Travel Technology - Best Wireless Router Under $120

I've read through all the CNET reviews, and every single one seems to suck.

So...that begs the question.

I'm currently outfitting a studio apt for a friend.

So the required range is obviously very small.

But this is NYC, so we'd like something with a good signal.

The plan is to use her MacBook wirelessly and Ethernet her Tivo box straight into the router.

So, in this scenario, which router would you go with, sticking to a max budget of $120?

They're all the same at that level. They'll work fine and probably eventually die and then you spend another $50-80 and replace it. I like the Linksys WRT54G2 and it seems to be no better or worse than any other.

CNET, what doesn't suck according to their reviews?

The real reason I replied is your $120 price. If you need the latest and greatest Dual N 'Giga range' with mini-billboard sized antennae, then $120 is about right.

If you do not need the G band, just a plain wireless router with 4 10/100 ports, you can get something in the $40-50 range. Even Walmart carries the higher end models these days, and anything on their website they ship no-cost to the store-front of your choice. Examples: http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_constraint=0&ic=48_0&search_query=wireless+router&Find.x=0&Find.y=0&Find=Find

Uch...that's what I figured from my own experience, but it's still aggravating that there's no single perfect router. Thanks, guys.

My needs were similar to your friend's. A Mac (actually two), and a Tivo. Early on, I had a D-Link router and it made me crazy. If it lost power it had to be reprogrammed through a web page on the network. And to Mac people, a lot of the terms are confusing. Finally, it bit the dust and I got an Airport. The beauty of it is just how easy it is to set up. It'll save you from getting calls in the middle of the night from your friend asking for tech support. And it's $99.

The Linksys WRT54GL running Tomato firmware is about as perfect as you can get in a consumer router.

Absolutely not the best, but at these prices, who cares.

A decent enough wireless router, plus USB wireless adapter, refurbs, $18 for both. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&ItemList=Combo.199827)

Absolutely not the best, but at these prices, who cares.
A decent enough wireless router, plus USB wireless adapter, refurbs, $18 for both. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&ItemList=Combo.199827)

I picked this Netgear router up a couple years ago (more or less) on WOOT, and haven't had a minute's problem. Works in my two-story bungalow with my PC, 2 laptops, netbook, Slingbox and iPod Touch. Very easy set-up, too - much easier than my old Linksys.

+1 on the Linksys recommendations. I have installed several for myself, friends, and family and have never had a problem. Very easy to setup and rock solid once it is in place. I'm sure you could spends lots of time and effort on this issue, but for a small space and limited connected PC's, I wouldn't worry about it.

Just picked up the Dlink DIR-615 from Fry's for $39.99 and it works great, seems to be fast and stable. Also on Amazon for the same price.

Standards move so fast in this area that it will only be relevent for a couple of years anyway.

- Tim

I'd pick up any Linksys N-draft wireless router on sale in that price range, and then flash the bios with DD-WRT or Tomato. The open source firmware does help a lot, and in that regard Linksys routers are cheapest and friendliest. I picked up a refurb Linksys 150NT or something, flashed it with DD-WRT and has been up and running ever since.

I need the speed of 802.11n so got the WRT400N Linksys. It's fantastic.

For only 802.11b/g, the WRT54 is fantastic as noted above. Buffalo also makes a DD-WRT ready router that's nice too. NewEgg conveniently lists compatibility for 3rd party firmwares.

Reviews here are great: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/blogcategory/75/96/10/20/

I vote for Buffalo routers.

MisterNice

Since OP is in NYC, then a dual band 11n router/access point is preferred.

5.8Ghz band is just much better than 2.4Ghz due to overcrowding and interference. Within our office building, I can count 15-20 access points at any time. At home I only count 3-4 APs and finding an available channel is no problem.

Wow, wasting money on an expensive router is not smart.

I'd recommend a cheap ~$15 - $19 Airlink AR430W router from Fry's Electronics. Cheap, runs DD-WRT if needed, and is rock solid.

She could choose to burn the other $100 in the fireplace if she really needs to get rid of that much money.

Just picked up the Dlink DIR-615 from Fry's for $39.99 and it works great, seems to be fast and stable. Also on Amazon for the same price.

Standards move so fast in this area that it will only be relevent for a couple of years anyway.

- Tim

Actually standards don't change much, because broadband bandwidth hasn't changed much over the last decade.

801.11g will be good for a long time. Only if someone needs to do heavy file transfers should they consider 802.11n. Most people don't. Even I am fine with 802.11g, because I find 802.11n is still not fast enough for file transfer. I prefer gigabyte ethernet for my bulk file transfers.

Since OP is in NYC, then a dual band 11n router/access point is preferred.


Only if the other hardware has a dual band radio. Otherwise it is a waste of money since the OP is still going to be using the 2.4GHz range and stuck in that crowded space.

I can see 13 networks from my apartment right now and I have no interference issues in the 2.4GHz range. I really don't see that as being at all necessary.

I need the speed of 802.11n so got the WRT400N Linksys. It's fantastic.

For only 802.11b/g, the WRT54 is fantastic as noted above. Buffalo also makes a DD-WRT ready router that's nice too. NewEgg conveniently lists compatibility for 3rd party firmwares.

Reviews here are great: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/blogcategory/75/96/10/20/

I ended up getting the 310 since the 400 was out of my price range (it's not for me, after all). I plan to put the most up-to-date firmware on it, and we'll see how it goes.

I have good experience with D-link routers. Pretty good signal and a little cheaper than Linksys too.

Another vote for the Linksys WRT54GL with Tomato 1.25 firmware. But, if you are going to be supporting this friend, you might be best to get them an apple airport and be done with it.

Another vote for the Linksys WRT54GL with Tomato 1.25 firmware. But, if you are going to be supporting this friend, you might be best to get them an apple airport and be done with it.

^^^ (unless this is a 'special' friend and you want them calling you in the middle of the night.)

Actually standards don't change much, because broadband bandwidth hasn't changed much over the last decade.

801.11g will be good for a long time. Only if someone needs to do heavy file transfers should they consider 802.11n. Most people don't. Even I am fine with 802.11g, because I find 802.11n is still not fast enough for file transfer. I prefer gigabyte ethernet for my bulk file transfers.

N-Draft is a must if you think about streaming high definition videos. I tried streaming home made 1440x1080i MPEG2 file from a file server and it could not run smoothly. Provided these where 15-25mbps video files and most online high def casts are much less, but still, it could not work from a new Lenovo with G only.

IMHO - the biggest difference in reliability, stability, and availability has been by upgrading to DD-WRT (or Tomato) on a Linksys. I would not even consider a non-open source firmware supported router at all.

N-Draft is a must if you think about streaming high definition videos. I tried streaming home made 1440x1080i MPEG2 file from a file server and it could not run smoothly. Provided these where 15-25mbps video files and most online high def casts are much less, but still, it could not work from a new Lenovo with G only........

I never had a home broadband connection putting out 15-25 mbps consistently.

MisterNice

Another vote for the Linksys WRT54GL with Tomato 1.25 firmware. But, if you are going to be supporting this friend, you might be best to get them an apple airport and be done with it.

My Airport froze constantly when I used it as my main router.

Tomato/DD-WRT are rock-solid.

If you need to worry about remote support, activate the built in ssh daemon and you can always remotely manage.

I never had a home broadband connection putting out 15-25 mbps consistently.

MisterNice

It's the one thing I miss about living in New York: Time Warner's lightning fast cable modem service, which did give me a consistent 30 Mb/s down and 15 up.

I never had a home broadband connection putting out 15-25 mbps consistently.

MisterNiceSure, but I do have a media center server at home that I can stream from so having higher bandwidth there is reasonable. @:-)

I never had a home broadband connection putting out 15-25 mbps consistently.

MisterNice

This is the video rate at which unedited HDV MPEG2 MTS files are played back at. I am not sure how it corresponds to the data bandwidth.

OP Check out:

Asus WL-520gU (http://slickdeals.net/?sdtid=1403771&u2=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320023&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL061609&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL061609-_-NetworkWirelessRouters-_-LP2A-_-33320023)

or

Netgear WNR834B (http://http://slickdeals.net/?pno=21751&lno=3&afsrc=1)

So I got it yesterday. And broke it within five minutes.

That's right, I'm a moron.

I managed to put the wrong firmware on the device. Only partially my fault, I promise.

It's already been returned and replaced with a WRT400N for only $10 more. Will report back.

My Airport froze constantly when I used it as my main router.

Tomato/DD-WRT are rock-solid.

If you need to worry about remote support, activate the built in ssh daemon and you can always remotely manage.

That's because there are too much heat buildup in a single box. I spread the functions into different boxes and they never crash:

DSL modem: public IP address, DNS address holder (carrier is then responsible for all items they are responsible for).
Main router: DHCP server, gateway, VoIP functions
Wireless Access Point: wireless router with everything else turned off.
Gigabit switch: backbone of main network

I changed the wireless AP almost every year as the technology changed. I had a Pre-N MIMO, then 11n, then 11n with gigabit ethernet interface. Everything was purchased opportunistically thus very low cost.

Actually standards don't change much, because broadband bandwidth hasn't changed much over the last decade.
...

Really? 11a, 11b, 11g, super g, Pre-N MIMO, 11n draft all within ten years. Bandwidth as defined by FCC have not changed that's true. The technology used had changed from DSSS for 11b to OFDM for 11g/11n and improved transfer rate a lot. My Pre-N MIMO AP from three years ago had gone back in the box it came with already.

...
I can see 13 networks from my apartment right now and I have no interference issues in the 2.4GHz range. I really don't see that as being at all necessary.

How do you know you have no interference issues? Was it network latency or wireless packets lost and retry?

I am using 2.4Ghz N-draft with 40Mhz wide bandwidth. Then I am in the suburbs and selected a channel my neighbors are not using.

Actually standards don't change much, because broadband bandwidth hasn't changed much over the last decade.

801.11g will be good for a long time. Only if someone needs to do heavy file transfers should they consider 802.11n. Most people don't. Even I am fine with 802.11g, because I find 802.11n is still not fast enough for file transfer. I prefer gigabyte ethernet for my bulk file transfers.

This only really applies if you are talking about local file transfers on the network within the house, or apartment in the OP's case. Remember that anything you place as the terminus of the WAN connection (DSL, Fiber, whatever) is going to be oversubscribed from the beginning, unless you are connecting an 11Mbps wireless router on a 12Mbps or higher ISP connection. Any modern router, wired or wireless, is going to be permitting more bandwidth on the internal segments than the external segment is capable of provisioning.

Personally, I have used Linksys devices when I controlled the WAP in my homes (I use the FiOS router for it right now, which is an Actiontec). I also carry the small Airport with me when I travel (love the small size and ease of use).

I think the the protocol, 802.11 B, G or N, CAN make a differenace on WAN download performance on a mixed network with more than one user or even just with a decent sized pipe.

Each protocol includes quite a bit of overhead, so not all the spectrum and bandwidth is actually available for data transfer. When using a B network compared to a G network, I certainly can see better performance just downloading files to the LAN (I think the B performance pretty much tops out at 3-4MB), and when there are two-three of us in the home using the network (I only have a 10mb pipe here) I don't see any degradation of performance on G and certainly not using N now, which I DID see with the B routers

But yes, on the LAN is where one will see the best performance using a newer protocol for file transfer speeds.

How do you know you have no interference issues? Was it network latency or wireless packets lost and retry?

Because I am not suffering from packet loss, latency or other performance issues.

I'm sure that there are some retries going on in the ether but not enough to matter in my overall performance.

When we used 2.4Ghz house phone, I certainly can see transfer rate drop when someone is on the phone. Our solution was changing the phones to DECT and still used 2.4Ghz WiFi. But then we are in the suburbs and my neighbor's 2.4Ghz phones are pretty far away. They use the same Siemens phones we used to have.

2.4Ghz channel spacing is only 5.5Mhz and 11n draft 40Mhz bandwidth would span almost 4 channels to the left and to the right. That is why many router companies only offer 20Mhz bandwidth. One can only hope their neighbors don't upgrade to 11n draft equipment.

In a crowded urban signal spectrum and buying new equipment, 5.8Ghz is still much better as one has little control over what one's neighbors use.

When we used 2.4Ghz house phone, I certainly can see transfer rate drop when someone is on the phone. Our solution was changing the phones to DECT and still used 2.4Ghz WiFi. But then we are in the suburbs and my neighbor's 2.4Ghz phones are pretty far away. They use the same Siemens phones we used to have.

2.4Ghz channel spacing is only 5.5Mhz and 11n draft 40Mhz bandwidth would span almost 4 channels to the left and to the right. That is why many router companies only offer 20Mhz bandwidth. One can only hope their neighbors don't upgrade to 11n draft equipment.

In a crowded urban signal spectrum and buying new equipment, 5.8Ghz is still much better as one has little control over what one's neighbors use.

I purposefully didn't get a 2.4GHz phone because of that; I'm still using a 900MHz and am quite happy with it. And there are a whole bunch of phones in the 5.8GHz range, too.

The systems are designed to handle the interference and work around it in most cases. And there are really only three channels worth using in the B/G spectrum anyways because of the overlap. And, as noted before, buying a router that works in the 5.8GHz range would mean buying new client ahrdware, too. Unless you're willing to invest in both the router and the client the expense almost certainly outweighs the potential benefits you'd get from the currently less crowded spectrum.

Yes, it goes without saying that a 11abgn adapter will be needed.

About half of my PCs can do 11a or 11n. Less than $400 laptop seems to be still equipped with 11bg but $500 laptops are now shipping with 11abgn cards.

The laptop I am typing on has an Atheros AR5008 abgn miniPCI card purchased for about $40, replacing an 11bg card in it before. My work laptop has a similar mini PCI-Express card in it.

So having an 11abgn client card is not a big deal today.

So having an 11abgn client card is not a big deal today.For the OP with a MacBook and a Tivo I'd say that it is more of a big deal than you're suggesting. ;)

And I still do not believe it is worth even the minimal $40 up-charge to get to that point.

the nice thing about A, is that nobody really uses it, so in a mixed environment the signal can be pretty clean.

I think it is dying though, which means support and clients will be harder to find for it.

For the OP with a MacBook and a Tivo I'd say that it is more of a big deal than you're suggesting. ;)

....

Tivo will be on ethernet. MacBook will be hard due to cost or setup?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400053185723

Not quite sure this MacBook is new enough to have a mini PCI-Express slot but USB dongle should work too. I have Cardbus and USB 11n NICs.

the nice thing about A, is that nobody really uses it, so in a mixed environment the signal can be pretty clean.

I think it is dying though, which means support and clients will be harder to find for it.

Most dual band 11n support 11a also, same 5.8Ghz band and OFDM modulation but with channel bonding, encryption and other newer features. So 11a is benefiting from the newer wave of 11n dual band equipment. My 11a Access Point broke a long time ago but I still have a few client cards.

My Airport froze constantly when I used it as my main router.

Tomato/DD-WRT are rock-solid.

If you need to worry about remote support, activate the built in ssh daemon and you can always remotely manage.

Bump on this thread.

My netgear router is dying, don't really need wireless-n for our townhouse in a suburban area and even though we are predominantly Macs, buying airport station kind of pricey.

We used linksys as our first router eons ago and will go back to Linksys WRT54GL. In reading this thread, etc. note people recommend upgrading to above firmware. But in reading wikipedia, they indicate it's either tomato or dd-wrt? Is that true?

And is it hard (I haven't read or found it yet) to upgrade to the firmware?

Bump on this thread.

My netgear router is dying, don't really need wireless-n for our townhouse in a suburban area and even though we are predominantly Macs, buying airport station kind of pricey.

We used linksys as our first router eons ago and will go back to Linksys WRT54GL. In reading this thread, etc. note people recommend upgrading to above firmware. But in reading wikipedia, they indicate it's either tomato or dd-wrt? Is that true?

And is it hard (I haven't read or found it yet) to upgrade to the firmware?

Upgrading linksys firmware is really simple - you just log in using the router's web page - there's ad admin tab, then a firmware upgrade tab.

I've found the linksys firmware sufficient for my needs and haven't done dd-wrt.

Also, some TMO stores still have a few WRT54G-TM routers - I picked up an extra one earlier this year for around $25 - am, but didn't have to be a TMO customer.

yes, it's one or the other. They are both open source firmware for routers.

With the WRT54GL model, it's usually one step to upgrade from the stock firmware to DD-WRT standard version, but it's been a while since I've done it. With other models, it can sometimes be a two-step task to get to the standard fw, or one-step to load up a mini or micro version of the fw. It was very easy to upgrade when I did it some time ago.

-David

MB and LIH - thanks for the info. I'm watching/bidding on ebay a couple of them that have been already upgraded to dd-wrt.

I have used both on open source routers, tomato and DD-WRT. I prefer the tomato for a slightly easier configurability, but also use the DD-WRT on a netgear N router, and it does work fine.

Thanks again.

My bid (4th try!) landed LINKSYS WRT54G-TM / WRT54GL DD-WRT HEATSINK 32MB Memory for $38.50 plus $14.10 shipping. Amazed at price differences for this unit, anywhere from ~$45 to $80 on eBay.

Amazon was selling 'stock' model for $56 and free shipping...

Updating the GL to Tomato can be done by just flashing the router with the Tomato firmware from the router's firmware update page. No TFTP necessary.