PCEddie Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Hey All, I have been thinking for the past month of upgrading my aging (3 year old) DLink DIR 655 router. It has served me well but the addition of my iPad 2 which adds to the current count of 14 devices attached to my network, I feel it is time to upgrade to a dual band router. I have been looking at different reviews on the web (Amazon, NewEgg, and Google search) but I have not found a router that stands out. My price range is up to $150. What I am looking for are as follows: gigabit ports 2.4 and 5 GHz wireless N clean admin software (I remote into the router directly) stream Netflix and soon iCloud able to handle a lot of network traffic able to setup vpn access (not a deal breaker but would be nice) Any suggestions are appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlitend1 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 My vote is for the Linksys e3000 or e4200. For ultimate stability with either of these, use DD-WRT or Tomato firmware. It's very simple to install. Both have dual-band and gigabit ports. I believe the e4200 has an extra internal antenna (3x3 vs 2x2) so theoretically it has a higher possible throughput, but only if you have the newest wireless adapters that support it. The only other thing to remember is that if you decide to go with Tomato firmware, it currently does not have support for the 5ghz channel on the 4200 (will probably be soon though). For long term, I would go for the e4200 and use the stock firmware for now and then upgrade to Tomato when it supports 5ghz, IMHO. I'm sure you'll get a ton of opinions on this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCEddie Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Thanks for the recommendation nlitend1 for Linksys e3000 or e4200. That is one of the routers I was looking at earlier this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Another vote for Tomato. Good interface and very tweakable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 My one question has to do with wanting gigabit ports? Why? If it's just so that wireless clients that connect at more than 100Mbit can get the best throughput, I think it's fine. However, I am not a fan of using wireless routers as network switches. In my experience, they are not up to the job. I always install a real Ethernet switch. I only use 1 of a wireless routers LAN ports, and I use it only to connect the router to the network; I connect it directly to an Ethernet switch. Just my 2 cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCEddie Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 NP on the feedback ikon. I currently have a small 8 port gigabit switch to network a few computers and have one cat 6 network cable to connect the switch to the DLink DIR 655 router. So far one vote Linksys router. Anyone else have an opinion a good wireless N dual band router? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikon Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 NP on the feedback ikon. I currently have a small 8 port gigabit switch to network a few computers and have one cat 6 network cable to connect the switch to the DLink DIR 655 router. So far one vote Linksys router. Anyone else have an opinion a good wireless N dual band router? cool about the switches. I think you're good with Linksys, DLink or Netgear. But, they all make good ones, and they all make bad ones. Find ones you think are candidates and look for user reviews/votes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Miner Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 (edited) I've had my D-Link DGL-4500 for several years with no problems or issues. Edited October 14, 2011 by Joe_Miner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmwills Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Let's face it, they all make good hardware, and for me the difference lies within the interface and how easily it is to navigate and get the job done. D-Link can be one of the most confusing out there, at least for me coming from a Linksys perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCEddie Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 Thanks for the feedback Joe_Miner. I will look into DGL-4500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now