How often do you upgrade your router?

[gizbug]

My Linksys e3200 seems to no longer be supported (no more fw updates).
Wondering if it's time to update to current model/generation. How often do users upgrade their router?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Only when the router fails to perform or when I need/want features it can't provide. I am in the process of replacing a mediocre but sufficient 5 year old Zoom router simply because it doesn't work with a replacement router at work. The replacement router is a WRT54G which I flashed to the latest firmware from 2009 (had FW from 2005). If that FW didn't provide the features we needed then I would have flashed it with DD-WRT, but performance-wise it's all we need.

My home router, an Airlink101 AR670W with DD-WRT (also 5 years old), has taken the place of the Zoom router, and a Netgear WNR3500L-100NAS is on it's way (will flash w/ DD-WRT). If I'm pleased with the performance (wireless performance is less important than wired) it will be used for as long as possible.

I don't see how a lack of FW updates is a reason to upgrade, unless the current FW is broken or doesn't have promised features. If you are satisfied with the performance of the router but would like a newer FW, try DD-WRT (the E3200 is supported).

 

[MustISO]

I could be wrong but most of the companies don't continue to release firmware updates once new models are out. They may release one or two revisions per model but most times when I've looked for new updates, they have none and the ones they have are a year or more old.

I buy a new one when the old one fails or after 3 or 4 years since the technology may be better.

 

[nsafreak]

I upgrade when one of two things happen:

1) The router breaks and I'm not able to get it working again. Previous one before my current D-Link DIR-615 was a Linksys WRT54G v2, that router lasted a good 7 years before giving up the ghost and no longer powering on.

2) There's a good improvement in wireless speed with a new standard that's been ratified. My current router is an N+/300 router and while AC is out there it hasn't been ratified yet and given the messes that have happened in the past at times with routers using pre-draft standards I'll stick with going with routers that use ratified versions of the standard.

 

[RossMAN]

I upgrade when one of two things happen:

1) The router breaks and I'm not able to get it working again. Previous one before my current D-Link DIR-615 was a Linksys WRT54G v2, that router lasted a good 7 years before giving up the ghost and no longer powering on.

2) There's a good improvement in wireless speed with a new standard that's been ratified. My current router is an N+/300 router and while AC is out there it hasn't been ratified yet and given the messes that have happened in the past at times with routers using pre-draft standards I'll stick with going with routers that use ratified versions of the standard.

3) There's a really hot deal, defined as 40% or more off retail.

Same here and I added one.

 

[Eeqmcsq]

Pretty much what nsafreak said.

1. If the router breaks/dies.
2. If there's more wifi speed.

I went from a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b to a Linksys WRT54GS 802.11b/g due to the extra wifi speed, and that's where I've been sitting since, which is fast enough for what I do.

I'm thinking about skipping 802.11n and going for 802.11ac, but for the most part, I'm in a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mode for my router upgrades.

 

[JackMDS]

I guess that to think that is No more reason to update the firmware because the device reached is max hardware potential is "Heresy".

In other words dumping a working Wireless Router that works OK because it is Not "supported" any more is rather "silly".

 

[VirtualLarry]

I agree with RossMAN, along with the other two reasons.

Basically, the reasons for upgrading a wireless router:

1) Router dies, cannot be fixed. (I learned that when a router "dies", it could just need a replacement power adaptor.)

2) New router has new features that you want/need, AND it's cheap.

3) Router has fatal security flaw in firmware, and there is no factory firmware upgrade. (This is a good reason to try out DD-WRT or Tomato too.)

When I was living with a relative, they purchased a WRT54G v1.0, connected it to the DSL modem, and I had a wireless G USB adaptor for my PC. I later picked up a Motorola WR850G, which has the same chipset as the WRT54G router. I found a beta firmware that had support for WDS mode, and found out that the factory firmware for the WRT54G supported Lazy WDS mode, even if it lacked an explicit WDS setting. So I ran WDS for some time, which was nice, I could just connect my PC through the onboard ethernet. (I picked up a second PC, and they both could then use ethernet, rather than have to purchase a second WiFi G adaptor.)

I don't know if I knew about DD-WRT yet.

When I moved, I picked up some WNR834Bv2 Netgear refurbs for like $30 ea, which I thought was a deal for N routers. Those I flashed immediately to DD-WRT. (I may have learned about DD-WRT from a Hot Deals there either here on AT or on FW for those routers.) I used two, and then later, three, of those routers in WDS mode.

One of the routers was "failing", so I decided to upgrade to some WNR2000v2 units (32MB of RAM rather than 16MB), so I bought a bunch of those off of Newegg. My first batch was v1, so no DD-WRT. But about a year later I bought two more shipments, and both of them were v2 units, so DD-WRT was supported.

I also discovered that the problem with the WNR834Bv2 unit was actually the power brick. I ordered some new power bricks off of ebay.

So now I'm swimming in Netgear wireless N 300 routers, with DD-WRT.

I ran into some issues with my wireless throughput going way, way down (1mbit or less), so I decided to pick up some refurb Cisco E2500 units from Cisco's home store for under $40, and those are dual-band routers. I had planned to put DD-WRT on them, and run them in 5Ghz WDS mode, with 2.4Ghz as an AP. I got DD-WRT on one of them, and then I discovered that the DD-WRT for those routers doesn't support 5Ghz yet! So I became a Tomato user, as Tomato did support 5Ghz on those routers. So I'm currently running Tomato over 5Ghz in wireless bridge mode (found out it gave a little more speed than WDS mode).

Unfortunately, even with a clear 5Ghz band and 40Mhz channels, and being one room apart, I can't seem to get more than 40Mbit/sec out of the links, so I was thinking of getting some Wireless AC draft 2.0 routers. The TrendNet model has WDS support in the factory firmware for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. TigerDirect had them marked down from $160 to $120, and for a while Newegg was matching that price. I don't quite have $240 to drop on a pair of routers though.

So I'm going to wait until I can get some decent refurb AC routers for like $50 or so before I jump in I think.

 

[skyking]

My home internet connection maxes out at 8 Mbit, so I never worry about speed as a reason for a change. I don't use wireless to move large files, I have 8 drops of cat5E and gigabit switches for that.
Router death/flakiness is the only reason for me. I still run a pair of old 54g's with dd-wrt in WDS
It is the second set. the first one got the usual DHCP server flakiness after several years.

 

[s44]

Pretty much what nsafreak said.

1. If the router breaks/dies.
2. If there's more wifi speed.

This.

Your E3200 is fine. If you want more firmware updates, Shibby has specific builds of Tomato for it (most recent here).

 

[VirtualLarry]

My home internet connection maxes out at 8 Mbit, so I never worry about speed as a reason for a change. I don't use wireless to move large files, I have 8 drops of cat5E and gigabit switches for that.
Router death/flakiness is the only reason for me. I still run a pair of old 54g's with dd-wrt in WDS
It is the second set. the first one got the usual DHCP server flakiness after several years.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833122275
Might I suggest a pair of these, running DD-WRT in WDS mode?

 

[gizbug]

This.

Your E3200 is fine. If you want more firmware updates, Shibby has specific builds of Tomato for it (most recent here).

Thank You. Would you happen to know of a guide to flash this? Would be upgrading from the latest linksys FW

 

[s44]

I flashed mine straight from the update firmware menu on the stock web interface (forget exactly what the option names are). I know with some routers it's better to flash a smaller build first. I haven't seen that as an issue with this one, but you can flash a mini version of DD-WRT first from here. What you definitely should do is thoroughly erase NVRAM after each big flash, either with a 30/30/30 reset or from the new web interface.

Remember (once you're on Tomato) not to turn off base USB support. Also, I've seen reports that picking a channel for 5ghz is more stable than leaving it on "auto".

 

[gizbug]

I flashed mine straight from the update firmware menu on the stock web interface (forget exactly what the option names are). I know with some routers it's better to flash a smaller build first. I haven't seen that as an issue with this one, but you can flash a mini version of DD-WRT first from here. What you definitely should do is thoroughly erase NVRAM after each big flash, either with a 30/30/30 reset or from the new web interface.

Remember not to turn off base USB support. Also, I've seen reports that picking a channel for 5ghz is more stable than leaving it on "auto".

Thanks. So you flashed your e3200 right from the stock to the tomato shibby? Which is prefered on the NVRAM flash? 30/30/30 or from within the new Shibby interface? How have your results been since upgrading from the stock manufacture FW to the Tomato?

 

[s44]

I never even used the device on stock! Tomato is supposed to improve USB thoroughput, if you use it, and adds a bunch of other features that you may or may not use.

If stock is doing everything you want it to do, leave it. Honestly, when you stop seeing manufacturer updates it may be time to breathe a sigh of relief that your firmware is finally stable.

 

[skyking]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833122275
Might I suggest a pair of these, running DD-WRT in WDS mode?

I see 'netgear' and 'refurb' and want to run very far away based on the bad old days.
Any reason to think differently?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I see 'netgear' and 'refurb' and want to run very far away based on the bad old days.
Any reason to think differently?

I've had very good luck with my Netgear refurbs (WNR834Bv2 and WNR2000v2 units).

I should mention, that when I mentioned above that my WNR2000v2 units running DD-WRT were showing low wireless throughput, that I tried replacing my primary WDS unit with a completely new refurb unit out of my pile, flashed to DD-WRT, and set up the same way, and I had the same problem. Also tried changing wireless channels. My Tomato E2500 routers say that the noise floor here for 2.4Ghz is -60dBm, which Spidey commented in another thread that that is a bad noise floor, almost unusable. IOW, the poor wireless throughput on 2.4Ghz was not due to any defect or issue with the Netgear router(s).

Edit: Alternatively, I have those WNR834Bv2 units (4MB flash, 16MB RAM) with DD-WRT pre-installed that I'm not using anymore. If you don't want to chance Newegg not sending you a v2 unit, then I could sell you a couple of these units.

 

[JimKiler]

I've had very good luck with my Netgear refurbs (WNR834Bv2 and WNR2000v2 units).

I should mention, that when I mentioned above that my WNR2000v2 units running DD-WRT were showing low wireless throughput, that I tried replacing my primary WDS unit with a completely new refurb unit out of my pile, flashed to DD-WRT, and set up the same way, and I had the same problem. Also tried changing wireless channels. My Tomato E2500 routers say that the noise floor here for 2.4Ghz is -60dBm, which Spidey commented in another thread that that is a bad noise floor, almost unusable. IOW, the poor wireless throughput on 2.4Ghz was not due to any defect or issue with the Netgear router(s).

Edit: Alternatively, I have those WNR834Bv2 units (4MB flash, 16MB RAM) with DD-WRT pre-installed that I'm not using anymore. If you don't want to chance Newegg not sending you a v2 unit, then I could sell you a couple of these units.

I had two sets of in laws buy the same Netgear wireless G router as me. We never had any issues, although 2 of them are dead after 5 years. But since they were only $35 or so not a huge deal and it was time to upgrade to N.

BTW, my Asus RT-N16 did get a very big firmware update at some point after the fact increasing the print server capability to my printer so I am impressed with them. But Asus has always been good about updates.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've had my DIR-655 since they came out in 2006 and it is still going strong. I recently added a repeater downstairs as we were starting to see signal issues -- not sure if the router is starting to die or if we simply have more intereference around us now due to more wireless networks springing up. No plans to replace it at this point, however.

 

[Baked]

I'm thinking about getting a Medialink- 150Mbps Wireless N USB Adapter so I can turn my desktop wireless and connect my PS3 directly to the wireless router in hope of giving it maximum speed. I have Medialink router right now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've had my DIR-655 since they came out in 2006 and it is still going strong.

I've got a DIR-655 as well, a relative upgraded and sent me the router. Using it as my 2.4Ghz AP right now. (My E2500 with Tomato, doesn't work well as a 2.4Ghz AP for some reason, only get ~2Mbit/sec out of it.)

Edit: Forgot to mention - I like it. It seems like a pretty strong and full-featured (in comparison to other mfg's stock firmware, not in comparison to something like DD-WRT or Tomato) AP.

 

[boomhower]

I upgrade when one of two things happen:

1) The router breaks and I'm not able to get it working again. Previous one before my current D-Link DIR-615 was a Linksys WRT54G v2, that router lasted a good 7 years before giving up the ghost and no longer powering on.

2) There's a good improvement in wireless speed with a new standard that's been ratified. My current router is an N+/300 router and while AC is out there it hasn't been ratified yet and given the messes that have happened in the past at times with routers using pre-draft standards I'll stick with going with routers that use ratified versions of the standard.

Pretty much the same here. I gave up my 54G for N with the 610N. Replaced the 610N when it broke(well I broke it with a bad flash) with an E4200. I'll rock it for at least two more years until I replace my notebook with one that has AC.

 

[RossMAN]

This.

Your E3200 is fine. If you want more firmware updates, Shibby has specific builds of Tomato for it (most recent here).

If you're still dispensing free advice, I have a Linksys E3000 I'd like to install Tomato on.

Any suggestions for the most recent, stable and secure Tomato build with USB support for external hard drive?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Well it looks like DD-WRT doesn't officially support my new router (Netgear WNR3500Lv2), so it's either compile from source and install with serial cable, or use Tomato by Shibby. I chose Tomato, and so far I'm impressed with both the router and Tomato v108. I may even like Tomato more than DD-WRT, and I'm just scratching the surface...

Surprisingly, Wifi was under-performing with both the installed and latest Netgear firmware, but seems to be performing optimally with Tomato.

 

[s44]

If you're still dispensing free advice, I have a Linksys E3000 I'd like to install Tomato on.

Shibby's E3000 build is in the regular K26 branch and certainly works and is up-to-the-minute on all features.

For the routers he supports, though, I really like Victek's builds for stability. Fortunately the E3000 is one of them.