what is the best brand home DSL/Cable router -- non-wireless?

[Epsil0n00]

I am in the market for a simple DSL/Cabel router to share my cable connection with the other computer in the house. I do not need an integrated print server or wireless capabilities.

What brand would you recommend? I have heard some bad reports from friends about their Linksys routers... but that was a couple years ago, so... Linksys, D-Link, Netgear? Who is more reliable? Any performace differences? Any features that one brand has over the other that actually make a difference?

Any advice would be much appreciated.
Please chime in and let me hear your experiences.

Thanks!
Epsil0n

 

[SickBeast]

I prefer Linksys. My old D-link gave me nothing but problems. It would overheat. Poor hardware design IMO.

 

[Jeff H]

FWIW I've been running a Linksys 4 port router for a couple of years now and it's been trouble-free.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I had an SMC router die on me. I had a D-link die on me, luckily it has lifetime warranty so I RMA'd it. My replacement has been giving me problems here and there for no reason.

I'd like to try Linksys but they don't have any routers with buit-in print servers.

 

[dudeman007]

I have a d-link. Its aiite, but I wish I had gotten a linksys. Those are always great.

 

[ponyo]

I had Linksys for about 2 years before I upgraded to SMC wireless. Linksys worked great and never gave me any problems.
My SMC wireless router died 2 days ago. It worked great for about year and half and all sudden died.

I bought Microsoft wireless router but am returning it. Wireless works great but wired switch performance sucks really bad. Really disappointed with it.

I ordered Netgear one to replace it. Will see if that one is better.

 

[high]

love dlink...not one problem

 

[johnjkr1]

I like my dlink as well, less resets than my netgear or linksys.

 

[Donkalee]

Hope it's ok to ask here - seems like it's the place where people are helpful
Is it possible to wire a Linksys 4 port wireless-b router to one pc and use a wireless adapter on the other?

 

[Dman877]

Originally posted by: Jeff H
FWIW I've been running a Linksys 4 port router for a couple of years now and it's been trouble-free.

Ditto.

 

[boomerang]

I put a Netgear at the wife's office about two years ago and it has been totally trouble free. Got one for here at home a year ago and it has not hiccuped even once.

Recommended them to three friends and they are all very happy with them.

 

[WTT0001]

Put a linksys 4 port in our church around 3-4 years ago and they havn't touched it since, still going strong

 

[3LEMENT0]

Linksys BEFSR41 I think...had it for a long time already...no problems whatsoever....

 

[PowerEngineer]

I've been using a four-port wired SMC router with my cable modem, two desktops, and a lap top. No problems for about two years now. I did have a problem with time stamps on the router log, but that was fixed by a firmware upgrade. I was able to add VPN to my work LAN without any trouble at all.

 

[Arcanedeath]

I'd suggest the linksys 8 port router, it seems to be more reliable than the 4 port versions and has more stable firmware, I've used 3 4 port linksys routers, 1 failed, and the other 2 just discontect randomly and need to be reset. I've also used an SMC 4 port router + print server, and was not impressed, the print server never worked correctly and as a router the linksys blew it away in the features dept. I've also used a 4 port belkin router and a 4 port gigafast router, the belkin seems ok and offers similar features to the linksys routers,

 

[NightCrawler]

Have a D-link Di-704, no problems works great.

 

[imported_Fester]

I had a Dlink 802.11b router that worked reliably. But it failed after a mere 2 years. So I felt I'd prefer to buy something that lasts a bit longer.

I chose netgear, 802.11G. What a mistake! I have upgraded it to the latest firmware (no thanks to their abysmal instructions on their web site). So now I only have to reboot it every couple of days, instead of a couple of times every day. What a piece of crap.

I would avoid both these makers, so perhaps that leaves Linksys?

 

[zephyrprime]

I had a linksys network card and it was the slowest network card out of the several that I had (linksys, netgear, intel).

I'd take a look at amazon ratings if I were you. Asking a couple of guys on AT doesn't give a big enough sample.

 

[JackMDS]

As far as Wired Router.

The main difference between the Entry level Cable/DSL Routers is the Firewall "Filtering" system, and number, range etc. of ports that can be opened through the Hardware Firewall.

If you are a gamer, and or use applications that need ports opening, it is an issue you have to look at.

If you need special ports opening for Server, VPN, etc. You have each targeted Router to make sure that it can keep these ports Open.

Link to: Cable/DSL Routers - NAT & Ports.

If you want a more elaborate Router with better VPN, and SPI capacities you have to look at the Top Models of SMC, Linksys, and Netgear. Each Brand has a higher level hardware for about $120

Otherwise I would go with the lowest price, and the decor

:sun:

 

[brigden]

Linksys.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: brigden
Linksys.

If you care about security at all, they are the last company that I would go with. All current model LinkSys NAT router boxes are affected by a current exploit, and the last firmware update for most of them was over a year ago. What does that tell you?

I was pretty happy with my little SMC 7004VBR, it never crashed/rebooted, supported SPI and some nice extra NAT features. It could be a little slow in some cases, since it runs on a 16-bit x86 CPU inside. Newer models run on a 32-bit ARM CPU I think, so they would probably be a wiser choice for performance reasons. I never had any security-related issues with mine though.

Edit: Looks like I'm going to have to eat my words about LinkSys/Cisco. They finally released an update. From the changelog, looks like they fixed a few other outstanding issues as well, and for both older and newer-version routers. Good job LinkSys/Cisco!

Now I need to get a hold of some of my friends and tell them to get the update too.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I have a netgear 114 that is now in it's fourth year of operation... it's been rebooted a few times I suppose, but only when the a power is out - it's always online again before the modem or any of the PCs in the house. It runs in a basement room that is cold and damp for half the year, and hot an damp the other half, sitting in the corner on a floor with dust bunnies the size of.. well bigger than 4-port routers, at any rate.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend netgear.

Even if it's free, don't buy a Hawking though.

 

[JBT]

I have a D-Link 604 and a 614+ both have been good. THe 614+'s has had some weird firm ware updates but the older versions have been great and the newer ones really only add some feature Iwouldn't use anyways. I have also used a netgear WGT624 it is okay but is MUCH slower when changing settings and rebooting compared to the D-Link's. You would think that it is no problem but I find it quite annoying.

 

[jerome12345]

linksys is IMO the best

 

[Pandamonium]

My Linksys BEFSR41 has been good to me. BTW, the latest firmware, while being written "over a year ago" (I'm not bothering to check the actual release date) was for the router I bought ~6-7 years ago.....