Need expert advice purchasing router!

[djkilla]

There's a lot or wireless routers to choose from and I need expert, reliable advice from someone who has experience in selecting a wireless router that fits my needs.

I have 2 laptops (wireless g) and my main computer (wired using Windows 7 64bit). I also have a Linksys wireless bridge (WET610N) connected to my Sony blu-ray player. I'm currently using a Linksys WRT54G Ver. 4 and would like to get a wireless N router. I don't need 5ghz, NAS, etc., and I don't use VOIP. I just need a good fantastic wireless N router to connect my current two laptops, my desktop (wired) and my wireless bridge connected to my Blu-ray player. Thanks in advance for taking the time to help out!

By the way, I'm willing and ready to spend up to $250 for a quality wireless N router.

 

[Master Bob]

First off, I'm no expert, I've just been reading a lot as I am looking to upgrade my current wireless solution.

As it stands, you have a mixed network (two 802.11G clients and 1 802.11n client). This isn't very good as a mixed mode 802.11g/n network results in >50%+ loss in throughput when a g and n client are active simultaneously (see this). Given that the Blu-Ray player needs high throughput, you don't want to use a mixed mode network.

There's two simple ways for you to proceed:

1. Get a single band N router and use the WRT54G as a G access point.
2. Get a dual radio N router and have one radio be G(2.4GHZ) and the other N(5GHZ)

Considering this, have you read the articles on the site?
For example, How To Buy a Wireless Router: The Short Version?

How far a part is everything? Small apartment or huge house, 20,000sqft? Do you need N? Are you frequently transferring large files or streaming HD media?

 

[djkilla]

Well that's some of the best info I've gotten. Very helpful! The links also explained a lot and cleared up a few questions I had. After reading everything, I'll try to select what might be the right router for me but I'm definately open to suggestions. To help, I'm including some additional info:

2 laptops (wireless g) - Both will be used mainly just for regular internet surfing and no downloading (except for windows updates). The range will be up to 18 feet with an occasional max of 30 feet.

Linksys WET610N dual-band (10/100 auto-crossover (MDI/MDI-X) port) - Connected to my Blu-ray and used mainly for streaming HD movies from Netflix. Range is 10 feet.

Main computer (wired gigabyte 10/100/1000 port) - Used for HEAVY downloading. No uploading except when folding at home. Did I mention HEAVY downloading.

I've got a 20mbs cable connection from Bright House and plan on updating to their 40-50mbs connection.

 

[Master Bob]

2 laptops (wireless g) - Both will be used mainly just for regular internet surfing and no downloading (except for windows updates). The range will be up to 18 feet with an occasional max of 30 feet.

Linksys WET610N dual-band (10/100 auto-crossover (MDI/MDI-X) port) - Connected to my Blu-ray and used mainly for streaming HD movies from Netflix. Range is 10 feet.

Main computer (wired gigabyte 10/100/1000 port) - Used for HEAVY downloading. No uploading except when folding at home. Did I mention HEAVY downloading.

I've got a 20mbs cable connection from Bright House and plan on updating to their 40-50mbs connection.

Are any of distances through any walls? concrete walls?

Just about any competent N wireless router will be good enough for you. In terms of routing speed, you only need a 100MBit router. On the other hand, if you plan on staying at the peak of performance, getting a gigabit router would be be worthwhile in the long run once you get past a downlink of 100Mbits/s.

The ideal router would either be a single or dual-radio gigabit router.

I'll be back to this later. got to go.

 

[djkilla]

I've done some research on SmallNetBuilder and if I understand the info on selecting a router correctly, I've found the top two routers best for me. Both routers are dual-band and dual-radio and support jumbo frames which *I think* i need since I do heavy downloading on my main computer. Comments, opinions, suggestions, pros/cons are welcomed!

-NETGEAR RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router (WNDR3700)

-D-Link Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router Rev B1 (DIR-825)

The ONLY thing that would be connected using gigabyte is my main computer to the router. I don't think I have a need for gigabyte since the internet maxes out at 20mbs (40-50mbs in the future). So I selected the following router without gigabyte and without jumbo frames.

-Linksys Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Router (WRT400N)

 

[Styln]

If the only thing plugged in to the wireless router is the computer on the LAN side and the cable/dsl modem on the WAN side, then 100 Mb is fine. You don't need jumbo frame support, either, as there are no jumbo packets coming or going over either the WAN or WLAN.

All that said, for a few more dollars you can get them and have some future proofing. I'm still using a 5 year old DLINK DGL-4300 to front end a 15 node gigabit mostly wired home network. As you have seen, the g band is more than adequate for browsing. This old router supports bonded g (SuperG at 108 Mbps) which I used for HD video, much as you're doing, with great success.

All the routers you listed look good. I own both DLINK and NETGEAR wireless routers today and they both are good solid devices. I am partial to the DLINK, however, it's been the best router I've ever owned: rock solid 24/7 never needs rebooting reliable. Oh, it is generally better, performance wise, to buy separate b/g and n wireless routers. Obviously, there is added complexity and addition space in having two devices.

I always check the user ratings on newegg.com and amazon.com before buying computer/network gear just to make sure real world usage/interoperability/reliability/etc. are up to par.

Styln

PS Just saw you're using a linksys wireless bridge to stream netflix. In my experience, it's best to stay within the same brand to maximize wireless throughput and connectivity. This connection is really the only one that will be stressed in your system. So my advice would be to have linksys on both ends of the link.

 

[djkilla]

Thanks for the suggestions. I researched the three routers I posted earlier and I'll probably be buying the Linksys WRT400. I have one question about the router. Can I use one radio using 2.4ghz band for wireless N and the other radio using 2.4ghz band for just wireless b/g or do have to use one with 2.4ghz and the other using 5ghz? Any pros/cons to doing this?

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the suggestions. I researched the three routers I posted earlier and I'll probably be buying the Linksys WRT400. I have one question about the router. Can I use one radio using 2.4ghz band for wireless N and the other radio using 2.4ghz band for just wireless b/g or do have to use one with 2.4ghz and the other using 5ghz? Any pros/cons to doing this?

Dual band routers with two radios dedicate one radio to the 2.4 GHz band and the other to 5 GHz. So you can't do what you propose.