Can $150 buy better wireless performance?

[amheck]

I see these two routers recommended quite often here:

Buffalo WHR-HP-G54
Link

Asus WL-520GU -
link

But I was wondering, if I'm willing to spend $150 give or take, is there anything I can buy that would give me better wireless performance, with respect to signal range and speed?

Or would I be better off buy 2 of the Buffalo/Asus and using 1 as my main router, and then hooking up a 2nd one via CAT5 as as AP to get full coverage?

I'm normally a pretty price conscience shopping, wanting the best value for my money, but I rely on this wireless connectivity for my work and for another PC in the house, so I don't mind spending more money if its going to buy me something better.

My current setup is a Linksys WRT54GS running DD-WRT and I'm loosing the wireless signal on all of my PC's multiple times a day causing me to either wait, or reboot the router. I think it's time for a replacement.

Thanks!
Aaron

 

[geokilla]

Your links don't seem to be working for me.

The WRT54GS is a bad router. You can get just one Buffalo unit and it'll probably have all the wireless range you'll need thanks to it's built-in amplifier. My own house has 3 floors, with the router located at the bottom floor (also known as basement). According to the D-Link DWL-G520, I still get a very good signal from my WRT54GS.

In the end, get the Buffalo and call it a day. That's what I'd do, and want to do.

 

[amheck]

Sorry about the links. I copied them from another post here...maybe they were old.

Yeah, I hear nothing but good things about the Buffalo. And the extra x-mit power would be nice. I guess it can't hurt to see how it performs. Although like I said, if I can get better performance, I don't mind paying. I'm guessing the Buffalo N-Finiti is not something to consider?

 

[JackMDS]

WIFI was not design for high Power.

The desgine really calls for mutii points sources.

I usually start with One Buffalo HP and do a survey with a laptop and a Netstunbler.

Pending on the outcome a decision can be made.

1. No additional Wireless is needed.

2. A regular unit like the Asus would do it.

3. A second Buffalo HP is needed.

One thing is important to know the Actual Wireless part of all the sub $100 Linksys Wireless Routers, with or without Booster, yields bellow average Wireless performance.

 

[amheck]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

One thing is important to know the Actual Wireless part of all the sub $100 Linksys Wireless Routers, with or without Booster, yields bellow average Wireless performance.

That's interesting. I thought the Linksys routers, and especially the WRT54G series were pretty well respected.

I think I'll just try the Buffalo and then make a decision from there. If all goes well, I fall into #1 above and nothing else is needed. It seems crazy to me, though, that more money can't buy you better performance and that a little $60 router does so well.

 

[Emulex]

you need a ubuity router. its a generic 3 or 4 mini-pci port device that you plug in mini-pci-e cards. these run 300-600 watt cards. with the appropriate antenna you should be able to do miles directional and a good distance omni.

just remember omni antennas do not shoot out in a circle more like a mushroom where they fire downwards so putting your routers at the highest distance possible relative to the omni's downward outward spiral is important to factor.

this is where your CCDA cisco buddy can survey your area.

problem is 2.4ghz is too crowded these days. stay away from it. 5ghz is crowded too. need a new band already.

 

[slapkey]

Call me a noob -- but the current recommendation for great router is a wireless G? I'm confused, I would have thought that some N router, like the 310N or 610N linksys routers would surpass any G router. is this wrong? I see overwhelmingly good reviews on newegg, but haven't really heard of this router before looking at this thread.

 

[Emulex]

quite honestly unless you are in a quiet environment you won't see much improvement.

ie. 2.4ghz is so busy here, that a 2.4ghz N-router with the same 2.4ghz N-card gets about 29mbps at 50ft.

the old linksys G router got about 27


If you get 54mbps all day long reliable then yeah you will probably reap the benefits but its just too polluted on 2.4ghz here. so make sure your client and router are both dual band (5ghz) multi antenna.

The newer hp laptops go up to 450 or 600mbps connections using dual band routers. first time i saw it do that i was like WTF? there's no way its > 300

 

[amheck]

Originally posted by: slapkey
Call me a noob -- but the current recommendation for great router is a wireless G? I'm confused, I would have thought that some N router, like the 310N or 610N linksys routers would surpass any G router. is this wrong? I see overwhelmingly good reviews on newegg, but haven't really heard of this router before looking at this thread.

I've been wanting to replace my wrt54gs for about a year and a half, and I'm in the same boat. I can't believe N still hadn't gotten better. I got all excited when the dual-band N came out, but again, just ho-hum reviews. Some people it works great for, but the majority seem to have problems.

I hate buying obsolete stuff and I guess that's why I haven't replaced my linksys G yet, but now that's its failing, I guess it could be worse than trying the $60 Buffalo. Maybe in a year or two N will be real good and I/we can make the switch then.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: amheck

That's interesting. I thought the Linksys routers, and especially the WRT54G series were pretty well respected.

I think the older models were, but the newer models seem to be more junky with less memory (ram and flash) as well as poor quality (at least compared to the originals). I've got an older WRT54G and the ASUS connected via CAT5 and have great coverage in my entire house (I've had the WRT54G for years and picked up the Asus router $19.99 AR last year from Newegg - because it was cheap, compatible with Tomato and also "white" (my daughter loves white PC toys in her room, lol)).

Until "N" becomes more solid (if it does), I'm fine with what I have (both flashed with Tomato by the way).

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: amheck
That's interesting. I thought the Linksys routers, and especially the WRT54G series were pretty well respected.

Yeah, by people that do not Judge by Technological Facts, but their judgment is a combination of Marketing info, and a personal high score on a psychological scale of Social Desirability.

 

[Puffnstuff]

While I cannot recommend anything specific I can suggest that you avoid d-link's dgl-4500 right now. There are a ton of problems with it that have only been made worse by recent firmware releases. I know as I own two of them..the second is a replacement from d-link for the first.

 

[spidey07]

Just to add, most wireless problems have little to do with what you use and everything to do with your environment.

 

[ccbadd]

The best Linksys I have ever used WIFI wise is a WRV-200. It's not a great router and I don't recommend it, but the wireless coverage was better than any other consumer WIFI router/ap I have used. The real problem with WIFI is adoption, everyone has it now and the spectrum is congested.

 

[amheck]

Well, got the Buffalo set up and running. First impression - not too much difference at all.

I took a network stumbler reading before and after and here's what I ended up with.

first number = Linksys, Second number = buffalo

Kitchen (right under router on 1st floor): -55, -50
Dining Room: -70, -78
Family Room: -80, -80
Side room (furthest point in house from router): -80, Lost AP
Bedroom on 2nd floor (standing right next to router): -35, -32

So....I guess as long as the Buffalo can keep the wireless signal up, I'm better off than with the dying Linksys. But my hopes for "high power" didn't seem to pan out.

I have the antenna on the Buffalo parallel to the floors, i.e. horizontal. Power is at 100%. Should I perhaps try playing with the wireless channel and/or antenna placement?

 

[nerp]

After struggling with the unreliability and problems associated with wifi, I finally broke down and bought two Zyxel homeplug adapters and now I am enjoying much faster speeds all around. Powerline networking has finally improved to the point that it's worth using. The most impressive change for me is the faster local speeds. I can finally move files back and forth as if on a LAN. I could NEVER get reasonable speeds with wifi, even with a good ASUS router, high dB antennae and everything with awesome signal, etc.

wifi is cool for laptops but I will never consider it a solution in a LAN environment ever again. LAN or homeplug.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Just to add, most wireless problems have little to do with what you use and everything to do with your environment.

Just quoting myself again.

At -70db received signal you are on the edge of wireless coverage. At -75 you've been dropped down to maybe 5 Mbs and a lot of retransmissions. At -80 - you're cutting teeth.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Emulex
you need a ubuity router. its a generic 3 or 4 mini-pci port device that you plug in mini-pci-e cards. these run 300-600 watt cards. with the appropriate antenna you should be able to do miles directional and a good distance omni.

I hope you meant mwatt cards. At 600 watts you would be cooking everyone that walked near

 

[Modelworks]

For $249 there is the 1watt Bountiful AP. I was reading up on the design and they had to do a lot of work with the FCC to get it approved, which is why you don't see many 1 watt wifi units.
http://www.radiolabs.com/produ...-watt-access-point.php

 

[JackMDS]

If the room that the Wireless sources is is a "Killer Signal Room", nothing would help.

As an experiment, take a 10" cable (or whatever is needed) and try to locate temp. the Wireless Router in the hallway of the house so it is exposed to many room/places that is possible.

 

[amheck]

Not too sure what I'm going to do here. I don't have a huge place by any means - 2400 square feet over 2 floor, on a normal city lot. I just find it hard to believe that a wireless router today can't cover the whole house with a good connection.

That being said, I think the Buffalo is going back. It doesn't seem to be any better than my Linksys, and actually might be a little worse. The intermittant connection problem wasn't fixed with the new router. I even exchanged my cable modem today. Maybe I'll give that homeline stuff a try, and will check out the link posted by Modelworks.