Need a recommendation for a router.

[Siddhartha]

It looks like my current router has gone south and it is time to replace it.

The router will be used with a DSL line in a home system consisting of two desktops and two laptops in a small two bedroom apartment. The laptops could be connected via wired and wireless to the router.

My price range is $60 to $100.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JackMDS]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320062

 

[s44]

The router will be used with a DSL line in a home system consisting of two desktops and two laptops in a small two bedroom apartment. The laptops could be connected via wired and wireless to the router.

My price range is $60 to $100.

The problem is that with the depletion of stock of the Linksys E4200v1 (and, to a lesser extent, the E3200), there's little middle ground between the options with solid routing and third-party firmware support but limited radio under $50 (Belkin F7D8301, Netgear WNR3500L) and the big radio versions, often with AC, for $100-200+ (Asus N66u, AC66u, AC56u, AC68u, Netgear Nighthawk, etc).

The N56u that Jack suggested is pretty solid and has a good radio, but the Ralink chipset means that if you don't like the stability or featureset of Asus's stock firmware (which is better than most companies'), you're out of luck on switching to Tomato or DD-WRT.

 

[narzy]

TP-LINK Archer C7 V2 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router

It is at the top end of your price range but solid reviews.

 

[Siddhartha]

Everyone, thank you for the help. My router started working on its own.

 

[smitbret]

TP-LINK Archer C7 V2 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router

It is at the top end of your price range but solid reviews.

I have the v1 and haven't been disappointed. Definitely worth the $99 if you want AC.

 

[sonitravel09]

I just purchased an ASUS RT-N66R from Best Buy that works very well for me.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Everyone, thank you for the help. My router started working on its own.

You mean . . . the router you wanted to replace?

I have to count the routers I've had. One of a manufacture I can't remember, we junked around 2005 for a Linksys BEF. . 41 10/100 -- no wireless. That was replaced by my CISCO E2000. Once I had them working initially, they never stopped. The CISCO (~ 2009) offered dual-band 2.4 and 5.0, but it only does one band at a time. I want stronger wireless coverage around the house, the patios, the garage -- so I'll either convert a router to an access point, or something similar. I'm thinking to upgrade the CISCO, even so.

Does anyone remember -- per MAC addresses and ISP registration? I'm thinking I need to clone the MAC address that's already in the E2000 if I replace it, so it does the proper handshake with the ISP end.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Does anyone remember -- per MAC addresses and ISP registration? I'm thinking I need to clone the MAC address that's already in the E2000 if I replace it, so it does the proper handshake with the ISP end.

Some ISPs are MAC-bound. Not many though. Which ISP do you use, someone could probably tell you. I know that Comcast is not.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have to count the routers I've had. One of a manufacture I can't remember, we junked around 2005 for a Linksys BEF. . 41 10/100 -- no wireless. That was replaced by my CISCO E2000. Once I had them working initially, they never stopped. The CISCO (~ 2009) offered dual-band 2.4 and 5.0, but it only does one band at a time.

I remember those wired routers. I think that I still have one. BEFX, or BEFR, something like that. Not sure what the difference is.

I even had a Walmart-special router package, it was an 11B router and PCCard combo. Linksys made it, but it was branded with a Walmart house brand. Linksys would never even admit to the existance of that unit.

I ended up picking up a Motorola WR850G unit, and flashed the beta 6.x firmware, which enabled WDS mode, and I linked it with a WRT54G that had factory firmware (with "lazy WDS" enabled.)

I hadn't heard of DD-WRT yet, I don't think, but it got me started using WDS and wireless client and bridging modes on routers. I found that it was much easier (and better for multi-OS configs), to use the ethernet port on the PC, and plug it into a networking device that would handle wireless transparently with some sort of base station router, than dealing with the idiosyncrasies of wireless with different OSes and drivers.

I've stuck with WDS and wireless client modes since then, at least until I moved. I found out that using wireless client mode, causes issues with IPv6, so now I'm back to using wireless adapters in each of my PCs, and a base router.