Recommend wireless router for home use

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Recommend a router manufacturer (pick 2)

Linksys
1
7%
Netgear
3
21%
D-Link
2
14%
Asus
1
7%
Other
2
14%
Magic brownies
5
36%
 
Total votes: 14

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Weetabix
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Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by Weetabix »

I've upgraded my ISP at home, but I have an old wireless router that's a couple of letters behind. I'd like to upgrade that to something reliable, fast, and cheap in that order. I'd like to spend less than $200. I won't spend a much time on customization and maintenance, so if it's a whiz-bang thing that makes geeks happy I'd like it to be easy to use without delving into that.

What manufacturer do you guys recommend? Model?

What type of security do you recommend on it - WPA? WEP? Something else?

Poll added for fun because I haven't seen a poll in a while.
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Denis
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by Denis »

I vote D-link, Netgear and magic brownies. None of those ever gave me bother.
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PawPaw
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by PawPaw »

I've installed several Netgear for family and friends. Never a bother. Just set up according to instructions.
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Greg
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by Greg »

It's hard to go too wrong with Netgear, but Asus is the relatively new hotness in the wireless router/AP space (not counting professional gear).

I bought this one:

http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-Band ... B006QB1RPY

for myself for Christmas. It's a 2+ year old model, but that just means it's proven and stable. If you're not interested in AC, it's as good as anything else you're likely to find. (Of course most people do seem to want AC, so YMMV.)
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mekender
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by mekender »

I voted other... You can easily go less than $200 too...

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/ra ... outer/view

Now that, by default pulls up the AC1900 stuff, you probably don't need those. So go with the AC1200 or 1750 series...

AC will let you do a bit of future proofing in addition to being more than what you need now.

My personal suggestion would be this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008ABOJKS

But, if you want to go with the 1900, which is not a huge price difference, I would go with:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FB45SI4
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arctictom
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by arctictom »

Really like my ASUS RT-N66U have two , one at work and one at home , fast, reliable, simple to use and install.
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slowpoke
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by slowpoke »

Linksys has some major unpatched critical flaws in older routers. Stay away from the,. I suggest Buffalo, or any other one that supports open wrt and/or dd-wrt. then you can at least keep getting patches and updates.
past that try cisco.
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mekender
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by mekender »

arctictom wrote:Really like my ASUS RT-N66U have two , one at work and one at home , fast, reliable, simple to use and install.
No doubt a solid one... But for a bit more you can get the newer wireless standard and future proof.
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Greg
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by Greg »

mekender wrote:
arctictom wrote:Really like my ASUS RT-N66U have two , one at work and one at home , fast, reliable, simple to use and install.
No doubt a solid one... But for a bit more you can get the newer wireless standard and future proof.
The non-AC one gets marked down more when there's a sale, I think. I got a nice deal on mine, anyway. And by the time I have any AC devices, I'll probably be ready to buy a new router. It's nice to have headroom, but I don't like to spend extra for 'future proofing', because it never is or does.
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby

If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
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Weetabix
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Re: Recommend wireless router for home use

Post by Weetabix »

I decided on the Asus RT-N66U. Looks solid, and I can do the ddwrt stuff if I get around to it. I'm OK with future proofing, but by the time I get there, I'll probably need another anyway. I figure routers are semi-consumables.

Thanks for the input.
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