Help choosing the right router

[cricketislife]

I am looking to buy a new router to upgrade a really old router. I am looking for the following and will appreciate your help and advice:

1. Stable connection. My current router needs a manual restart everyday, sometime twice a day. Not even sure If I am using the most out of internet. I have comcast cable internet and a Motorola Surfboard 6120 modem.
2. Simultaneous connections for these wireless devices: 2 laptops (one old laptop with b/g card and one newer with Broadcom 4313 802.11b/g/n card), 2 Iphones and one webOS touchpad tablet. I am not sure which devices will use the N band but I want a N router to be set for additional devices that I may buy in the near future. Not sure if my current devices can utilize a dual-band router but it would nice to be future proof.
3. I will be doing a lot of video streaming and downloading. No gaming needed as yet but capability would be nice to have. I will like to hook up a LED TV to the network as well in the near future.
4. I want atleast one USB port to be able to connect an external HDD.
5. Connect one Vonage VOIP phone.
6. Capability to go to open source firmware (DD-WRT or Tomoato) for better QOS control

I went ahead and bought the Belkin N600 DB router for $60 as it sounded like a good deal but later realized that I cannot upgrade it to an open source firmware. Also, I haven't read much about this router on this forum. So I am most likely going to return it unless someone here convinces me not to.

The two names that keep popping up in forums is Netgear WNDR3700 and ASUS RT-N16 at $99 and $89 respectively at amazon. I would like to keep it under $100 and am open for suggestions.

Please recommend. Thanks in advance.

 

[cricketislife]

250+ views and no replies so far. I was hoping for a better response than that. Help please.

 

[thiggins]

250+ views and no replies so far. I was hoping for a better response than that. Help please.

There are so many of these requests that people get tired of answering them.

Look at the Popular Wireless page to see the routers that people are reading about and buying. Then check the compatibility page for the alternate firmware you are thinking of installing to be sure that your selection is supported.

Or go buy a NETGEAR WNDR3700 or WNDR4000 or Cisco Linksys E4200.

 

[cricketislife]

There are so many of these requests that people get tired of answering them.

Look at the Popular Wireless page to see the routers that people are reading about and buying. Then check the compatibility page for the alternate firmware you are thinking of installing to be sure that your selection is supported.

Or go buy a NETGEAR WNDR3700 or WNDR4000 or Cisco Linksys E4200.

Thanks for the reply. I had almost given up hope. I absolutely understand that it must be very boring to repeatedly answer similar questions. That is why I searched the forums and read a few threads, including the page you mentioned, that were close to my needs but were different in some way or the others.

Anyway, I wanted to get the best N router that $100 can get me today that will fulfill my requirements and last atleast 2-3 years till the next biggest thing comes around. I am still torn between the WNDR3700 and the ASUS RT-N16. I will really appreciate if you can advice.

 

[grillhead]

There are so many of these requests that people get tired of answering them.

Look at the Popular Wireless page to see the routers that people are reading about and buying. Then check the compatibility page for the alternate firmware you are thinking of installing to be sure that your selection is supported.

Or go buy a NETGEAR WNDR3700 or WNDR4000 or Cisco Linksys E4200.

The title of the sub-forum is "Wireless Buying Advice". That's why I along with many others have posted for advice here. Doesn't it make sense?

 

[rhombus]

The title of the sub-forum is "Wireless Buying Advice".

Sounded like great advice to me? That's as close as you'll get to an Editor's Choice round these parts

Seriously, I read your thread. You gave some great and detailed info, but there is nothing special about your requirements. So there's nothing to tailor any advice to. You've basically ended up asking what's the "best" wireless router under $100. And this is a question that just doesn't have an answer. Not for a lack of advice or help, but because you're getting the truth. This is what sensible, measured, real-world consumer advice looks like. There is no secret star product that anybody is hiding from you. And who is really going to have hands-on experience and testing of all the choices? Probably only one guy. And he's basically told you to take your pick. Which should at least tell you something.

Someone else advised narrowing your choice down to two or three models from different manufacturers at your price point, and then trying them out at home. Buying advice really doesn't get much better than that. Far from a never-ending cycle, you might have chosen one by this method by now.

It's clear you're not getting the answer(s) you want. I'm sorry about that, it must be frustrating. But what exactly is it you're asking? If you can phrase it in a simple question, then maybe you might get the help you want?

 

[cricketislife]

Looks like my thread has been hijacked by "grillhead" He is probably just venting out his frustration about no replies in my thread instead of his.

Anyhow, as per "rhombus" suggestions, here are my specific questions:
1. Do I need a dual-band router? Where/when am I going to need the 5GHz band?
2. I read the reviews about the WNDR3700v2 on SNB and according to the reviewer, the performance of the router degraded as compared to the v1 version. I had these two routers in my consideration list: ASUS RT-N16 and the WNDR3700v2. Should I also consider the E3200?

Thanks

 

[rhombus]

1. Do I need a dual-band router? Where/when am I going to need the 5GHz band?
2. I read the reviews about the WNDR3700v2 on SNB and according to the reviewer, the performance of the router degraded as compared to the v1 version. I had these two routers in my consideration list: ASUS RT-N16 and the WNDR3700v2. Should I also consider the E3200?

No, you don't need a dual-band router, not even for future-proofing, since any general device you get in the future is sure to work at 2.4Ghz. Some people however do have to seek refuge in the 5Ghz band due to overcrowding or interference at 2.4Ghz.

You may though want a concurrent dual-band router, but mainly because it is like having 2 access points in one, rather than because it is running in 5Ghz band (in fact, usually despite running in 5Ghz). Let's take an example which shows a couple of principles: wireless to your home theater room. Imagine you are streaming a stored movie from a wired connection (NAS or computer). If all your devices share the same 2.4Ghz radio, then you have to fight bandwidth with the laptops/phones browsing the internet, torrenting, skyping etc and they have to fight with you. With concurrent dual-band though, you can use 5Ghz exclusively for the home theater and avoid any contention. Now imagine you want to do something slightly different: stream a movie from one of the wireless laptops to the wireless home theater. With just 2.4Ghz, even if you put the laptop right next to the router, the speed to the home theater wireless-to-wireless is half that you got wired-to-wireless. But if you instead go 2.4Ghz to 5Ghz, the speed is not reduced in this way.

If you're not considering or can't buy the 3700v1, then why ask about it. It was only concluded better at 5Ghz, and even then, when the same laptop was used, this wasnt by a big margin or a convincing sweep. Don't be fooled by charts and numbers and test methods: wireless is not an easy thing to pin down, and these are broadly in the same league. If you are worried about these small differences, you must test in your environment and with your equipment. By the way, I think you may even get a v3 (totally different insides) by now unless the version is specified by the retailer.

 

[cricketislife]

Thanks for clarifying the two points. I will go for a simultaneous dual-band router for the reasons you mentioned and have pretty much decided upon the 3700v2. Thanks again for your help.