How to choose a wireless ADSL router?

clv101 · 5 Jun 2006 at 10:17

I'm looking for a new wireless ADSL router after my Netgear DG834G gave up the ghost.

Does anyone have any opinions on these products, they are cheap and things can be a bit hit and miss at this end of the market but then again the Netgear was hardly a premium product! Anyone comments?

Billion 5102G BiPAC 54Mbps ADSL2/2+ Wireless Router ~£45
3Com 3CRWDR101A-75 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Router ~£46
Billion 7202GR2 BiPAC 54Mbps ADSL2/2+ Wireless Router w/QoS ~£50

Or is it worth spending a bit more on these kind of products?

Netgear DG834G 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Router & Firewall ~£67
Linksys WAG54GS ADSL2/2+ Wireless Router w/SpeedBooster ~£68
ZyXEL Prestige 660HW Security ADSL 54Mbps Wireless Router ~£74

Surely this can't be worth it?

Draytek Vigor 2800G 108Mbps Super G Firewall VPN ADSL 2/2+ Wireless Router ~£148

Looking at MIMO devices opens up more such as:

Linksys WAG54GX2 Wireless-G ADSL 2/2+ Gateway with SRX200 ~£97
Belkin F5D8630uk4A Pre-N ADSL 2/2+ Wireless MIMO Router ~£106

I'm not too fussed about MIMO though since I don't want to replace my 802.11b in the laptop and old desktop or 802.11g in the other desktop. Although MIMO offers improvements even with old cards, I've never had a problem with coverage.

How do people choose a wireless router these days?

Deleted member 651465 · 5 Jun 2006 at 10:19

Performance vs cost vs reliability ?

clv101 · 5 Jun 2006 at 10:23

EVH said:
Performance vs cost vs reliability ?

And are you able to quantify the performance and reliability of those products? How does the performance and reliability of the 3Com 3CRWDR101A-75 at ~£46 compare to that of the Linksys WAG54GS at ~£68?

tolien · 5 Jun 2006 at 11:17

One has Speedbooster and the other doesn't for starters, so the Linksys should be a bit faster over the wireless segment.
The Zyxel's pretty crappy, and so was the 3Com that preceded that one. Depending what you want it for, the Draytek might very well be worth the money.

The Billion's been mentioned on these forums, and elsewhere - go search.

Bonjour_Rodney · 5 Jun 2006 at 15:14

Linksys all the way. I never have ANY problems with mine.

Wyvern971 · 5 Jun 2006 at 17:14

If you can afford it I would reccomend the Draytek.

My 2600 is Rock Solid, hasn't dropped the connex (that I've noticed) and hasn't needed a reboot since I connected it 4 months ago (and before I moved it didn't get touched for almost a year)

Personally haven't had any issues, but apparently Draytek have a bit of a problem with breaking features or features not working with each firmware release.

(I've not used a 2800 so I've no idea how it is, but going from the results I've had with a 2600VG I'd say it's not bad at all)

clv101 · 5 Jun 2006 at 19:59

Thanks for the feedback.

I really don't know. All I have is two desktops, one with 802.11g, one with 802.11b and a laptop with 802.11b (don't want to buy new wireless cards). Everything is pretty close so signal shouldn't be a problem, certainly wasn't with the old Netgear DG834G and the connection is only used to share ADSL and a printer so I don't really need a fancy air interface (MIMO, draft 802.11n etc). However I am a radio engineer and quite like playing around with the radio side so I'm tempted by the new technology!

Does the choice of router impact on how well MSN and Skype (voice and video) and Bit Torrent work? I use both.

I think my shortlist is now down to:

3Com 3CRWDR101A-75 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Router ~£46
Billion 7202GR2 BiPAC 54Mbps ADSL2/2+ Wireless Router w/QoS ~£50
BT Voyager 2110 Wireless ADSL Router ~£70
Linksys WAG54GX2 Wireless-G ADSL 2/2+ Gateway with SRX200 ~£97
Belkin F5D8630uk4A Pre-N ADSL 2/2+ Wireless MIMO Router ~£106

I think I would get the Linksys or (more likely) the Belkin IF I knew their performance and reliability as routers/ADSL adapters was top notch. Apart from the new air interface does anyone know about their ability as routers/ADSL adapters?

tolien · 5 Jun 2006 at 20:33

clv101 said:
All I have is two desktops, one with 802.11g, one with 802.11b and a laptop with 802.11b (don't want to buy new wireless cards).

Not much point in Speedbooster or MIMO then.

Does the choice of router impact on how well MSN and Skype (voice and video)

Not particularly.

and Bit Torrent work?

Maybe. A better router will have some combination of more RAM or a more sensible system for handling lots of connections.

I use both.

At the same time?
Decent router with QoS might come in useful if you want to be downloading and getting sensible latency and/or jitter-free calls.

How to choose a wireless ADSL router?

Deleted member 651465

Deleted member 651465