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Anybody know of a router that actually works?

A

Archmagination

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 15, 2004
159
0
About 2 years ago I bought a D-Link 604 Router so I could stay connected to the internet with my computer and play online games with my PS2/Xbox/etc... I own a SB5100 SURFboard Cable Modem. I get max 550kbs down and 40kbs up.

Needless to say I quickly started having problems with it where it acted up and disconnected.. I couldn't get the connection to stay stable and it disconnected a lot when playing games online.. either PS2 or computer.. it didn't seem to matter. For awile I was be able to use my computer or ps2 online separately without it disconnnecting too much.. now I can't even do that.. it disconnects immediatly.. the second I even try loading a webpage.

I need a stable router(it doesn't need to have a Firewall) that will allow me to use Bittorrent(Need it for my anime fix) without disconnecting me and forcing me to reboot any of my systems.. Does anybody have any reccomendations?
 
I use an old Belkin 802.11 B wireless router that works pretty well. You could probably pick up the updated version (802.11 G) for around 50 bucks.
 
I have a netgear and it's the worse router I have owned. It's the netgear rangemax wpn824 and it was disconnecting on a daily basis, I had to power cycle before it would load back up. I'm back to using my old linksys wireless g with speedbooster (year and a half old). I'd stick with Linksys or Belkin, Belkin's pre n comes with a life time warranty! ;)

I was looking for something to extend my wireless range as my linksys only gives 60 feet and I need 75. netgear did not make it past 60 as well. I have very poor wireless signels in my area so this is why. I have tested my linksys in north carolina and it works over 100 feet.
 
Archmagination said:
I need a stable router(it doesn't need to have a Firewall) that will allow me to use Bittorrent(Need it for my anime fix) without disconnecting me and forcing me to reboot any of my systems.. Does anybody have any reccomendations?
Click to expand...

I've always liked LinkSys routers, and the new ones are very stable and have lots of features.
 
Linksys WRT54g I think it has locked up on me once in the two years I've had it and it's been running. Awesome machine.
 
I use a D-Link 624 router and have never had ANY problems with it.
I get a great signal and it does just fine. Maybe your router's gone out.
I've had to replace mine once.
 
the problem could be with your cable provider. i had a ripped cable that was partially buried in my neighbors yard going to the junction box from my house which cause that same problem. also my router wasn't registered the cable companny which knocked me off every 2 hours. (most cables companies don't do that anymore, but call and make sure)


you need to verify weather or the problem will replicate without the router. also, each network is different so that router with that particular firmware may have problems on your isp's network. a simply firmware upgrade might solve the problem. i have a problem with half life 2 and disconnects in the middle of a game. it turns out i had to downgrade the firmware on my router because the newest revision had a problem. in other words, it could be an issue with just the ps2, firmware, etc.
 
pianoman181.. the LINKSYS WRT54G actually was one I was seriously considering and I almost bought, but when I went on newegg to look at the review I found some interesting things: 1)Most of the bad reviews that its receiving were from 2005 and they were of the same type of problems I had with the Dlink... then I found this review that explained it and unfortunatly made me unable to buy this router:

the Linksys WRT54G is, as far as I can tell, exclusively available as version 5. This version has 1/2 of the RAM and is NOT Linux based as previous versions were. There is no way to tell the version without looking at the bottom of the router, so you are ordering it at your own risk.
Click to expand...

Does anybody know how well the the ASUS routers work?

ASUS WL-520g IEEE 802.11, 802.11b/g 125 High Speed Mode Wireless Router seems to be within the same price range of the WRT54G and has good reviews, but I don't think there is enough reviews(only 7)is good enough so I am hoping somebody knows how well this works.
 
My Belkin Router Seems to be working perfectly.

I bought it 6 months ago, and its NEVER been turned off since the day i purchased/installed it and its been working flawlessly ever since.
 
I avoid D-Link like the black plague....


I like Netgear stuff, and currently I have a Linksys WRT54GL (With 3rd party firmware) which I like quite well....
 
Archmagination said:
pianoman181.. the LINKSYS WRT54G actually was one I was seriously considering and I almost bought, but when I went on newegg to look at the review I found some interesting things: 1)Most of the bad reviews that its receiving were from 2005 and they were of the same type of problems I had with the Dlink... then I found this review that explained it and unfortunatly made me unable to buy this router:



Does anybody know how well the the ASUS routers work?

ASUS WL-520g IEEE 802.11, 802.11b/g 125 High Speed Mode Wireless Router seems to be within the same price range of the WRT54G and has good reviews, but I don't think there is enough reviews(only 7)is good enough so I am hoping somebody knows how well this works.
Click to expand...

The WRT54GL (notice the L) version is like the old version of the WRT54G....the L stands for Linux apparently...which is what the old ones ran on, and what this version runs on. So if you want the 3rd party firmware, get the GL.
 
My $10 Belkin router has months of uptime. It only dies when the power goes out during storms but it kicks back in just fine afterward. No outages yet. :D
 
Okay can anyone here give me more info? Like when you recommend a router can say something like: Used Bittorrent with it and no dropped connections/resets... Played games with it(WOW, Unreal Tournament, etc).. no dropped connections, etc. Its kinda hard to know if the router is what I am looking for if there isn't enough info?
 
Archmagination said:
Okay can anyone here give me more info? Like when you recommend a router can say something like: Used Bittorrent with it and no dropped connections/resets... Played games with it(WOW, Unreal Tournament, etc).. no dropped connections, etc. Its kinda hard to know if the router is what I am looking for if there isn't enough info?
Click to expand...
Yeah for gaming and BT you just have to open ports in your router and forward them to your machine. It's especially important for Skype and BitTorrent DHT.
 
Archmagination said:
Okay can anyone here give me more info? Like when you recommend a router can say something like: Used Bittorrent with it and no dropped connections/resets... Played games with it(WOW, Unreal Tournament, etc).. no dropped connections, etc. Its kinda hard to know if the router is what I am looking for if there isn't enough info?
Click to expand...

Using a Linksys WRT54GS (old model) which is identical to the current WRT54GL. Never had to reboot this router except for firmware upgrades. At one point I had 8 months uptime for the router.

Never had any problems with Bittorrent or games such as Unreal, Americas Army, Close Combat.

From what you are describing, it sounds like a problem with your cable service. If your broadband connection isn't stable there isn't anything a router can do about it.
 
I have a WRT54G (the new one with VxWorks not linux). It sucks, it needs a hard reboot almost every night, the wireless craps out frequently. It used to completely slow down my internet from 6Mbp/s to 300Kbp/s although a firmware update fixed that. Nevertheless it sucks for me. If you want to get a Linksys get a WRT54GL, its essentially the old routers that they used to sell that support linux, which is why all the old reviews of this router are so good, but newer reviews are the contrary.
 
Archmagination said:
About 2 years ago I bought a D-Link 604 Router so I could stay connected to the internet with my computer and play online games with my PS2/Xbox/etc... I own a SB5100 SURFboard Cable Modem. I get max 550kbs down and 40kbs up.

Needless to say I quickly started having problems with it where it acted up and disconnected.. I couldn't get the connection to stay stable and it disconnected a lot when playing games online.. either PS2 or computer.. it didn't seem to matter. For awile I was be able to use my computer or ps2 online separately without it disconnnecting too much.. now I can't even do that.. it disconnects immediatly.. the second I even try loading a webpage.

I need a stable router(it doesn't need to have a Firewall) that will allow me to use Bittorrent(Need it for my anime fix) without disconnecting me and forcing me to reboot any of my systems.. Does anybody have any reccomendations?
Click to expand...

Theres router settings that might be set wrong. Turn on Gaming mode.

I am connected to a D-Link 604 router 80 feet away from me on the other end of the house. I am actually connected to a hub, which is connected to the wall, which is connected to the other wall, which is connected to the D-Link Router.

Flawless. I'm sure whatever problems you have can be fixed.
 
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