Best wired router available for $150 or less

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Jeep4JB

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
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I'm trying to determine the most reliable wired broadband router available for less than $150. I basically do installs in high-end homes and have tried several different products and am curious what other people have experienced. I had someone recommend Snapgear but they do a lot more than what I need for the average user. Lately I've been using Zyxel routers as they seem quite stable.

I'm looking for a purely wired router as I'm using other wireless access points in the homes due to their size.

Thanks for your time!
 
Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
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Zyxel routers are very good as you already know, although frankly I've had exactly zero failures using D-Link for wired routers in home installations as long as they were out of harms way & this is out of about 200 installations... the only wired routers I've had problems with have been Linksys models which seem to die for no apparent reason.

This D-Link model is about the best wired router I've found for home use & has a built in GB switch:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833127060


If you really want to get into somthing better then the D-Link above, you'll need to spend closer to $300 for somthing like this Cisco, but it can be a bit of a hassle to configure:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833120011
 
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nweaver

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2001
6,813
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think a cisco 1720 on ebay with another WAN NIC (or router on a stick with dot1q switch) comes in under $100
 
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Jeep4JB

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
661
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I'm going to give one of the D-Link gaming routers a shot and see how it works out. I really like the Zyxel routers but they're not always readily available.
 
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Cloud Strife

Banned
Aug 12, 2006
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Do not get a D-Link gaming router. If you do, you're almost as guilty as the person who gets the "killer NIC" card.
 
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Jeep4JB

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
661
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Originally posted by: Cloud Strife
Do not get a D-Link gaming router. If you do, you're almost as guilty as the person who gets the "killer NIC" card.
Click to expand...

Why's that?

 
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Cloud Strife

Banned
Aug 12, 2006
475
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Originally posted by: Jeep4JB
Originally posted by: Cloud Strife
Do not get a D-Link gaming router. If you do, you're almost as guilty as the person who gets the "killer NIC" card.
Click to expand...

Why's that?
Click to expand...

Basically anything that has a "gaming" label is a gimmick.

You're probably looking at this model.

Optimized Gaming Experience with GameFuel Technology; Up to 108Mbps 802.11g Wireless Connectivity;
4 Gigabit Ethernet Ports; Customizable Settings for Games and Applications
Click to expand...

LOL, just another term fo QOS (Quality of Service).
 
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Jeep4JB

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
661
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I know it's just QOS but I'm trying to find a router that's very stable and has little to no issues. I've dealt with too many routers that about one a month or so decide they won't hand out an IP address or just lock up for whatever reason. I'm hoping to get something I can simply plug in and let run. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned they've had no issues with D-Link's gaming router.

I'm using separate wireless access points so I simply want the best wired router out there under $150.

What do you think that is?
 
Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
Originally posted by: Cloud Strife
Do not get a D-Link gaming router. If you do, you're almost as guilty as the person who gets the "killer NIC" card.
Click to expand...

I'll tell you what, these routers may not be any faster for online gaming, but as I said they do have a built in gb switch & theres no question that will boost LAN gaming speeds quite a bit over 10/100 like most routers have. I've installed the wired version of the gaming router specifically at least 30 times & had zero problems ... in fairness though, the same can be said of the lowly $29 ($19 after rebate) model DI-604 which I've used much more often!
 
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Madwand1

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2006
3,309
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Originally posted by: Cloud Strife
Basically anything that has a "gaming" label is a gimmick.
Click to expand...

That's marketing. If you use it to negatively judge the product, you're not much better than those who use it to positively judge the product. It is a good router, though likely a bit overpriced (esp. when you can often get the wireless version at the same price).

If you're really concerned about the gaming label, which is understandable in some cases -- it says "Gamer Lounge" right on the device -- you can buy the version that D-Link sells in a dull grey packaging. It's more or less the same thing (a bit more likely -- two antennae and a print server thrown in), and it's called an "Office Router", with QoS! Ha ha.

Guess they had so much success with the "gaming" marketing that they decided to give the "office" marketing a shot too. There are a couple of other variations on this from D-Link, but just a couple which throw in the GbE switch (which performs well BTW, as a non-JF, unmanaged switch).

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=493
 
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sumyungai

Senior member
Dec 28, 2005
344
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I've had the same bad experience with Linksys, but what's odd is that Linksys is the same company that makes these great cisco routers. Anybody know whats going on here?

In my experience, Netgear seem to be much more stable than Linksys that dies on me after 8 months or so, and D-link would die on me after 4 months for no reason. Right now I'm using an old PC as a router but this may not be feasible in your situation.
 
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spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: sumyungai
I've had the same bad experience with Linksys, but what's odd is that Linksys is the same company that makes these great cisco routers. Anybody know whats going on here?
Click to expand...

Quick comment...

Cisco Systems bought Linksys a few years ago. They did so because of the explosion in home networking and it was a market they didn't target, Enterprise and Service Provider are 99% of their customers.

When i talk inside stuff with Cisco - to them, linksys isn't really integrated with them. It's just a subsiderary.

they also bought Scientific Atlanta, the second set top box player after motorola.

It is Cisco's goal to own the communications infrastructure - from core, to distribution, to edge, to the home. Let's not forget storage, wireless, IP voice/video, etc.
 
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kldang

Senior member
Aug 24, 2005
232
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I used to live in Irvine, CA where the Linksys headquater based. I interviewed with them once and hoped to get a development position. They told me that they didn't have any DESIGN engineer in US. All designs and manufacturings were outsourced to in Asia such as Taiwan and China!! They were only hiring some product and QA engineers. You just can't link linksys products with Cisco's. Their products are designed by totally different people. I really have doubts on Linksys products ......



Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: sumyungai
I've had the same bad experience with Linksys, but what's odd is that Linksys is the same company that makes these great cisco routers. Anybody know whats going on here?
Click to expand...

Quick comment...

Cisco Systems bought Linksys a few years ago. They did so because of the explosion in home networking and it was a market they didn't target, Enterprise and Service Provider are 99% of their customers.

When i talk inside stuff with Cisco - to them, linksys isn't really integrated with them. It's just a subsiderary.

they also bought Scientific Atlanta, the second set top box player after motorola.

It is Cisco's goal to own the communications infrastructure - from core, to distribution, to edge, to the home. Let's not forget storage, wireless, IP voice/video, etc.
Click to expand...

 
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Jeep4JB

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
661
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0
Has anyone had any experience with the RV line of routers from Linksys like the RVS4000?

Your input is appreciated!
 
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Madwand1

Diamond Member
Jan 23, 2006
3,309
0
76
Originally posted by: Jeep4JB
Has anyone had any experience with the RV line of routers from Linksys like the RVS4000?
Click to expand...

Good question :)

The RV line is popular with some installers, and tends to go into SOHO/SMB type installations with the emphasis on S. Most of their experience is with older products such as the RV082.

So far, I'm still a big fan of their RV082 and RV016 products. However...the 082 model creeps above 200 bucks on average. For my business clients...I usually run that..
Click to expand...

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029700294&postcount=63

But, sorry to say, there are some problems reported with the RVS4000.

The only issues I have run into are that over the last week, the router has inexplicably locked up 3 times. It will not respond to pings on either the LAN or WAN addresses, although the lights are still blinking. A power cycle fixes it. This is, of course, not acceptable.
Click to expand...

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,16635200~mode=flat

I don't know if this is a one (or two)-off thing, or Linksys screwing up again. I've never seen this with my DGL-4300, but of course saw this with various WRT's in the past.

 
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Jeep4JB

Senior member
Mar 4, 2002
661
0
0
I've often found that Linksys routers run more smoothly out of the box then after firmware upgrades. I just wish someone could make a router that would simply run and run but wasn't the price of a Cisco!
 
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Oxides

Member
Sep 7, 2003
194
1
81
I have tried a few different non-commercial routers (linksys, dlink, netgear, zyxel) and none of them were able to handle p2p (emule, bittorent, etc) reliably. They would either lockup eventually or cause all internet access to be sluggish.

I finally installed a lynux router (smoothwall) on an old box (p3 with 128m) and all my problems went away.
 
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vorgusa

Senior member
Apr 5, 2005
244
0
0
I have been using a RV082 and got an RV042 for my parents house that have a huge network like you are talking about.. we have not had any problems at all. since they have been around for a while they have worked out a lot of bugs and I have been able to get a lot of connections with torrent software without any problems.
 
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