Which Router

jamjar · 16 Jan 2007 at 15:03

Hi i,m looking to get a Router ,but which one to get ? i like the Netgear ones but saw this model any views on it ?
Linksys WAG354G-UK 4-Port Wireless-G Broadband Modem Router :confused:

div0 · 16 Jan 2007 at 15:49

I had one and it was fine when it worked - but every now and again I'd get random drops of my connection and it wouldn't re-connect easily.

Usually a reboot of the router fixed it, but eventually I couldn't get it to connect at all. I just went back to using my old USB modem and haven't had any connection issues at all.

I could have had a one-off fault, but when I get a new router I'll probably go with something different like the Speedtouch 585i or a Netgear.

jamjar · 16 Jan 2007 at 16:38

div0 said:
I had one and it was fine when it worked - but every now and again I'd get random drops of my connection and it wouldn't re-connect easily.

Usually a reboot of the router fixed it, but eventually I couldn't get it to connect at all. I just went back to using my old USB modem and haven't had any connection issues at all.

I could have had a one-off fault, but when I get a new router I'll probably go with something different like the Speedtouch 585i or a Netgear.

Yeah i think i,ll give the Netgear a go,if i get trouble i,ll go back to a usb like you said ,what make usb do u have ? are Speedtouch 300 any good ? or Zyxel ? plus i will need to make sure its Vista compatable .. :confused:

Dist · 16 Jan 2007 at 17:09

i have a wired netgear router and its given me nothing but trouble. setting it up was perfectly easy, but for my use it causes tons of problems. for instance i use bit torrent a lot, and so use UPnP to automaticaly take care of any port fowarding stuff, problem is, if i run torrents for a long time (overnight for example) then the router messes up and keeps thinking im still using a torrent, it even shows on the UPnP page that im using a torrent, even if im not. and when i get that bug, 90% of other internet (even on compleatly different ports) stops working, and requires a router reset to fix.

also the netgear router i got has a terrible log, when using the interface the log page only shows basic things, like admin logon/logoff, failed login, connection to isp established etc.... to get a full log it has to be emailed from the router to you. and even then, the timestamp is screwed up, even if a correct time set on the router, the time stamp is still usualy wrong. also the log is limited to 128 lines, which realy limits what it can display.

imo, dont get a netgear router, switches and NICs ive had no problems with, but all the netgear routers ive tried had problems.

imo if you are looking for a router, get a linksys one, thats what i plan to do next (im going to install linux on it too when i get it to provide some more options).

PaulProteus · 16 Jan 2007 at 17:14

I have had Netgear wireless router for almost three months now and although I also download lots of torrents I have not experienced the problems Dist describes. This is a safe option IMO.

jamjar · 16 Jan 2007 at 17:46

Dist said:
i have a wired netgear router and its given me nothing but trouble. setting it up was perfectly easy, but for my use it causes tons of problems. for instance i use bit torrent a lot, and so use UPnP to automaticaly take care of any port fowarding stuff, problem is, if i run torrents for a long time (overnight for example) then the router messes up and keeps thinking im still using a torrent, it even shows on the UPnP page that im using a torrent, even if im not. and when i get that bug, 90% of other internet (even on compleatly different ports) stops working, and requires a router reset to fix.

also the netgear router i got has a terrible log, when using the interface the log page only shows basic things, like admin logon/logoff, failed login, connection to isp established etc.... to get a full log it has to be emailed from the router to you. and even then, the timestamp is screwed up, even if a correct time set on the router, the time stamp is still usualy wrong. also the log is limited to 128 lines, which realy limits what it can display.

imo, dont get a netgear router, switches and NICs ive had no problems with, but all the netgear routers ive tried had problems.

imo if you are looking for a router, get a linksys one, thats what i plan to do next (im going to install linux on it too when i get it to provide some more options).

Thanks for the very indepth and interesting thread,and it has helped me a lot ,i too am a downloader ,i do a lot of t.v series like Lost ,CSI etc plus films i use Emule ,and i,m a little reluctant to go away from what i know works ie usb .its just the drivers problem i have been reading about with Vista made me think of changing ,but i do know that the Thomson Speedtouch 300 will be getting Vista drivers as stated on there website . :confused:

Craigius · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:20

I have the Linksys WAG54GS and i have had to take one back to the shop as the wireless side of it stopped working im on my second one now so fingers crossed, in the summer it can get hot and lock up.

Hope that helps.

Massive Attack · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:33

have had a netgeat dg834gt for over a year now never been switched off constantly been downloading no probs whatsoever, fantastic router would recomend to anyone.

jamjar · 16 Jan 2007 at 18:42

Massive Attack said:
have had a netgeat dg834gt for over a year now never been switched off constantly been downloading no probs whatsoever, fantastic router would recomend to anyone.

thanks for that ,but what about p2p does it like that ? does it need setting up to allow it ? :confused:

PaulProteus · 16 Jan 2007 at 20:42

jamjar said:
thanks for that ,but what about p2p does it like that ? does it need setting up to allow it ?

I have never had to forward ports in order to get the P2P working. As massive attack said Netgear is rock solid. As with everything you could get bad reviews, but often people do not upgrade to the latest firmware and keep complaining.

Sometimes it is just bad luck.

The money/choice is yours.

Massive Attack · 16 Jan 2007 at 21:37

jamjar said:
thanks for that ,but what about p2p does it like that ? does it need setting up to allow it ?

loves it doesnt need any settiing up, if it does with specific p2p progs its easy enugh to do it, been using mine for p2p the last year or so, has a great online management system also

div0 · 16 Jan 2007 at 22:12

jamjar said:
Yeah i think i,ll give the Netgear a go,if i get trouble i,ll go back to a usb like you said ,what make usb do u have ? are Speedtouch 300 any good ? or Zyxel ? plus i will need to make sure its Vista compatable ..

I've got a Thompson Speedtouch 330 USB Modem here, had it ever since I first moved to broadband many years ago! Never failed me once!

I think thats why the Speedtouch 585i Router will probably be my next purchase!

TBH you'll find people who have had problems with every kind of router - and many who'll have had the same router for a long time and never had a problem.

The main reason that I won't be replacing my Linksys WAG354G Wireless Router with another of the same kind - is that although it is cheap - it looks and feels cheap too! As I said before, when it was working it worked fine, but from day one I never really had much confidence that it would be "rock solid" for any length of time.

Dist · 17 Jan 2007 at 13:01

just so that people know the router i had problems with its the netgear RP614v3, its on latest firmware (although the last time firmware was released was december 2004!).

I should point out that the problem with the UPnP messing up only happens sometimes, i could have a download running for days, close the torrent, and it would all be fine, but other times i do then same thing, and the UPnP page still says the torrent is active, when this happens im guessing it gets swamped by connections (since theres no client running to controll the number of connections?) which causses loss of conectivity for other programs/websites. thats just a guess though, the problem could be something else to do with torrents/ports.

another downside to the router (not a problem, just a lack of features) is that its not possible to block a range of IP's, its not something that has to be done in every day use, but being able to ban a range of ips can still be usefull.

PaulProteus · 17 Jan 2007 at 14:56

Dist said:
just so that people know the router i had problems with its the netgear RP614v3, its on latest firmware (although the last time firmware was released was december 2004!).

I should point out that the problem with the UPnP messing up only happens sometimes, i could have a download running for days, close the torrent, and it would all be fine, but other times i do then same thing, and the UPnP page still says the torrent is active, when this happens im guessing it gets swamped by connections (since theres no client running to controll the number of connections?) which causses loss of conectivity for other programs/websites. thats just a guess though, the problem could be something else to do with torrents/ports.

another downside to the router (not a problem, just a lack of features) is that its not possible to block a range of IP's, its not something that has to be done in every day use, but being able to ban a range of ips can still be usefull.

I was talking about DG834PN, new-ish (Nov 2005) one.

It has all these options you mention. Tbh I have never heard of any router that has not been negatively reviewed at certain point. It boils down to personal preferences and if one goes for a decent brand they could not go wrong (imho).

Cheers.

G@rethf · 17 Jan 2007 at 15:26

I have had the Linksys WAG354G for the last couple of months & had been very pleased with it. The only problems I had with it prior to this week were a couple of occassions where the wireless signal dropped out but a reset solved this. Earlier this week we had a power cut and now the Linksys is basically dead. After trawling the web I found loads of users who have had exactly the same problem, when power is cut to the router it corrupts the firmware and there is no way to flash an update. Not impressed!

Have just been out this afternoon and changed it for a Netgear DG834GT, which I hope will be a better option.

I would definately steer clear of the WAG354G as there must be a serious design flaw for so many people to experience exactly the same failure.

div0 · 17 Jan 2007 at 15:45

Interesting!! - I do believe there may well have been a power cut around the time my WAG354G went belly-up

At the time I never really made a link between the power cut and the router failing, but now that you mention it, that does seem like it may have been the cause!

PaulProteus · 17 Jan 2007 at 15:58

G@rethf said:
I have had the Linksys WAG354G for the last couple of months & had been very pleased with it. The only problems I had with it prior to this week were a couple of occassions where the wireless signal dropped out but a reset solved this. Earlier this week we had a power cut and now the Linksys is basically dead. After trawling the web I found loads of users who have had exactly the same problem, when power is cut to the router it corrupts the firmware and there is no way to flash an update. Not impressed!

Have just been out this afternoon and changed it for a Netgear DG834GT, which I hope will be a better option.

I would definately steer clear of the WAG354G as there must be a serious design flaw for so many people to experience exactly the same failure.

The good thing about Netgear is that you could revive the router even though the firmware upgrade has not been successfully done. They have this Recovery tool and you could erase the EPROM and install the new firmware. The power cut should not be a problem in this situation (touch wood

)