New Router

[aShufflinZombie]

Hello,
I'm in the market for a new router but since I only buy a new router ever 5 years, I have no clue which models are better/worse.

This is my current router: http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Linksys...id=1358703626&sr=8-1&keywords=linksys+wrt55g2

I don't need any special features like parental controls, apps or whatnot. Just a N-router with decent speeds and connectivity. I'm currently getting 53.01 up and 10.63 down, which is extremely close to the 54mbps that G can provide. I would like Gigabit ports.

Suggestions please?

Thank you for your time.

 

[jalu6]

http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wireless-Router-Gigabit-WNDR3700/dp/B002HWRJY4/

Here's what I use at home. Never had a problem with it and it has good range in my condo. I keep it on the second floor and my game systems in the basement get a consistent 4-5 bars and good download speeds. Also has 1GB ports and you can create a guest network if you're into that sort of thing.

 

[Thrinn]

Normally I'm a fan of Netgear equipment, but I have to say that you should avoid the WNDR3400. It's one of their previous models but seems to still be widely available in stores. Jalu is suggesting the newer 3700 model and from what little I've seen of it seems to be much more reliable.

 

[kuramura]

[quote name='jalu6']http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wireless-Router-Gigabit-WNDR3700/dp/B002HWRJY4/

Here's what I use at home. Never had a problem with it and it has good range in my condo. I keep it on the second floor and my game systems in the basement get a consistent 4-5 bars and good download speeds. Also has 1GB ports and you can create a guest network if you're into that sort of thing.[/QUOTE]

Thats 89.99 is really that much better than cheap routers?

 

[jmbreci]

[quote name='jalu6']http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wireless-Router-Gigabit-WNDR3700/dp/B002HWRJY4/

Here's what I use at home. Never had a problem with it and it has good range in my condo. I keep it on the second floor and my game systems in the basement get a consistent 4-5 bars and good download speeds. Also has 1GB ports and you can create a guest network if you're into that sort of thing.[/QUOTE]

I am torn on this because I too have this but Netgear ed up - seriously ed up a firmware release and left it up for over a week in December before pulling it. Along with that they had no easy way to back out of it - to the point of where you could not install any other version of firmware (rollback) without resetting it and going into a TFTP install. While I know how to do it, it was still a far bigger pain in the @ss than what I wanted since I work with networking items a lot. I am still annoyed by the whole experience and will probably not get another Netgear after this.

You can do guest, you can segment frequency ranges (2.4 and 5) and create separate wireless networks for each if your equipment supports it.

Honestly, you need to decide what you want to spend. Want all of the bells and whistles and wait another 5+ before upgrading? Get the new ASUS AC http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/asus-rt-ac66u-802/4505-3319_7-35406080.html

If you want to spend around $100, then I'd say get the 3700. The router is good but do not go above the v12 firmware (my memory recollection).

 

[aShufflinZombie]

[quote name='jmbreci']I am torn on this because I too have this but Netgear ed up - seriously ed up a firmware release and left it up for over a week in December before pulling it. Along with that they had no easy way to back out of it - to the point of where you could not install any other version of firmware (rollback) without resetting it and going into a TFTP install. While I know how to do it, it was still a far bigger pain in the @ss than what I wanted since I work with networking items a lot. I am still annoyed by the whole experience and will probably not get another Netgear after this.

You can do guest, you can segment frequency ranges (2.4 and 5) and create separate wireless networks for each if your equipment supports it.

Honestly, you need to decide what you want to spend. Want all of the bells and whistles and wait another 5+ before upgrading? Get the new ASUS AC http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/asus-rt-ac66u-802/4505-3319_7-35406080.html

If you want to spend around $100, then I'd say get the 3700. The router is good but do not go above the v12 firmware (my memory recollection).[/QUOTE]

I'm probably going to purchase the 3700 but if it ships with v12, does that mean that I'm Snafu'ed?

 

[aShufflinZombie]

Thanks for the input. Seriously. I asked the exact same question on anadtech and they basically told me that I needed to get some $200 router or else it wasn't worth it.

 

[jmbreci]

Actually I think it was the .32 firmware that had the issues. For gods sake I hope they didn't ship any with that rev on it. I could not print to any of my wireless printers. There were a TON of problems. You want the .12 firmware.

Netgear Forum Link for the issue.

Link on how to manually downgrade the firmware.