Thread: Wireless Routers?

So first off, I hate wireless anything - in my experience it's always been unstable and very unreliable. Right now though, I am just fed up with cables everywhere. I have a desktop, laptop, PS3, and Wii. I have a router now (that sucks really really badly) that delivers wireless, however I don't use it. Well just today I tried it out and it was the most intermittent service I've ever experienced. Now basically since I have no knowledge of routers or wireless routers at all, could any of you recommend a good brand/model that I should try out. Right now I'm using a Belkin (yes, a Belkin, I know). I have seen that new Cisco router, the Valet, and was wondering if that was good? It's $100 bucks and its Cisco so I'm assuming so. But anyway, does anyone else have any other recommendations if not the Valet? I don't mind spending around $50-100 for a nice solid wireless router.

Newegg has this Asus router for $25 that will run DD-WRT micro:

Newegg.com - ASUS WL-520gC IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g 125 HSM Wireless Router / DD-WRT Open Source support

I would look for a router that runs DD-WRT. The firmware has tons of options and runs solid.

Why do you think it is unstable and unreliable? When did you last use it -- 1985 or something?

The technology itself is just as reliable as cell phhone technology. When you drop a call, its not because of the technology itself.

Yeah, wireless technology is as reliable as wired one IMO, the problem you're experiencing is the quality of the router itself - to be able to handle lots of incoming/outgoing data without breaking down. In my experience, Linksys routers are the best - consumer wise.

I work for a company that sells wireless routers and I agree with Yon as far as my expierence goes Linksys is the best as far as price for product goes but just my opinion. =)

Linksys has some good ones,
I personally use Belkin (Playing) Router and its doing great.
I was using Netgear and it wasnt bad either and never used D-Link but they common too.

Just look for one with USB Port if you plan to buy one, they quite useful! Rest everything is almost similar!

I remember using a wireless router several years back and I hated it. Present time? I'm loving it, especially now that I use a laptop instead of a desktop. As long as you're basically within 20 feet, you're solid and should have zero connection problems. I guess you would experience some connectivity issues if you have a big house... or a lot of walls.

Maybe your bad WiFi is older. The technology has improved a lot. The signal from a draft N 300 is a lot stronger than a G, and if you have a 300N card, you should be good to go. YMMV, but I've had just as much luck with cheap routers and cards as with big brand names. I'm currently using an Airlink 101 AR670W N150 router I got for like $25 at Fry's on Black Friday, and it works perfectly for me.

So I'd look for a cheapo N300 router at Newegg, Geeks.com Fry's etc. and upgrade to an equivalently cheapo draft N 300 card or USB dongle for your computer. I think it will make you happy.

The only problem I could imagine is if your residence has so much RF traffic that you're getting signal interference. If so you should be able to get around that by changing frequency settings in the router, but that could get a bit geeky...

I used to have a linksys wrt-54g and that thing was horrible. It constantly lost connection between things it was connected to, computers, wii, ps3, laptop. so then i picked up a netgear wireless N router and i must say that thing worked perfect out of the box. It was simple to set up and if i did need any help they have great customer service, and free tech support for 3 months. So that is my story and reccomendation