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Do I need a router? & Cheap router suggestions?

861 views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  itzzjason 
#1 ·
Hello,

I've changed my internet provider and now my connection speed's 100mbps, however my router is not good enough to handle it, so I should buy a new one. However I was also suggested connecting my computer straight to the internet box thingy (whatever it is), however it won't give me the extra layer of security, so I don't think that's the good solution, but if it is - I wouldn't have to buy a router.

Now, if I do need to buy a router (which I most likely do), could you suggest anything, preferably for cheap? Assuming there's something half-decent for $20-30, if not, maybe the cheapest router that would give me decent quality and could handle a 100mbps line? I'm also gonna use wifi in ~30-40m radius (through walls too). I'm not looking for a long-term investment, more of a 2-4year purchase. (had this one for 7 years or so, so far)

Thanks.

EDIT: Choosing between one of those, so far:
Linksys E1200
TRENDnet TEW-711BR
TRENDnet TEW-637AP
TRENDnet TEW-733GR
Asus RT-N12 D1
 
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#4 ·
I highly doubt your router isn't at least 100Mbs on the wired ports. I don't think they've made base 10 equipment in the last seven years.

If you are on wireless...I wouldn't bother. Wireless N isn't that much better than wireless G. If you haven't missed Wireless N all this time you won't miss it now. It can't reliably stream HD content...it will be touch and go, but Wireless G will handle any online videos fine. My Wife will even watch Netflix "HD" (the fake HD...not their new 4k content of course) content on wireless G on a roughly 70% signal quite often with no issues.

Note that you would also need to have wireless N on the devices you wish to hook up as well or it's all for nothing.
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PedroC1999 View Post

You may have upgraded to a 100mbps top deal, but it won't be, thats just the maximum and you wont reach it most probably
It works as promised, I'm factually sure of that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by beers View Post

If you have plans to use wifi then you need a router.

$20-30 is a bit on the painfully-low end...
How much would I have to pay then?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagrant Storm View Post

I highly doubt your router isn't at least 100Mbs on the wired ports. I don't think they've made base 10 equipment in the last seven years.

If you are on wireless...I wouldn't bother. Wireless N isn't that much better than wireless G. If you haven't missed Wireless N all this time you won't miss it now. It can't reliably stream HD content...it will be touch and go, but Wireless G will handle any online videos fine. My Wife will even watch Netflix "HD" (the fake HD...not their new 4k content of course) content on wireless G on a roughly 70% signal quite often with no issues.

Note that you would also need to have wireless N on the devices you wish to hook up as well or it's all for nothing.
It may be an older router, I didn't pay top price for it, it came from my old ISP, but it doesn't push it to 100mbps - I checked with the support.

I use wireless for my tablet and wire for my PC, so while that's okay for my tablet, I use my PC much more.

And yea, at the moment I've no problems with wireless g, it can handle videos from TED, which look HD to me (720p maybe?)
 
#6 ·
Oh, well, if it came from some ISP who knows what cheap junk they might have dug up.

If you are looking for a good deal on a router try to find something from Dlink. I used to avoid them like the plague, but I've heard good things out of them lately and I now own a couple...I use them as access points and not routers though, but I have nothing bad to say about them. I paid about $30 a piece for them too. I know some people using Trendnet products too that say they are surprisingly good, too.

my personal recommendation is to increase the budget to about $70 or so and find a Linksys router in that price range, but it isn't a requirement to have a decent router. The cheaper ones might just require you to power them on and off every now and then...like once a month or something. The wireless like to die on them from what I've seen. Some routers even come with a keep alive option where you can schedule them to power up and down. My Dlink access points/routers do that every day at 3AM.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagrant Storm View Post

Oh, well, if it came from some ISP who knows what cheap junk they might have dug up.

If you are looking for a good deal on a router try to find something from Dlink. I used to avoid them like the plague, but I've heard good things out of them lately and I now own a couple...I use them as access points and not routers though, but I have nothing bad to say about them. I paid about $30 a piece for them too. I know some people using Trendnet products too that say they are surprisingly good, too.

my personal recommendation is to increase the budget to about $70 or so and find a Linksys router in that price range, but it isn't a requirement to have a decent router. The cheaper ones might just require you to power them on and off every now and then...like once a month or something. The wireless like to die on them from what I've seen. Some routers even come with a keep alive option where you can schedule them to power up and down. My Dlink access points/routers do that every day at 3AM.
These are the available options that seem okay, but I'm not sure which one I should pick:

Linksys E1200
TRENDnet TEW-711BR
TRENDnet TEW-637AP
TRENDnet TEW-733GR
Asus RT-N12 D1
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagrant Storm View Post

With out a doubt I would take the E1200...I just setup one of those about a week ago for some one with DD-WRT on it. That is one thing bad about trendnet...their DD-WRT compatibility isn't that great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bridgypoo View Post

No mention of Asus?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320168

Sent from my XT1055 using Tapatalk
Quote:
Originally Posted by chargerz919 View Post

I second the Asus RT-N12. It would have been great if I was in a house instead of an apartment with 24 networks set up on the 2.4 Ghz frequency. I ended up having to go with a dual band AC router. My CCNP friend uses the RT-N12 for his home network.

Amazon is slightly cheaper than newegg.
All that being said, I'd say it's E1200 vs. RT-N12, then.
 
#12 ·
Heh, actually if it available to you I'd go with that RT-N12 as well...though the firmware is a little annoying if you actually log into it and change things. It sets it self up fairly well though so you might not need to mess with anything.

I think it is a slightly superior piece of hardware if you look past the firmware. I am pretty sure all of them support IPv6 too while only the E1200 v.2 will. That could start to be more important in the near future.
 
#13 ·
I can attest for Asus price to quality ratio. Bought a RT N10+ a year and a half ago and it handles two folding rigs, two desktops and at least 3 mobile devices. Got it for $29.96 at the egg. Of course it's discontinued but I would think the N12 would be equal in performance.

Sent from my XT1055 using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
Just curious, do you happen to have an old computer that you may be willing to run 24/7 as a router? Getting an Intel Dual NIC and installing it on the old computer, plus loading pfSense software would give you an extraordinarily quick routing experience. My Sempron 140, 2 GB DDR2 rig with an 80 gb WD HDD handles my 50/25 FiOS connection (getting 68/38 on Speedtest.net) with ease.

I figure if you wanted to get the best bang for buck, the pfSense option would get a router that would top anything in the budget you're looking at, and wouldn't succumb to premature failure due to extended use cases. A total plus if you have the older machine, and using the cash to buy gigabit NICS.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by princedwi View Post

Just curious, do you happen to have an old computer that you may be willing to run 24/7 as a router? Getting an Intel Dual NIC and installing it on the old computer, plus loading pfSense software would give you an extraordinarily quick routing experience. My Sempron 140, 2 GB DDR2 rig with an 80 gb WD HDD handles my 50/25 FiOS connection (getting 68/38 on Speedtest.net) with ease.

I figure if you wanted to get the best bang for buck, the pfSense option would get a router that would top anything in the budget you're looking at, and wouldn't succumb to premature failure due to extended use cases. A total plus if you have the older machine, and using the cash to buy gigabit NICS.
I do, but it's extra $30 a month for electricity, so it's not very cost-efficient in my case. Appreciate the suggestion though,
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by rigbuild View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by princedwi View Post

Just curious, do you happen to have an old computer that you may be willing to run 24/7 as a router? Getting an Intel Dual NIC and installing it on the old computer, plus loading pfSense software would give you an extraordinarily quick routing experience. My Sempron 140, 2 GB DDR2 rig with an 80 gb WD HDD handles my 50/25 FiOS connection (getting 68/38 on Speedtest.net) with ease.

I figure if you wanted to get the best bang for buck, the pfSense option would get a router that would top anything in the budget you're looking at, and wouldn't succumb to premature failure due to extended use cases. A total plus if you have the older machine, and using the cash to buy gigabit NICS.
I do, but it's extra $30 a month for electricity, so it's not very cost-efficient in my case. Appreciate the suggestion though,
It's more like an extra $10 for electricity...it will be idle most of the time. I've also heard of people that only turn on their router box at certain times of the day. Then they can truly be offline when they want. I use my server as a DHCP server, but I leave that on 24/7. The real trouble is that you will want a new router anyway because you will need wireless. I run two...one in the basement and one in the upstairs to give me a good signal all over.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by rigbuild View Post

All that being said, I'd say it's E1200 vs. RT-N12, then.
Go with the RT-N12, the lack of external antennas really hurt the E1200. I tried a E2500 and it had piss poor range and bandwidth output due to it's lack of antennas in my house.
 
#19 ·
@rigbuild did you get a router yet?
smile.gif
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vagrant Storm View Post

It's more like an extra $10 for electricity...it will be idle most of the time. I've also heard of people that only turn on their router box at certain times of the day. Then they can truly be offline when they want. I use my server as a DHCP server, but I leave that on 24/7. The real trouble is that you will want a new router anyway because you will need wireless. I run two...one in the basement and one in the upstairs to give me a good signal all over.
That's true (it'd idle = less electricity), but that's still much less cost-efficient, which is important to me at this point, and then there's the wireless problem, as you said. I'm going with the router.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bridgypoo View Post

@rigbuild did you get a router yet?
smile.gif
No, not yet. I was ill, I still am. Most likely I'll buy it next week.
 
#21 ·
Sounds good! Hope you feel better!
 
#22 ·
The great thing about those ASUS routers is that you can install dd-wrt on them. That's what we run and I handle it.
 
#23 ·
I'm in a similar situation as OP. Should I get the Asus router that's been suggested in this thread or this one? (someone suggested it in my thread): http://chooser.smallnetbuilder.com/router-chooser/detail/1161/tplink-tlwdr3500
I don't know what makes these routers good suggestions. In this case, why the Asus router over the TP-Link or vice versa?
They're both the same price for me on Newegg
 
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