Best available Router 2011

[bigredshark]

Do you genuinely believe that these services will either save the user time or money compared to the time given to understanding or implementing them?
It's the same as the argument as "Why buy a car that can do 200mph when the speed limit is 70mph?"

What - working SIP? Yes, I think it's not unreasonable to think some people might want that, and configuring it on a box which does it properly is a matter of enabling it. There aren't any options, it's either on or off.

I also think working IPv6 might be useful given the scarcity of IPv4 space today, that's the reason IPv6 isn't getting wider uptake by the way, because consumer routers *still* can't access it 5 years after the standard was defined and taken up by proper vendors.

Both are useful features today and are likely to be bordering on essential in a few years. So yes, I think they're worth pointing out.

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

SIP is useful, but far from mainstream.
I suppose a home router could come with preset modes like the Cisco models do (I don't have experience with Juniper), but for anything beyond the very basic it would be too much trouble for most users.

IPv6 is still a touchy subject, and my point about buying a router when it becomes essential still works out much cheaper than buying something which is essentially overkill.

I'm not denying they're useful, if you have a need for them. Most people do not.

and the car argument - ever heard of acceleration or track days?

I think people kid themselves about how often they go to track days, as much as people convince themselves they need an i7 990X to play the latest Call Of Duty and watch iPlayer.
It's not a perfect analogy but you're basically paying for things you either won't use or will use very rarely.

I think the OP should take a look at the Netgear N750 WNDR4000, which ticks every box.
http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wirelessrouters/high-performance/wndr4000.aspx

 

[Combat Fighter]

Still loving my Dreytek 2820n.

I like it because it can use broadband + cable and never gets overloaded plus the signal is very good.

I can recommend a Dreytek, not cheap but I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

Still loving my Dreytek 2820n.

Works well as a VPN endpoint and has decent throughput, it's a nice piece of kit.

It's little brother, the 2130n is also very nice.

 

[manisinghb]

Maybe the OP would like to set a budget

and the car argument - ever heard of acceleration or track days ?

Yes thank u I'd have to put my budget at <£100 perhaps could go over a LITTLE but would rather stick to <£100. PS sorry whats the acceleration/track days comment about?

Right so far, a lot of you are recommending the 7800n or the WRT610n and DGND3700. I think a more clear list of needs is needed:

- ADSL
- Giga Ports
- Good wireless capabilities to reach a laptop and iPhone all over the house and PS3
- Ethernet connections
- readyNAS
- USB port(s)
- wireless N capabilities

*DESIRABLE after some read around but maybe some of u can put me straight and tell me this isn't important:
- 'Broadcom Chipset' (because my line is weak/poor)
- and new 'Broadcom ADSL chips'

& as I have mentioned I'm not too brilliant on the whole networking front so perhaps some input: I see a lot of people talking about a router connected to a seperate modem. Now I don't know if I need this because at the moment I am using a D-Link router supplied by my ISP, will I need it and will it help with my connection?

 

[benftl]

wrt610n desn't have an inbuilt ADSL modem so unless you're wanting to bridge a modem with this I suppose it wouldn't suit you.

The 7800n comes highly recommended by members on here so it sounds like the best choice out of the remaining two modem/routers listed.

 

[dewi]

The NETGEAR DGND3700 is also very good. I bought one myself. The NETGEAR DGND3700 and the Billion 7800N seem to have very similar specifications:

- Both are dual-WAN (ADSL2+ and Ethernet)
- Both include a 4-port Gigabit switch
- Both support 802.11n; the 7800N is single-band, the DGND3700 is dual-band (simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
- The 7800N uses the Broadcom BCM6358 chipset; the DGND3700 uses the newer Broadcom BCM6368 chipset, which is dual-core
- The DGND3700 offers ReadySHARE USB Storage Access and DLNA support; I haven't tried this myself, since I have a Windows Home Server

 

[dmsims]

The Billion does IPv6

 

[Zarf]

I'd never buy linksys since Cisco took over them (they've been pants ever since - google them!) and who said budget was an issue?

Indeed, my WAG160N was rubbish - needed power cycling multiple times a week because it would randomly stop accepting wireless connections. Even when used purely as a bridge for my net connection it wasn't particularly stable either. I suspect this is due to heat issues, it got pretty warm to the touch - form over function I think there.

I'd also avoid Belkin stuff, had a few of their consumer routers die on me over the years.

Netgear kit has always been good to me, as has TP-Link.

 

[bledd]

My mum has the WAG160N

It's an ok router, but she's had to restart it a few times. Sometimes it just stops working.

 

[dewi]

The Billion does IPv6

That's a good point. NETGEAR has made a vague promise, "With respect to IPV6, many of our current routers are already IPV6 certified and in the next several quarters, NETGEAR plans to roll out IPV6 in a firmware upgrade to several supported products", but the Billion 7800N supports IPV6 now (since the 7 June 2011 firmware update).

 

[RSR]

Cisco 887 would be my all in one choice right now, nothing better out there. Make no mistake, it *IS* the best available, it probably isn't the best available for what you're prepared to pay.

Have Cisco moved on from the Alcatel 20190 chipset with the 887? As IMO it's dire and doesnt work correctly with the 21CN DSLAMS.

I have just given up on a HWIC-1ADSL card, for my 1841 as its just not stable. By that I mean the SNR ratio seems to fluctuate between 0.0 to 13db. I have also found that Attenuation normally reads higher then the older cards as well which doesn't help with sync problems.

EDIT: 887 uses a broadcom chipset, I also believe the new chipset is capable of Multi Mode VDSL2/ADSL/2/2+. So it would work well with FTTC installs.

 

[manisinghb]

ok so I'm still as confused as ever because there are a lot of good recommendations here (887 is a bit out of my price league) so still... atm the 3700N looks like my best candidate... again my criteria:

- ADSL
- Giga Ports
- Good wireless capabilities to reach a laptop and iPhone all over the house and PS3
- Ethernet connections
- readyNAS
- USB port(s)
- wireless N capabilities
- budget <£100 (could go a little over)

 

[dmsims]

Well given that the 887VA is 3 times your budget we can scratch that one

I don't understand why you want USB ports and isn't readyNAS a separate box ?

 

[RSR]

- ADSL
- Giga Ports
- Good wireless capabilities to reach a laptop and iPhone all over the house and PS3
- Ethernet connections
- readyNAS
- USB port(s)
- wireless N capabilities
- budget <£100 (could go a little over)

Without being unkind, you'll also struggle to setup a 887 without prior Cisco knowledge.

Ethernet Connection & Gigaports ? - They are the same thing! Also they often are dog slow compared to a normal switch. Have you though about a cheaper Router and Switch? Why do you need Gb connections?

Wireless - I guess you'll be looking at a dual band router?

 

[RSR]

I don't understand why you want USB ports and isn't readyNAS a separate box ?

Correct.

 

[VeNT]

Any others you feel I've missed?

I can see these becoming bigger and bigger issues as we get faster and faster connections
What do they do in Japan/etc where they have connections 2-3x faster than ours already?

 

[Yamahahahahaha]

Newer routers can handle lots of NAT throughput without much hassle (Hundreds of mbit/s).

If you want more complex features, you have to pay more. It's not exactly rocket science.

 

[Destination]

I've a WRT610N, I think its pretty good.
Very strong wireless, we went for walk yesterday and were amazed by just how far we got from the house before the wireless dropped to 3G. Joys of hiding your SSID

 

[manisinghb]

hi guys, well I have been reading around a little and some of you have put me straight =P I guess I was being naive asking for too much that I don't need i.e. NAS and USB ports. The USB ports I wanted primarily to attach a HDD to stream content on devices around the house, but I guess this could be done via Windows Homegroup? I think I might go for the Billion 7800N as it seems to be getting the most feedback and positive reviews.

Only other thing I would ask is about the Linksys Cisco...what are your thoughts on this brand? My girlfriend's brother recommends it as he has one and he lives in a considerably large detached house and signals are strong all around except in his loft, hmm...