> I need a little assistance.


Their live support can steer you though it.
Click on live chat - on the left side bar.


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## ClubMan (24 Jun 2008)

Where did you buy the router? I see that the _UK _site lists the v5.0  model (but not v5.1 explicitly) but the _Irish _site does not. Other sites (e.g. _US _site might be worth trying) might explicitly list the v5.1 model.


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## ajapale (25 Jun 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Where did you buy the router?



I bought it in Peats two years ago.


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## ClubMan (25 Jun 2008)

Just thought it might've been sources abroad in a country whose Linksys site listed the specific version (v5.1). Seems odd that the _Irish _site does not list this model if it was sold here. But some other country site may do. Or the v5.0 one listed on the _UK _site might do?


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## ajapale (26 Jun 2008)

Thanks seritonin sid,

I got in touch with their online help and they taked me through the firmware upgrade. 

The firmware upgrade was a success but unfortunately when I try to connect to the internet I either get no response or get very bad upload speeds.

aj


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## ClubMan (26 Jun 2008)

No response from the router or what?

There should be a logging feature which you can temporarily enable on the router to get more insight into what's going on or wrong.

Do you have to reconfigure the router from scratch after the firmware upgrade? 

If you find that an earlier firmware version works better for you (although normally later *should *be better) you can always downgrade to the earlier version.


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## serotoninsid (27 Jun 2008)

Have had bad experience with Linksys kit previously. Had a dodgy bridge that only worked for 6 months.  They agreed to replace it but insisted that I return the old one to the nearest UPS hub - which was 2 hours drive away  - so not worth the journey.
Only plus point with them is that their online support works well but I've steered clear of their kit since..


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