Which ADSL wireless router?

[Paddy]

My trusty netgear DG814 router has finally died. It served me well for years but recently I have been having to reboot it several times a day just to re-establish my ADSL connection. I have cat5 running through my house to a switch in the garage, but it would be nice to add a wireless AP.

I guess it would be nice to be a future proof as possible, so ADSL2 supoprt would be great. The DG834PN seems to be getting good reviews, but what are you guys using?

[az]

We get our DSL modems supplied from the telecoms here, so we use routers with an Ethernet port for the Modem.

I have recently bought a Linksys WRT54G, which works very well (my old D-Link DI624+ didn't like many connections from filesharing clients and crashed every few days). I've called Linksys support once because of a problem that turned out to be something with my computer (so they couldn't help me). They were very very friendly, didn't treat me like a newb, didn't make me wait even 10 seconds, and their german help line is toll free (UK one starts with 0870). The experience I had with their very nice support is the reason I'll be looking for Linksys if I ever need new networking hardware.

As a general hint: MIMO and other extended range stuff really works, and is almost needed if you want to cover more than just the next room. I guess this kind of stuff works best if all your WLAN gear is from one manufacturer.

The WRT54G's firmware is linux-based. Gurm can tell you more about alternative, more powerful firmwares, I think (though you will lose warranty and support, of course).

[Gurm]

Well you don't lose warranty, you can just flash it back. *evil grin*

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the WRT54G, only not revision 5, because they halved the RAM in that - some think in a sad attempt to stop the aftermarket firmware people.

I have never been happier with a router than I am with my WRT54G v2.2 running HyperWRT Tofu 11.

Edit: Carp! They came out with 3 new revisions when I wasn't looking! The latest supports (unofficially) running an XLink Kai Daemon ON THE ROUTER! THIS is why I like the WRT54G - so much processing power in such a cheap box. Try getting your DLink to run a Kai daemon in firmware!

[Paddy]

How is the WRT54G with excessive connections AKA bittorrent?

[Paddy]

Whilst the WRT54G looks impressive AND it's half the price of the DG834PN, the DG834PN boasts five times the coverage... Is this real?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=332871

Gurm:
Perhaps this (WRT54GS) is the newer model with better coverage?

[Gurm]

The WRT54GS has "speedbooster", aka hardware compression.

Otherwise it is pretty similar to the WRT54G. In fact you can add the "S" with a firmware crossflash, if you really want to.

In terms of coverage, HyperWRT improves on that as well.

Also, in terms of Bit Torrent, I haven't had a problem since updating to the more recent Tofu builds. The big problem with Bit Torrent in many routers is that they cache IP/MAC addresses. They have limited RAM... and poor cache expiry schemes. The default firmwares for the WRT54G had this problem until just recently, so Bit Torrent WOULD swamp them. HyperWRT fixed this months ago.

[az]

My WRT54G (rev 3.something, I think, with stock firmware 4.something) has never crashed with Overnet. I've only had it for a few weeks, though.

[Paddy]

Ok Cheers. I'll bag one of these. If the Firmware can be flashed, is there any point in getting the 'S' version?

[Gurm]

Ok Cheers. I'll bag one of these. If the Firmware can be flashed, is there any point in getting the 'S' version?

You'd need to go look on the HyperWRT forums, but the 'S' version might have better antennae? Maybe not though. Hard to say. There IS a hardware difference, but I honestly just don't recall if it was an important one or not.

The PRIMARY thing to remember is NOT to buy a revision/version 5 of this router. Under ANY circumstances. It was crippled in hardware by Linksys.

[az]

How much does the HypwerWhatever firmware improve range, circa? And are there any other reasons to upgrade for an ordinary (surfing, mailing, watching and/or listening to streams while sharing files) user?

[Paddy]

hmmm... I am going to find it difficult sourcing a V4 model...

[az]

Do all retailers you shop at specify the revision? I bought mine without knowing what revision it would be and it was 3.x

[Gurm]

Do all retailers you shop at specify the revision? I bought mine without knowing what revision it would be and it was 3.x

There's a sticker on the outside of the box sometimes. Other times I've seen a cutout so you can see the serial tag on the router itself...

I didn't think twice when buying mine, because 2.2 was what was in stores at the time. But I'm told you CAN identify the v5's.

Again, check the HyperWRT forum for more information, it's a big topic over there.

[Gurm]

How much does the HypwerWhatever firmware improve range, circa? And are there any other reasons to upgrade for an ordinary (surfing, mailing, watching and/or listening to streams while sharing files) user?

Quite a bit and yes, in that order.

Essentially Linksys have pretty much abandoned trying to write good firmwares. Instead, they focus on making the new version of the device.

So instead of fixing the problems with their "B" router, they instead pretty much just abandoned it and started in on the new generation of "B" and "G" routers. It's sad, because there exists NO fix for my mom's router.

This firmware adds a TON of functionality.

First and foremost, you get complete control over all the features, and can access all the scripts! Nice to be able to write your own code for the device.

Secondly, the list of standardized features is impressive. My personal favorite is the expanded port forwarding list, because I fill mine up pretty darn fast, and Linksys only gives you like 15 entries.

There's just a TON of stuff that it does, in addition to just running faster/smoother/better/less lag.

[Paddy]

I'll phone around a few shops then.
And you would definatley recommend this over the other despite the fact that it doesn't support ADSL2 or 802.11a/b?

*edit* not that i need either...