Can someone recommend a router for my needs?

[jgarcia408]

Hello everyone. Ive come to the site numerous times and have been reading other posts to try to fit my needs, but I thought I might create my own.

Im currently using a Netgear WNDR-3400. It was working fine for a while but now I keep losing my connection on the 2.4GHz band. I end up having to either change the channel, power cycle the modem, or just turn wifi off then on again. Im tired of having to do this every other day or so, especially because it really interferes with my devices.

I want to know if anyone can recommend a router for me. I dont have the highest budget in the world so I am trying to keep the price between $100 and $140 or so. The lower the price the better. I know that doesnt leave me much room for choices, but Im kind of stuck right there.

Now onto needs. I live in a two story home. In that home I have the following devices that need to connect wirelessly: 3 XBOX 360s (one alternates between wired and wireless), 1 Netbook, 1 Wii, 1 PS3, 1 WDTV, 1 Sony Network Media Player, 2 iPod touch, 1 iPhone 4, 1 android phone, 1 windows 7 phone, 1 android tablet, 1 directv network adapter, and 1 printer. Then I have 1 PC with a wired connection. Not all the wireless devices are always on of course, but the phones, tablet and iPods are almost always on. Of all the wireless devices mentioned only 2 of them are on the 5GHz channel.

I hope this is enough information. If anyone needs any more info in order to give me a recommendation, please ask. I would like to get a router really soon if possible.

I appreciate any help that can be provided.

 

[stevech]

Before blaming the router... have you tried the PC that loses connectivity on some other WiFi system in the same encryption mode?

 

[jgarcia408]

stevech,

I should have clarified that point. Every device connected to the 2.4GHz channel loses connection. No phone, tablet, ipod or even printer can connect.

Ive tried different settings, different security options, different channels, and other things recommended by Netgears support. Now Netgear wont provide me with any more help because its been over 90 days since I registered my router. Poor service in my opinion. Anyways, that is my predicament.

 

[rhombus]

I saw this exact issue with a Netgear once, it was a widely reported problem with that model that nobody could solve.

But one day I discovered something: if you power cycled, then went into wireless settings but did not change anything, and then pressed apply/save settings... by magic, the wireless subsequently worked fine (for months actually) so long as the router remained powered up.

It might sound like I'm joking, and it might not work whatsoever here, but hey...thought I'd share.

 

[jgarcia408]

Thanks for the suggestion rhombus. Im going to try that. Who knows, that might just solve my problem. In the meantime, if anyone has any router suggestions please shoot them my way.

 

[rhombus]

I want to know if anyone can recommend a router for me. I dont have the highest budget in the world so I am trying to keep the price between $100 and $140 or so. The lower the price the better. I know that doesnt leave me much room for choices, but Im kind of stuck right there

I don't know why you say that, your budget allows for many top-of-the-line routers, and some of the top performers in Smallnetbuilder's tests. I got my prices from a quick look at amazon.com, as I'm not in the US.

I don't have one in particular to recommend. You might want to consider the Belkin 750, it looks the lowest new price.

 

[stevech]

Opinion warning: Seldom does Linksys put out a badly designed product. Belkin tends to copy-cat the same reference design as Linksys. Not always though.

To possibly save $50 (all you need to spend for a decent 11g/n WiFi router), you might
1) reset to factory defaults, then reenter your unique SSID and encryption key and mode. To match what the PCs/handhelds have. Try that.
2) Follow the arcane instructions to install newer firmware, or reinstall. Then do step 1.

Or just toss it, as for $50 you might not want to waste a lot of time on it.

Indeed, $30 gets you a decent 11g/n router these days. I tend to avoid Netgear and D-Link because of too many lemon-design-models.

 

[rhombus]

I think the big manufacturers are broadly similar in their adherance or deviation from reference designs. I suspect there's a high chance of considering the Belkin N750 vs Linksys E4200 here anyway, where this doesn't apply, since they are totally different solutions.

Also, an identical circuit design is only one thing. Component selection, QC tolerances, circuit layout, heat dissipation, firmware, power supply, antenna selection, positioning and configuration, cable routing - these are all other things which can make or break a product's reliability and performance, especially in a wireless router.

I think $30-50 might be pushing it for a concurrent dual-band 802.11n router? Are there any particular bargains?

My firm experience is that there are geniune tiers of wireless performance, that roughly correlate with line-up position and therefore price. This can hold true even comparing routers with similar published Tx and Rx specs,and identical external antennas swapped from one to the other.

I remember one company in the UK who sold (and still do) imported OEM products and who published advice (and still do) on home networking, saying the insides of a router for wireless performance are much of a muchness and 802.11g products all perform roughly the same. I bought one of their cheaper devices, carefully attached and positioned my external antenna, and measured throughput of just 2-3Mbps at several locations and not even a connection at others. I got 22Mbps at all locations from a good device. When I e-mailed them the results, I just got quite a curt reply back, saying I was still within their returns period if not happy with their router I probably deserved that though!

 

[rhombus]

I tend to avoid Netgear and D-Link because of too many lemon-design-models.

I have also had enough citrusy experiences with D-Link over the years to personally avoid their products entirely.

 

[stevech]

I think $30-50 might be pushing it for a concurrent dual-band 802.11n router? Are there any particular bargains?!

Concurrent 2.4/5.8GHz ... seems to me is needed only by a very few consumers, as WiFi is all about handheld/laptops and few of those have/need 5.8Ghz. And yes, such would cost well over $100 for something reliable.

"Concurrent" of course is not the same jargon as "dual-band", where the later may or may not permit concurrent operations.

 

[rhombus]

Concurrent 2.4/5.8GHz ... seems to me is needed only by a very few consumers

The OP's list of needs demand a concurrent dual-band (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz) 802.11n router.

 

[jgarcia408]

I would gladly give up the 5ghz band if I can be sure Im getting a router that is reliable and doesnt lose connection on the 2.4GHz channel. Ive actually found that with the Netgear router I have now, the 2.4GHz channel seems to have better speeds in parts of the house that are farther from the router then the 5GHz channel does.

My router lost complete connection to the 2.4GHz channel again today and I was about ready to throw it at the wall. So with that said, looks like Im going to be getting a new router, I just cant determine which one that should be.

 

[rhombus]

I was about ready to throw it at the wall.

That is the next troubleshooting step

(Although, come to think of it, seen as you are happy to run at 2.4Ghz only, did you try turning off the 5Ghz radio as a fix already?)

Your 5Ghz results are not unusual. 5Ghz naturally has a shorter wavelength than 2.4Ghz. Propagation characteristics means it therefore suffers greater free space loss, and worse penetration through walls. In a home environment, combined with 5Ghz devices that often are not even designed to run at higher power to compensate for free space loss alone, this tends to lead to poorer performance than 2.4Ghz in distant rooms.

As for a new router, I haven't seen even anecdotal evidence that dual-band routers are less reliable than single-band routers. You don't need any specific or advanced router capabilities, but you need good wireless. My advice is therefore unchanged - look at the top routers from the big names within your budget - do your own research for clues about performance and reliability, then make a decision. Or, the best way - just try out different models and see, that way you can even include a $30 model and see what happens...

 

[jgarcia408]

rhombus, I think what you said I could do is what Im going to do. Try different models.

First and foremost, I am going to try to turn off the 5GHz channel. I didnt know that could potentially degrade the connection on the 2.4GHz channel. If that doesnt work, then I will try different models. I will just get them locally (from Best Buy, Frys, etc..) and try one for 25 days and if Im not happy return it within 30 days in exchange for another.

The router I have now I bought at Wal Mart (gross, I know) so truth of the matter is I can actually return it to them for a full in store credit and try some routers they have there. That might even be worth a shot. They have the Belkin N750 in stock and I was considering checking it out.

Thanks again for the info. It looks like I may be on the way to getting a router then the one I have now.

 

[jgarcia408]

Just wanted to post a follow up. I went ahead and got a Belkin N750 DB. Ive been using it since Thursday at around 10am. It has been rock solid. Not a single loss of signal (knock on wood) and the speeds have been great. The only thing I wish it had was some lights to notify you of connectivity and such. Thats just a small thing so I can look past it.

Hopefully things stay how they are. I have 28 more days to use it and if in that time everything stays how it is, I'll be keeping it.