Best midrange router for my needs

[iYoYo]

First of all, hello. Im a new member

Anyways im looking to spend 80$ on a new router. The problem is, theres so many in the market which makes it hard to choose. I also live in an apartment so there is alot of wireless setups around me. I want the maximum possible connection for 3-4 computers+ phones etc. I do alot of gaming and live streaming.

 

[eahm]

Cisco Linksys E3000 $60.99

 

[sdeleeuw]

Check out the hot deals section... Edimax has a concurrent dual band gigabit router for $59 at Newegg at the moment. I'd never heard of them, but I'm using it now at it seems fine. I'm using the 5ghz band for lack of congestion.

 

[iYoYo]

any other suggestions? and why do ppl buy refurb routers? is there any difference in terms of durability/ life

 

[stevech]

a decent 11n WiFi router is so inexpensive - why risk the hassle buying a used one?

 

[sdeleeuw]

I'm confused, the Edimax one I suggested is not refurb and it's concurrent dual band a/b/g/n with 4 gigabit ports, for $59...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315100

 

[stevech]

me, myself, would not buy a that brand. Only two user critiques on newegg (low sales volume), and both evals were not high marks. One was 1 of 5 eggs, the other was 5 of 5. Too few to be meaningful.

http://www.edimax.us/ to me looks like the Taiwanese company is a re-brander/distributor.

Why mess with this one? Do you really need concurrent dual-band so much?

 

[thiggins]

any other suggestions? and why do ppl buy refurb routers? is there any difference in terms of durability/ life

Because you can get the same technology for less.

I have purchased many refurbished products and have not had problems with any of them. I usually buy direct from the manufacturer for minimum hassle. Refurbs usually come with a warranty and look / work like new. Main difference is simpler packaging in some cases.

I don't pay attention to warranty, since I'm not spending big money.

 

[sdeleeuw]

me, myself, would not buy a that brand. Only two user critiques on newegg (low sales volume), and both evals were not high marks. One was 1 of 5 eggs, the other was 5 of 5. Too few to be meaningful.

http://www.edimax.us/ to me looks like the Taiwanese company is a re-brander/distributor.

Why mess with this one? Do you really need concurrent dual-band so much?

Me? Yeah, our neighborhood sucks for the 2.4Ghz band and at $59 for concurrent dual band with gigabit ports I'm willing to give it a shot. What's the worst that can happen, it doesn't live up to expectations and you send it back?

Newegg reviews are funny, many people are dillusional about their "tech level"...

 

[iYoYo]

I'm confused, the Edimax one I suggested is not refurb and it's concurrent dual band a/b/g/n with 4 gigabit ports, for $59...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315100

I was referring to eahm on what I said about refurbs.

noob question but where do I benefit with the gigabit ports? I know it transfers 1gig per second data but how do I benefit with that?

also, yea I do need a dual band since I already said I live in an apartment

any other suggestions?

 

[RogerSC]

Gigabit ports are nice for transfers between systems within your network that have Gb network interface cards for backup, or for other large file/data transfers. If your computers or other devices don't have Gb interfaces, and you don't foresee upgrading them, then you're right, there is no advantage *smile*.

I often transfer data between one desktop to another that has an external disk attached that uses eSATA. Those transfers run faster than 100Mb/s.

 

[sdeleeuw]

In an apartment would be an ideal situation for dual band. Lots of 2.4ghz saturation probably...

 

[stevech]

In an apartment would be an ideal situation for dual band. Lots of 2.4ghz saturation probably...

Maybe not!

 

[sdeleeuw]

Possibly not I suppose, back when I did townhome living a few years back, even then I could see > 12 wireless networks from my living room. Most on about every single channel, so lots of overlapping static....

Or were you saying that's not an ideal place for 5ghz?

 

[stevech]

Just reiterating... the number of SSIDs you detect is not relevant. What matters is that you choose a channel to use, 1, 6 or 11, that has no neighbors on/near that channel number that do heavy streaming of video. That's rare. Most of us use a tiny percentage of the available air time on WiFi.

 

[sdeleeuw]

Totally understood on that... But if I'm on 6 (with 4 other neighbors), another 4 are on 1 and 11 respectively, and then there are a smattering on ch9, ch3, ch4 because they don't understand overlapping, it's not going to be good...

 

[stevech]

Totally understood on that... But if I'm on 6 (with 4 other neighbors), another 4 are on 1 and 11 respectively, and then there are a smattering on ch9, ch3, ch4 because they don't understand overlapping, it's not going to be good...

It'll be good unless those other SSIDs have heavy traffic loads most of the time.