New Router needed (lookin for recommendations)

[mmp121]

Last night my venerable (~3 years of use) DLINK DI-764 DualBand 4-port Router/AP spazzed out and killed its wireless card or something. Needless to say, its past its RMA time, and I am in the market for a replacement. In what little free time I had since then, I have not been able to find a router/AP combo that has all the features that I want, and I was hoping maybe some of you guys would be able to help me find the best way to approach my new dilemna.

What I want is (in order of priority):

• 10/100/1000Mbps on each port
• WIRELESS; old one was (A/B); want at least a G or A/G
• At LEAST 4-ports (more is better)
• Want at least 100Mbps on the WAN uplink (getting Verzion FIOS service in a month or 2)

Now my question are twofold. First off is there any one device that does all this that is not gonna cost me over $150?. Secondly should I get 2 seperate devices, wired router, and get a seperate AP for the wireless part of the network. My reason for asking is that 802.11n standard is supposed to be agreed upon sometime this year, right?

Brands that I would like to stick with are DLINK / NETGEAR / LINKSYS

Thank you all for your help in this matter!

[Tjalfe]

I believe ASUS has a gigabit router, but it is wired.. I am not sure if a router exists with all those features...
as for the wireless N standard, can that not be updated via a firmware update?

[mmp121]

Some more info w/link:

Both:
DGL-4300

DI-784

WRT55AG


Wired:
DGL-4300


AP:
WAP55AG

WAP54G


I just finished reading that 802.11n was agreed upon in some sort of compromise and that the standard might be voted on by March '06, meaning by Spring '06 there will be a pluthera of routers!

Talk about the worst timing!

[mmp121]

as for the wireless N standard, can that not be updated via a firmware update?

Only if the hardware in the Pre-N stuff conforms to what comes out of the IEEE stardard that is to be agreed upon in the next few months.

[Jammrock]

If you want 802.11n, don't buy any of the pre-N stuff. As with the pre-G stuff, you've got a 1 in 100 shot that your hardware will be upgradable to the full N standard. I would wait for the N version of the D-link DGL-4300 before buying. If possible.

Jammrock

[Mcollector]

I lean a little bit toward Linksys, but D-Link, Netgear and Linksys are all in about the same class.

I used to like Netgear when they had lots of flashing LEDs and metal cases for their switches/hubs, but they don't anymore, and Netgear's tech support totally blows chunks. Not only do they not know anything, but hold times are frequently 45 minutes, even in the middle of the night, and when you do get through, you are likely to get some completely incomprehensible foreigner (in India; this actually happened to me one night). Netgear was one of the first to outsouce tech support, and it's still a top candidate for the worst outsourced tech supports around. Since they don't have the "advantage" of metal cases and beaucoup neat flashing LEDs anymore, I strongly say avoid Netgear due to their crappy crap crap tech support.

Of the links you listed, note that the Linksys WRT55AG does *not* support 10/100/1000 on the "wired" part of it, just 10/100.

The one annoying thing about Linksys is that they treat the front and back of the router or switch L to R when you look at the front or back face on. This means that if you look at the LEDs on the front for status, you are seeing status on the rightmost LEDs for the lefmost port on the back when viewing the box from the front; in other words, diagonally across. This is one thing Netgear (at least on their older 10/100 stiff) did better -- when you saw status lights on the front, they corresponded to the wire directly behind it (FS308 swtich, for example), not the one diagonally across. However, Linksys boxes are now pretty reliable and nicely small. (Reliablity didn't used to be one of their hallmarks.) Linksys manuals also seem to be better than Netgear's on the gear I have.
I've used a WRT54G. It didn't work very well w/ B-only devices in a wireless network until I set the WRT54G for B-only use, then it worked fine.

D-link I don't have much experience with, but they are just as cheap as Netgear or Linksys, so I'm not sure there is much differentiation here. The D-link links you gave DO show 10/100/1000 on the wired 4-port switch part, an advantage over the Linksys.

Generally, as you undoubtedly know, wireless switch/router/AP combos are cheaper than AP only boxes (and that's not even counting the router-switch cost an AP would need), because they sell more of the former than the latter.

If you go w/ a 10/100/1000 wired router-switch now, and add a wireless AP, you will get your greatest flexibility, but also your greatest short (and maybe "long" (several months)) term cost. However, you can chuck the ABG wireless access point in the future in favor of the N one when it comes out, assuming the N one is backward compatible w/ A|B|G. If it isn't, you will likely be running both, buying a combo 10/100/1000 router-swtich-wireless abg AP will be a better choice. You could always add an N AP to it later (maybe).

As to current wireless, as you also undoubtedly know, G is subject to range issues and interference issues w/ microwave ovens, etc. A is better than G, but A adds a lot of cost over a BG-only box, so A is less popular. Also, who knows which one(s) may die off when N comes out, but I'd be suspicious about the longevity of A if N outclasses it. I'm sure support for B devices will be around for a long time, and G seems to tag along wherever B goes (since their in the same freq. band), even if it has interference and range issues.

So the bottom line depends on how important having gigabit wired LAN and wireless and/or wireless A is to you right now.

If you are so set on going w/ wireless N in the near future, and you must have wireless now, personally, I'd get a 10/100 combo router-switch-wireless BG box like the Linksys WRT54G now if you can live w/o gigabit wired LAN and w/o wireless A, because it will run you about $40 US (w/ rebates, if they are still there like before Christmas). That way, it doesn't hurt so much when you want to chuck it in favor of some super combo wireless ABGN-router-10/100/1000 wired LAN switch box in the future. This is probably the cheapest short term option.

If you must have gigabit wired LAN now AND wireless, consider getting the D-link (or other) combo router-switch-wireless AP now and adding an N AP later (don't bother with throwing in wireless A to the combo box, because it would add considerably to the cost and is likely to be trumped by N). I'd for sure do this if it wasn't much more expensive than the option in the previous paragraph. You could also wait a while and see how the dust settles w/ N.

I'm sure for a while at least, wireless N AP's will be more common than combo things w/ wireless N, and maybe less expensive, due to everyone wanting to upgrade existing equipment. And who knows about N being backward compatible w/ B, or anything else, so you'd be covered.

Well, all this is just MHO, and it probably doesn't tell you what you really want to know. Hope an outloud, seat-of-the-pants "analysis" at least gives some help in your decision.

[Johnny Ray]

I just bought the DLink DGL-4100, the wired version of the DGL-4300. It was a bit pricey (~$110), but so far I'm very happy with it. My trusty Belkin finally died, I did a quick impulse purchase of a USRobotics 8004 which would not port-forward correctly, and then the 4100.

[schmosef]

We've got a SonicWall router at our office that just rocks! Pricey though.

[mmp121]

If you are so set on going w/ wireless N in the near future, and you must have wireless now, personally, I'd get a 10/100 combo router-switch-wireless BG box like the Linksys WRT54G now if you can live w/o gigabit wired LAN and w/o wireless A, because it will run you about $40 US (w/ rebates, if they are still there like before Christmas). That way, it doesn't hurt so much when you want to chuck it in favor of some super combo wireless ABGN-router-10/100/1000 wired LAN switch box in the future. This is probably the cheapest short term option.

Well, all this is just MHO, and it probably doesn't tell you what you really want to know. Hope an outloud, seat-of-the-pants "analysis" at least gives some help in your decision.

Thank you very much Mcollector! I did a little more calm and cool searching on what is out there from the big 3 I listed earlier, and I have come to the realization that I am going ot have to do a cheap patch job for the time being and get a DLINK DI-524 that's on sale for $30 at Circuit City. Its got 4 10/100 ports and has just 802.11G. Granted its not exactly what I want, but I really would like to get my network back up and running ASAP. I will be picking that up tomorrow.

Its amazing how little has changed in the 3+ years since I got my first wireless router. *sniff* Darn thing worked great for many years. I just hope that this DI-524 does the job and is not a step down in terms of features from what I have now.

Thanks again for your help everyone!

[mmp121]

We've got a SonicWall router at our office that just rocks! Pricey though.

Never heard of em, but I'm gonna check em out and see if they offer what I want in terms of features. I've never been one to balk at price if it gives me what I want and is still within my budget.