Best wireless router?

[Atty]

Needs to connect two Macbook Pro's and an iMac wirelessly and then an Xbox 360 and Windows PC with a wired connection (preferably two or more wired ports for other devices if need be).

What I need is a router that is capable of handling high network usage, my current one (DGL 4300) likes to kill itself when any computer is running uTorrent. It also hates when any more then one wireless device is trying to connect (IE when friends are over with their laptops.)

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: iAtticus
Needs to connect two Macbook Pro's and an iMac wirelessly and then an Xbox 360 and Windows PC with a wired connection (preferably two or more wired ports for other devices if need be).

What I need is a router that is capable of handling high network usage, my current one (DGL 4300) likes to kill itself when any computer is running uTorrent. It also hates when any more then one wireless device is trying to connect (IE when friends are over with their laptops.)

At my house I have a Netgear RangeMax MIMO SuperG (Man, that was a mouthful) router that is wirelessly serving a 2 MacBooks, a Dell Latitude, and a PS3, and then my desktop is hooked up wired.

It can handle 2 MacBooks (wireless), 2 MacBook Pros (1 wired, 1 wireless), 2 Windows laptops (1 wired, 1 wireless), 2 desktops (wired), an iphone, an ipod touch, and finally the PS3 (had a whole bunch of people over for a lan).

My macbook and my desktop are always torrenting, but I limit the upload rate since I have found that it slows my internet connection (the same happens to all my friends with the same ISP).

I am incredibly fond of Netgear routers, never had one go wrong on me and have used 4 of them, but none have died, they were all either replaced for better performance, or were used at another person's house. I also have found that Netgears work very well with Macs, whereas I have had trouble in the past with Linksys routers and Macs. Dlink works pretty well, and never have been impressed with anyone else's offerings.

You can find it for $60-80 depending on the place. It is all white with a blue circle on top.

 

[jlazzaro]

Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 is all you need, forget the rest.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: jlazzaro
Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 is all you need, forget the rest.

2nd this, I have personally installed 30-40 of these units and they are all still working fine and have not had one person call up with problems with it yet

 

[geokilla]

Originally posted by: kevnich2

Originally posted by: jlazzaro
Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 is all you need, forget the rest.

2nd this, I have personally installed 30-40 of these units and they are all still working fine and have not had one person call up with problems with it yet

Get DD-WRT on it and call it a day.

 

[Atty]

Any that support wireless N?

 

[Atty]

Double post:

I'm looking at the WZR-HP-G300NH router, the Wireless N Spec one. Mainly becuase it supports wireless data storage with just hooking up a portable hard drive to it via USB, which would be very nice in our home.

Would that router be just as good as the other one previously suggested?

 

[Scarpozzi]

The fact that you're going for an Xbox 360 makes it the least common denominator, I believe.....what you need is a wireless G running WPA to be compatible if you have a stock 360 wireless adapter. For that, I recommend the WRT54G or anything else that will run DDWRT. From that, set it up for WPA Personal and you're set.

If you go N at this time, it's going to be overkill for a few years. N gives you range and speed, but most wifi connections with N will be faster than what the broadband bottleneck will allow, so it's wasted dollars until broadband can catch up with the wireless speeds (which may not happen until you get fiber to your home)


Stick to wireless G now and save the extra cash. It's reliable technology and there are plenty of $30-50 choices out there that will give you plenty of range and configuration options.


Back to my 360 point...I don't believe they support WPA2. Check the adapter specs. Make sure if you get a wireless N that's backwards compatible that you don't end up killing bandwidth by running N, G, B, and A. Sometimes routers have a fixed speed they lock in on...it was a problem with G & B routers...even though they ran both, they defaulted to 11Mbps based on B spec when both were selected while they hit their max if they were G only. It's all about what the router can do when it's doing more than one protocol.

 

[boomhower]

The 360 does not support WPA2. That was the whole reason I went with a dual band router so the 360 could have its channel and the PC's could be under better security.

 

[Atty]

I'm not running the 360 wirelessly.

Also, should I go with a a Buffalo or Linksys router? Still going with a Wireless N router, I'm getting FioS in the house in the next few months and since I'm not shelling out the cash for it I don't care lol.