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Cheap and Fast router? Do they exist?

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loki993

Occasional Visitor
I look at all the router and it seems that the most expensive ones are also the fastest. Thing is it seems that these expansive fast ones are also cluttered with a bunch of useless, to me, bells and whistles.

Is there a reasonably priced fast router that's just basic? It would be nice if it had gigabit lan also. Under 100 dollars, cheaper the better. Used or recertified/refurbished would be fine. Is it possible?
 
Sort of. Manufacturers are positioning "150" single-stream N routers as their entry-level bargain offerings. But it's false economy and I don't recommend them.

You can find bargains in older routers. Hit the shopping engines, then check the Wireless Charts to see what our performance tests look like.

Forget Gigabit LAN in the router. It adds to cost and can add to instability due to the heat load it adds.
 
Sort of. Manufacturers are positioning "150" single-stream N routers as their entry-level bargain offerings. But it's false economy and I don't recommend them.

You can find bargains in older routers. Hit the shopping engines, then check the Wireless Charts to see what our performance tests look like.

Forget Gigabit LAN in the router. It adds to cost and can add to instability due to the heat load it adds.

Ok I will. I just figured with my PS3 it may be beneficial, but honestly Ive thought about it and it will only be really fast from the Ps3 to the router and back, then its at the mercy of my internet connection. Also I dont need N, so that probally helps, but again it seems that the N ones are the fastest, even running in G.
 
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Gigabit Ethernet isn't required for HD streaming. And unless your PS3 has a Gigabit Ethernet port, it won't do any good.

An N router with an G client is no better than a G router. It will operate at G speed.
 
Gigabit Ethernet isn't required for HD streaming. And unless your PS3 has a Gigabit Ethernet port, it won't do any good.

An N router with an G client is no better than a G router. It will operate at G speed.

The Ps3 does have Gigabit Ethernet, but like I said it doesn't really natter that much.

I also know everything will run at g speed and that's the basic problem. All the test are at N speeds as far as I can tell and it makes it hard to determine how the router will perform at g speeds. I would assume that one that performed well in N would also do well in G, but that may be a bad assumption.

I was looking over the charts and Ive seen a couple, but I dont know.

Theres the linksys wrt310n, I believe its single band. It tests fast but its basically everything you told me to avoid. Ive heard about it having some issues getting hot also. Also I don't like the fact that it falls off so much, basically completely, in the last 2 positions in the 6 position test. I checked the price vs performance and it was at the top. There around for $60, I believe refurbs.

There's also the wrt320n, Which is dual band, but still gigabit. Its pretty similar to the 310 and probably a bit better, its just a tad slower on the charts, doesnt seem to get hot, but it still has the same falloff problem in the testing.
This is also around as refurbs for pretty much the same price as the 310. So probably the better buy of those 2.

Then there is the Asus RT-N13, Im not too sure about this one. Its really fast in the testing. But Ive read some reviews and they say its had some issues, including getting security to work on it, and its a pain to set up. I don't know if that would really apply to me, as I wouldn't be using the auto setup program anyway.

Ive looked at DDwrt before. How much difference can something like that make? Because the 2 linksys routers are compatible. Should I be concerned with finding a router that compatible with something like ddwrt or openwrt?

So far looking on pricewatch and searching for the router on the charts those are what Ive found so far, they seem to be the cheapest fastest ones, but in N, not G.

I guess honestly my internet connection is 6megs down, which actually averages about 5megs wired. So I guess all I really need is a router that can hit that consistently everywhere I want it to with some headroom, right? Id probably be fine with something that averaged 10-15 megs on wireless, right?

I'm wondering if I should just try and find a old wrt54 and use that, not that they are cheap by means though. Seemingly they're still going for 60 or 70 dollars. There's gotta be a reason for that though.
 
You raise a lot of good issues in your post. Let's see if I can address a few.

I don't test N routers in G mode because it would unnecessarily add work and yield little information. Top speed for G is in the 20 - 25 Mbps range and in around 10 Mbps with medium signal levels. Range is the same, since N routers switch down to using G (and even B) protocols under weak signal conditions.

As you've found, Gigabit switches do add heat load, which can cause problems.

Some folks swear by DD-WRT and other router alternative distros. I haven't played with them much.

Don't limit yourself to routers in our charts. We can't test everything.

For your 6 Mbps down, any router will handle that speed. You don't need a lot of margin, so a router providing 10 Mbps is fine.

Looking at Pricegrabber, I see a few candidates such as the Cisco/Linksys WRT54G2 for $22 refurb, WRT160N for $29 refurb.

If you're uncomfortable with ASUS, you might look at Trendnet, who have a larger presence in U.S. retail.

Just remember that unless you're buying refurb, cheaper products usually come from lesser-known 2nd / 3rd tier manufacturers. So don't expect much in the way of support or firmware updates.
 
Thanks that helps. Ill check pricegrabber, I was only looking on pricewatch before. I honestly think I may try and find a cheap wrt54 somewhere and go with that. I know they're stable and the have a good reputation. That is unless I find a smokin deal on an N router, but they're still running the draft aren't they?
 
The N spec was released in December. All "draft" routers were grandfathered into "released" N status.
 

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