Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 4:20 Post subject: New Router for Holidays
Hi All,
Another “which router thread” *gulp* Sorry
After 24months of faultless DD-WRT WT54GL action, I cannot live with 13Mbs wifi any longer.
Trolling this forum and SmallNetBiulderReading as often as i can, I still cant figure out which device i want. I know "tell me which" threads are frowned upon, but its rather difficult to discern all the details. It seems i read people having bugs with everthing, yet without knowing how many people are running bug free... i have nothing to compare it against.
I have been through the build threads for WRT400N, WRT610 and WNDR3700 and know each has had its difficulties, but its hard to know the “current” state of stability. I am kinda of guessing, by looking at “doesnt work” threads in the Atheros / BroadCom forum.
My needs are #1 DD-WRT support, 2# reliability; its gotta be solid.
Straight up, the WNDR3700 looks like the device to own, but there seems to be more issues yet to iron out.
The WRT400n comes in second, but then i get the feeling that DD-WRT support for Atheros isn't as good as Broadcom, and Broadcom works better with advanced features, like VPN passthrough over Wifi.
With this in mind, am i right in thinking the WRT610N V2 / E3000 is the current router to use if i want dual simultaneous Wifi N?, DD-WRT and stable operation? Even though i dont need the features of the E3000, ill gladly spend the extra ~$70 for something that solid, and continues to get bux fix’s.
Any help would be great. Comments on my understanding of the status of Atheros / Broadcomm would be fantastic!!!
Joined: 06 Feb 2010 Posts: 7401 Location: Little Rock
Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 12:07 Post subject:
For me in all of this, it just depends on what your going to spend on it, if you can afford the E3000, then by all means, it much more solid than the others you listed, just keep in mind though, they all have their "issues" so there is no perfect choice, i've recently removed my broadcom hardware (E2000 & RT-N16) from being my main gateway units, i now have a WRT400N in place of it, seems to do well. To me, bang for buck, the wrt400n smokes those others (it being only $60 @ newegg, not refurb), because i have no real interest in having a USB port, IMHO, USB port on a router is good for modest use, something like a printer or to have some extra space for VPN certs or firewall scripts, otherwise, its glacial speeds aren't something i look at on any kind of serious scale (oh lets have it back the system up every night type stuff...haha! be waiting for millenniums to!) _________________ Wireless N Config | Linking Routers | DD-WRT Wiki | DD-WRT Builds | Peacock - Broadcom FAQ
Having owned a WNDR3700 and a E3000, I'd like to say that the 3700 does indeed have som crippling issues and at this point the E3000 seems to be the safer bet for a dual radio with a gigabit switch.
The other option is a DIR-825 but again is hamstrung by Atheros issues. Another is the Trendnet TEW-673GRU but that's plauged by horrible reviews.
So, if you DO NOT need a gigabit switch, there are several good options available. The WRT400N, and the DIR-655, and the WNDR3400 are all good solid routers from my extensive research.
Thank you for your reply.
Your opinions are what I had come to as well.
I don’t need Gb or USB, so the WRT400 seems like the best choice... Im just concerned about what I read about the Atheros not working with VPN passthrough over Wifi, etc.