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Router Success Stories w/ MBP

R

RichL

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2007
282
0
Chicago
Man, I feel like I post too much...ANYWAY.

In my home, I have a Linksys wired router. I've had countless problems with AIM disconnects every 10 minutes and Battlefield 2142 disconnects every 5 mins into a game. Apparently the fix is to change your TCP/UDP timeout settings and/or MTU settings but I can't change these on my router.

Another post in the "Perfect" MB thread sparked my question of, since I am going away to college to live in an apartment and need a wireless(or wired i guess) router, which do you suggest? Which have given you little to no problems? Reliability, signal strength, dropped signal, varietyof options and settings to tinker with? Oh, and good prices, too!

Edit: Forgot to mention the Airport thinggy. Consider that as well.

Thanks guys and gals,
-Rich L.
 
I don't think I've ever had a problem with a router, ever.

We use 6 Linksys WRT54G wireless routers in my house and they're perfect, I also use a D-Link model and a Dell Trumobile router frequently. All have no issues.

I had some issues when I went Netgear a while back, I would get dropped off the network at random every couple hours, not a huge deal because I'm rarely on that long - but it made it impossible to finish large downloads. I never bothered to fix it, just went Linksys.

Edit - I'm sure your problem is with incorrect MTU, and I guarantee that you can change them on your router. There is no router in existence that doesn't support such a basic config.
 
taylorwilsdon said:
Edit - I'm sure your problem is with incorrect MTU, and I guarantee that you can change them on your router. There is no router in existence that doesn't support such a basic config.
Click to expand...

I meant to clarify that I could adjust MTU but not TCP/UDP timeout settings. I put the MTU down to 1400 and 1350 and in between but it had no effect. I even adjusted the PC registry to make sure my PC itself was coordinated with the router...but my AIM still disconnects like everyone else I read about. @_@ so confused.

About wireless routers..Been researching and it seems 802.11n are still not perfected? If thats the case there is probably no point in buying a router that's 50 bucks more than a 802.11g router, right?
 
I have the non "n" MBP and did use a linksys wrt54g for a while. dead spots in my kitchen. Upgraded to Apple "N" extreme base station and I get full 5 or 4... the original core duo MBP didn't n right? cause I have no clue why I'm suddenly getting 5 bars.

just wanted to say the Apple router is great and well worth the money.
 
I use a belkin router and have not encountered a single problem or dropped connection on my Mac. My PC however is another story, I don't know why but whenever i start up an online game the connection starts dropping like mad
 
Netgear DG834PN. Never drops connection and I cannot even find a deadspot in my place. Also set up took two minutes. Couldn't be happier
 
I just picked up $180 worth of Airport Extreme Base Station from Comp USA yesterday, and I have to say its nice. My (SR) MBP automatically updated the firmware on it, and setting it up was simple. I'm using it just as an access point to my existing wired network, and it was just a matter of selecting "Bridge Mode" from a drop down menu.

The light keeps flashing amber, and giving me some warning about the internet connection, but everything works fine, so I'm not too inclined to try to fix it. No dropped connections yet at all.
 
That thing is 180!!! I thought it was 120 dollars for some reason but 180 is a tad much for a small college studio apartment ><.

I'm gonna keep researching routers on the internet and try to find if draft-n routers are worth it. Why would a draft-n even make a difference unless you send a massive amount of files on your LAN? I'm not running a small business so wouldn't a 802.11g router do just as well?
 
I've used a Linksys WRT54G for years. The thing is rock solid and I get great reception even in my 2br college apt. I expect you can get it for very cheap nowadays. If you're into messing around with it, I believe there are 3rd party drivers which will allow you to amp up the signal and a bunch of other hax0r goodies.

I've always broadcasted a mixed b/g signal because some of my friends who come over have b wireless. I *think* that means you never achieve full g speed.

One last note, if I want to move a large number of files (rarely), I go with ethernet cord. Its fast and efficient.
 
hhlee said:
I've used a Linksys WRT54G for years. The thing is rock solid and I get great reception even in my 2br college apt. I expect you can get it for very cheap nowadays. If you're into messing around with it, I believe there are 3rd party drivers which will allow you to amp up the signal and a bunch of other hax0r goodies.

I've always broadcasted a mixed b/g signal because some of my friends who come over have b wireless. I *think* that means you never achieve full g speed.

One last note, if I want to move a large number of files (rarely), I go with ethernet cord. Its fast and efficient.
Click to expand...

Sold! In between my last post and this one I read several forum threads about routers and 90% of the posts were in favor of the WRT54G router. Come to think of it, it's all I ever hear about on the internet. The current price is $50-$60 (half the airport eXpensive) and I am pleased. Thanks for your advice everyone!
 
If all you are after is a wireless router the Airport Extreme isn't worth it. But if you need networked storage that isn't dependent on a computer (I dual boot my desktop to Linux/Windows, so I can't rely on it for storage always) and/or network printing from a USB printer (I happen to need both), and you are also looking at an n router then it becomes worth it. At least that was how I rationalized it.
 
N is in draft right now, meaning that the standards can still change. It might not be a significant change, but one never knows.
Increasing the speed of the wireless is pointless, unless you do a lot of internal (LAN) transferring between computers. This can be from transferring files, streaming videos from a multimedia share point, etc. If you use it to connect to the internet, most typical connections to an ISP top out at around 1.5 MB/s (unless you are one of the lucky few who have faster connections), then wireless G would be fine.
From what I remember, the range increase only affects whether the receiver is also an N card.

Also, if you run in mixed mode, you will only run as fast as the slowest link to the router. So if everyone has G, it will run faster than B, but not at top speed. G-Only mode will help it run top speed. I believe that this is the same thing with N routers. But I haven't done my own personal speed benchmarking tests on this theory, but that is what I have read in other forums.
 
RichL said:
I meant to clarify that I could adjust MTU but not TCP/UDP timeout settings. I put the MTU down to 1400 and 1350 and in between but it had no effect. I even adjusted the PC registry to make sure my PC itself was coordinated with the router...but my AIM still disconnects like everyone else I read about. @_@ so confused.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't have to change the timeout settings. I doubt consumer level routers even give you the option to change this. I am assuming they are referring to the network address translation (NAT) timeouts. If there is traffic still going through the router, it won't time that connection out in the first place. Since you MTU changes had no effect, you can change them back to the defaults and let the router automatically adjust the TCP MSS (maximum segment size) on TCP (the majority of) connections if necessary (such as when using PPPoE). Sorry if I've confused you even more - the bottom line is, you shouldn't have to change any timeout or MTU settings to keep from being dropped!

RichL said:
About wireless routers..Been researching and it seems 802.11n are still not perfected? If thats the case there is probably no point in buying a router that's 50 bucks more than a 802.11g router, right?
Click to expand...

Right, unless there is a special feature the router happens to have in addition to 802.11n that you want.

If I were in the market for a new router/wireless combo, I would seriously consider the Apple one. It would be worth the price and you can get Apple's great support with it if you need it.
 
I had a WRT54G and it died after just over a year. Additionally it would always drop connections because the firmware was complete trash. I put DDWRT on there and it helped a little but I still had some problems. Got an Airport Extreme (n) a few weeks ago when the linksys died and it's been the best router I've ever used. Haven't had one dropped connection or anything. Plus wireless printing with bonjour is awesome and definitely worth it considering print servers alone can coast like 60 bucks.


Also, you can get a student discount on it. I believe its like 20 bucks off.
 
Draft N is basically done

If the huge number of draft N wifi cards cannot be upgraded via firmware or drivers then the current draft N is the de facto final draft.

I use a D-Link DGL-4300 G router at the moment and love it. It never skips a beat and it has GB ethernet. Most importantly it supports >1024 concurrent inbound connections, most consumer routers cap out at 256.

My previous G router was a Netgear 624. I'll never buy another Netgear.
 
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