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Looking For a Wireless Router for a Home Network.

John Jones

Penultimate Amazing
John Jones
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
12,131
Location
Iowa USA
Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade my home office network. I'm looking for a wireless router. One that supports the the latest WIFI standards as of last month, has four - 1 Gig ethernet ports, at least one USB 3.0 port, and is reliable and easy to configure.


If you have any recommendations, I would appreciate hearing them.

Before anyone interjects, I have RTFM :-)
 
What's your price range? If you want the latest standard (ac), then the price range will likely determine what you're getting. Asus makes an amazing one for $250+. Linksys has a couple around $200 that are really great. Trendnet has a really good one that you can get around $150. All of those ones do have USB on them, but I can't remember if they all have USB 3. I'm certain the Asus does.

As for ease of setup, I've never set up a Trendnet router, but hear they're really good about that. Linksys is...Linksys and probably the most headache of the three. Asus (one of my favorite companies for tech) might be intimidating with it's plethora of options, but easy for simple setups.

What do you need the USB 3 for specifically? Some of them don't have enough power going through them to do compact drives, but powered drives are fine as far as I know, assuming it's for network storage.

If money isn't a problem, the Asus is my pick, although if I were buying one I'd go with the Trendnet because money, even if it can't wall mount.
 
tyr_13 said:
What's your price range? If you want the latest standard (ac), then the price range will likely determine what you're getting. Asus makes an amazing one for $250+. Linksys has a couple around $200 that are really great. Trendnet has a really good one that you can get around $150. All of those ones do have USB on them, but I can't remember if they all have USB 3. I'm certain the Asus does.

As for ease of setup, I've never set up a Trendnet router, but hear they're really good about that. Linksys is...Linksys and probably the most headache of the three. Asus (one of my favorite companies for tech) might be intimidating with it's plethora of options, but easy for simple setups.

What do you need the USB 3 for specifically? Some of them don't have enough power going through them to do compact drives, but powered drives are fine as far as I know, assuming it's for network storage.

If money isn't a problem, the Asus is my pick, although if I were buying one I'd go with the Trendnet because money, even if it can't wall mount.
Click to expand...

Money isn't a problem within reason. USD 300 or less fits my budget. The USB 3 is for sharing files (Videos and pix) among my 3 networked home computers. ASUS is one I was looking at.

Thanks,

Jones

ETA: I misunderstood. The USB 3 is for not-powered drives. I may have to amend my requirements, but even so, I can use the extra through-put of USB 3.
 
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I've had some excellent luck with the Netgear R6250. Gig-E on WAN and LAN, USB 3.0, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and I get measured throughputs of about 250Mbps on the wireless and 960Mbps on the wired. I'm on a 1Gbps internet connection and regularly have upwards of 15 clients on wired and wireless and haven't been able to saturate the router yet. The USB port directly supports USB storage as well as printers, and works with multiple devices through a USB hub.

The only function I'd like to add to it would be a built-in bittorrent client.
 
Yalius said:
I've had some excellent luck with the Netgear R6250. Gig-E on WAN and LAN, USB 3.0, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and I get measured throughputs of about 250Mbps on the wireless and 960Mbps on the wired. I'm on a 1Gbps internet connection and regularly have upwards of 15 clients on wired and wireless and haven't been able to saturate the router yet. The USB port directly supports USB storage as well as printers, and works with multiple devices through a USB hub.

The only function I'd like to add to it would be a built-in bittorrent client.
Click to expand...

Thanks all. I'm gonna give this one a try. I'll let you know how it works out.
 
I endorse the Asus routers too.

I have an RT-N66U that has performed outstandingly. It includes two USB ports. My printer and an external hard drive are networked through it. It's their low end model these days (although it has all the bells and whistles you probably really need) at ~$130.00

The AC66U and AC68U up the feature ante some without crossing the $200.00 mark.

I haven't read of anyone who regretted getting an Asus router.
 
Thirded on the asus. My RT-N66U has also performed wonderfully since I set it up a few months ago. I've not had to reboot it once!
 
tyr_13 said:
What's your price range? If you want the latest standard (ac), then the price range will likely determine what you're getting. Asus makes an amazing one for $250+. Linksys has a couple around $200 that are really great. Trendnet has a really good one that you can get around $150. All of those ones do have USB on them, but I can't remember if they all have USB 3. I'm certain the Asus does.

As for ease of setup, I've never set up a Trendnet router, but hear they're really good about that. Linksys is...Linksys and probably the most headache of the three. Asus (one of my favorite companies for tech) might be intimidating with it's plethora of options, but easy for simple setups.

What do you need the USB 3 for specifically? Some of them don't have enough power going through them to do compact drives, but powered drives are fine as far as I know, assuming it's for network storage.

If money isn't a problem, the Asus is my pick, although if I were buying one I'd go with the Trendnet because money, even if it can't wall mount.
Click to expand...
I just ordered the ASUS RT-AC87U. If it does not work I will send it to you with a nasty note! :D

I figure a new router every ten years or so is not really unreasonable...
 
Metullus said:
I just ordered the ASUS RT-AC87U. If it does not work I will send it to you with a nasty note! :D

I figure a new router every ten years or so is not really unreasonable...
Click to expand...


I think it's pretty darn good.

My last router was a Netgear. It didn't quite last two years.

It didn't go out with a bang either. More like a whimper.

An extended whimper.

It started losing its connection and needing to be rebooted at random intervals that were first months apart, then weeks, then days, then hours. Factory resets and other desperation measures only prolonged the disappointment and frustration.

Very sad.

My RT-N66U has been going strong for nearly twice that with no hint of a problem, and in spite of its age and price bracket I continue to be pleasantly surprised with features it has that I didn't know were there.

I'm sure you'll be pleased with your new Asus.

If you're not then I'll be delighted to take it off your hands. (At an appropriate discount of course. After all it is second hand. :p)
 
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Steer clear of a Belkin wireless router. I purchased a new one and it wouldn't install properly, so I rang the "service" line only to be told after 30 minutes that I needed to download a service pack. When I pointed out that the non-functioning router did not allow me to do so, I was asked if I could borrow one. I returned it, and got a Netgear, which seems bulletproof.
 
quadraginta said:
I think it's pretty darn good.

My last router was a Netgear. It didn't quite last two years.

It didn't go out with a bang either. More like a whimper.

An extended whimper.

It started losing its connection and needing to be rebooted at random intervals that were first months apart, then weeks, then days, then hours. Factory resets and other desperation measures only prolonged the disappointment and frustration.

Very sad.

My RT-N66U has been going strong for nearly twice that with no hint of a problem, and in spite of its age and price bracket I continue to be pleasantly surprised with features it has that I didn't know were there.

I'm sure you'll be pleased with your new Asus.

If you're not then I'll be delighted to take it off your hands. (At an appropriate discount of course. After all it is second hand. :p)
Click to expand...
What if I personally autograph it? Personally. By hand. With my name and everything. Won't that increase its value?
 
I'm getting nervous. I'm having to reboot the router more frequently. I'm about to start a similar hunt for a new router, though I don't *think* I care about a USB port. I've never needed on on the router before.

My limitation is ports - time to upgrade to 8. I've got 4 computers (2 always in use), a couple of printers, and a hard-wired communication device for my solar installation. I do much of my work wirelessly to get around the port limit, but the performance seems much slower. The only saving grace is that my son is out of state and no longer downloads movies while I am trying to work. :-)

CT
 
CriticalThanking said:
I'm getting nervous. I'm having to reboot the router more frequently. I'm about to start a similar hunt for a new router, though I don't *think* I care about a USB port. I've never needed on on the router before.

My limitation is ports - time to upgrade to 8. I've got 4 computers (2 always in use), a couple of printers, and a hard-wired communication device for my solar installation. I do much of my work wirelessly to get around the port limit, but the performance seems much slower. The only saving grace is that my son is out of state and no longer downloads movies while I am trying to work. :-)

CT
Click to expand...

You don't have to buy an 8-port router. You can always add a switch for about $20. I just bought a 1 Gig Assus 4-port switch for that price. Otherwise I'm stuck with the 4-port cable modem/router provided by my ISP.
 
I always go for Vigor, you can get the basic router, then add on what you need, WiFi (2.4GHz & 5GHz) with n, VoIP, virtual LANS, firewall, web and service blocking on a rule base (so you can keep yours free while putting the kids on a separate LAN and implement blocking)

The Vigor 2860 supports all the usual standards, including ADSL, ADSL2+, PPPoE, PPPoA, endless VPN solutions. It's not cheep :) but they are absolutely rock solid.

Arguably better than the equivalent CISCO which ask for licences for the extras that are built in to the Vigor
 
CriticalThanking said:
I'm getting nervous. I'm having to reboot the router more frequently. I'm about to start a similar hunt for a new router, though I don't *think* I care about a USB port. I've never needed on on the router before. <snip>
Click to expand...


There are a lot of things that you might not need but are well worth having. Having your printer and an external hard drive accessible to all your devices through the router instead of one machine assigned as a server are among those things.

Once you go there you won't want to go back.
 
quadraginta said:
Once you go there you won't want to go back.
Click to expand...

:) Its surprising how cheap a decent 3T drive is these days. We now have our own little cloud here at the madurobob ranch. And, if I want to annoy guests with home movies from our trip out West, just plunk them down in front of the big TV and stream directly to it from the harddrive plugged into the router. Its like our own mini-netflix. And Music for parties? Weeks and weeks worth.
 
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