Joined: 13 May 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Wirral, UK.
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:30 Post subject:
I'm looking for a router for my boss - I've got a WRT54G at home that's been rock solid stable for over two years, but is getting a bit long in the tooth now with regards to features.
So my question is this: should I get him the WRT54G(L), and then a separate WAP for Wireless n (DIR-615?) and maybe a Gigabit switch to connect them all - or get a E3000?
There's lots of conflicting reports regarding its stability that has me worried!
Any advice/uptimes with build numbers appreciated!
Joined: 10 May 2008 Posts: 1380 Location: Pacific North West, USA
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 15:44 Post subject:
If your boss is in a very congested area, go for a router that has 5GHZ & 2.4GHZ wireless.
If in the suburbs, go for an Asus RT-N16 and upgrade the antennas.
No use for multiple devices with the RT-N16 and upgraded antennas, it can do it all.
But, its still using 2.4ghz wireless, so there can be interference in congested areas.
Can also look at the Netgear WNR3700 for dual 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz range.
Also the Cisco E4200 router should work for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz range. _________________ Soylent Green Is People ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Netgear Nighthawk R7000 - DD-WRT Build R46220
Linksys EA8500 - OpenWRT IPQ806x Trunk R16375 5.4 Kernel
Joined: 13 May 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Wirral, UK.
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 16:08 Post subject:
Cheers for the advice - much appreciated.
I did look at the WNR3700 but was put off by the flashing process and the issues listed on the wiki.
Same for the E4200 really:
Quote:
Support for the E4200 is still very much a work in progress at this time, outstanding issues reported have included WAN stability, and both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Radio stability.
This is for a semi-commercial environment so stability is one of the most important concerns.
The Asus RT-N16 looks like a good shout though, will give it a good look now
If you were choosing - would you take the RT-N16 over the E3000? And if so, why?
Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 825 Location: near Toronto, Canada
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 17:39 Post subject:
In my book, an external antenna is usually preferred over an internal antenna. _________________ WRT54G-RG
WRT54G-TM
WRT54GL v1.1
WRT54G v6, v8
WRT54GS v5
WRH54G
If your boss is in a very congested area, go for a router that has 5GHZ & 2.4GHZ wireless.
Note that a lot of the cheaper 802.11n devices have only a 2.4G radio so you can have a 5G router but may not be able to use it anyway...
eg I have a Sammy GT-9100 (galaxy s2) which was released only a couple of months ago in the UK, and is a fairly "cheap" device, AND it was not reading my 5GHz wifi network...
In my option 5GHz is useless, at best and paying a high price for a dual radio is also a waste...
It may be better buying 2x E2000's and setting up 5G on one and 2.4G on the other if you really want a dual band radio...
I had a E3000, (dual) and I upgraded the antenna's on it and it fried itself in like 2 months... so went out and bought a E2000, was using the 5G radio off the E2000, and the 2.4G radio off my old wrt310n for quite some time... I almost never used the 5G, so I just retired the wrt310n, put dd-rt on the e2000, and set it to 2.4G. and now lets see how much I can use it...
I have under-clocked it as mentioned on the wiki, reduced the transmit db as suggested in the wiki.. so I am hoping it will be more stable and at least not have a hardware failure...
Ghat
PS: If you have interference in 2.4G, then another the solution is to buy a higher power router, look at Engenius or Ubiquiti devices, they are a bit expensive, but they have very powerful radios...
Shouting louder in an already noisy area doesn't make the sounds clearer, just more noisy! This is why boosting your radio power isn't good in noisy areas as it also increases the noise. Larger antennas will also pick up more noise as well as they are more sensitive.
So if you have a congested area, the best solution is to have 5Ghz even if that means multiple ones to cover your needs.
Soylent Green Is People ! 
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