D-Link DIR-655 Gigabit Router vs. Asus RT-N16 (Tomato) Gigabit Router

[WhoIsThat]

I have had the DIR-655 for two years now. I have NEVER had to reboot it. The only time it was ever rebooted was about 10 months ago when I had to move it to a different location so had to unplug it (which of course meant it was rebooted and uptime reset). My uptime info in this D-Link DIR-655 was like 300 days or something.

Recently I have taken an interest in the all popular Asus RT-N16, which has a faster processor, more flash memory, and more RAM. If I ever get it, the plan is to run Tomato on it.

I don't know how much faster you can go comparing to the DIR-655. DIR-655 (A4, Firmware 1.21, which is extremely stable) is very popular as well.

Having been to a few friends' places and tested a few things, I realized that the primary router's ability actually makes a difference to your Internet speed (especially if you have a crappy router).

My question is, if the DIR-655 has all the configuration features I need (including port forwarding, virtual server...)...
- Will I see any speed increase with Asus RT-N16?
- Will the stability remain the same (which is insanely stable thus far with DIR-655) with Asus RT-N16?

My network is not overly complicated, but I do have a wireless bridge, about 7 computers (some wired, some wireless), TiVo, Xbox 360, and some port forwarding and translation, static DHCP, and stuff set up.

I figure there are a lot of SNBers who own DIR-655 as well as many who love their Asus RT-N16...

Thank you for your insight!

 

[stevech]

If your internet service provider's offered speed is 20Mbps or less, I doubt that any router model in the last 2-3 years will constrain the speeds attained by PCs connected by cat5/wire to the router.

For PCs using WiFi, the question is (1) Do these NEED more than a few Mbps? and (2) can they exceed 802.11g's speeds which is at best 20Mbps or so net yield after all overhead with an ideal signal. This speed corresponds to a reported WiFi speed of almost double the net yield, due to overhead.

11n is nice, if your PCs can do it, and if the NEED is there. Otherwise, 11n is not necessarily beneficial, unless you move huge files via WiFi to a server or another PC that's on your own home LAN.

Streaming videos from the Internet via WiFi is a bit iffy with any form of WiFi where the signal strength isn't ideal, and with WiFi, you invariably compete for air time with neighbors' WiFi. But streaming video can work and 11n if your PC/laptop supports it, and if the distance is modest, and not too many walls/floors in the path, can be a benefit for such high speed things. We're talking about high quality video - not YouTube.

 

[thiggins]

Both the DIR-655 and RT-N16 support over > 100 Mbps routing speed. The RT-N16 is actually slower (140 Mbps vs. 250 Mbps according to the Router Charts.

If what you have is working, leave it alone. You are more likely to do harm than good by swapping routers.

 

[WhoIsThat]

Both the DIR-655 and RT-N16 support over > 100 Mbps routing speed. The RT-N16 is actually slower (140 Mbps vs. 250 Mbps according to the Router Charts.

If what you have is working, leave it alone. You are more likely to do harm than good by swapping routers.

I notice that and find the routing chart fascinating. Comparing the two routers...
D-Link DIR-655: 4MB Flash, 16MB RAM, 275MHz CPU
Asus RT-N16: 32MB Flash, 128MB RAM, 480MHz CPU

RT-N16's specs are far better (sure, the CPU is not one-to-one comparable, but the speed difference is significant regardless).

However, the routing chart shows that DIR-655 is faster in routing speed. That part isn't make much sense to me...

 

[thiggins]

It should make sense when you consider that hardware doesn't do anything without good software.

At any rate, the results are what they are.