FAST reliable router?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Noozer
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Noozer

Ok... I'm sick of all the crap that I've got around here...

- SMC Barricade. Dies at even a hint of a large download or upload.

- Hawking H2WR54G. None of the features work. I enable port forwarding, and
the ports don't forward. This has two WAN's and I tell it all traffic to my
mailserver must go out WAN1. Nope, it goes where it likes. Not to mention it
halves my download speeds.

- Netgear. Wife has it right now, so I'm not sure of the model #. She needs
to power cycle it a few times a day just to keep the connection working.

- WLan. This has been the most reliable. It also was the cheapest at about
$5 after rebates.

So, I'm going to toss these pieces of junk under a bus. What is a GOOD,
RELIABLE router these days? It needs to handle port forwarding and I'd like
to be able to associate MAC addresses to IP addresses if possible. Wireless
G is nice as is dual WAN capabilities.

Suggestions?
 
Noozer said:
.... snip ...

So, I'm going to toss these pieces of junk under a bus. What is a
GOOD, RELIABLE router these days? It needs to handle port forwarding
and I'd like to be able to associate MAC addresses to IP addresses
if possible. Wireless G is nice as is dual WAN capabilities.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Linux.
 
CBFalconer said:
Noozer wrote:
... snip ...

Linux.
Click to expand...

A search on "low cost Linux router" may dig up more
articles like this. When you build it yourself, you
know what you're getting. As long as commercial routers
rely on firmware, you'll never know what to expect.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5826

I had a Linksys for several years. The early firmware
required several reboots a day. I never bothered to
flash release after release (maybe I would have found
one to keep me happy if I had). I did eventually select
a release, thinking that enough time had gone by, for
them to get it right.

After installing the new firmware, I noticed that the
need to reboot had disappeared. But I also ended up
losing DNS on a regular basis. Which was the last
straw. I bought a cheap wired router from a different
company and am using that as a replacement for the Linksys.
The shocking part, when I was putting the Linksys back
in its box, I still had the sales receipt. The new router
I got, was 1/10th the price! I cannot believe I paid so
much for that piece of junk.

Here is a motherboard with processor for $70, that might
make a base for building a box. Only two PCI slots though.

PC CHIPS V21G V1.0C VIA C7 VIA CN700 Flex ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813185094

Examples of four port Ethernet cards:
http://www.techexcess.net/adaptec-quartet-64-4-port-pci-10-100-nic-ana-62044.aspx

If you run out of expansion, there is always the USB ports
for stuff like the wireless.

There were bundles like this around, but I think these
stopped shipping a while ago, and there really isn't
any stock left.

Biostar M7VIG 400 A&V&L/M-ATX Motherboard + AMD Geode NX1750 CPU Combo
http://www.electroseller.com/page/electroseller/PROD/AMD_Socket_A_Boards/MB-7VIGC29/

Paul
 
Ok... I'm sick of all the crap that I've got around here...

- SMC Barricade. Dies at even a hint of a large download or upload.

- Hawking H2WR54G. None of the features work. I enable port forwarding, and
the ports don't forward. This has two WAN's and I tell it all traffic to my
mailserver must go out WAN1. Nope, it goes where it likes. Not to mention it
halves my download speeds.

- Netgear. Wife has it right now, so I'm not sure of the model #. She needs
to power cycle it a few times a day just to keep the connection working.

- WLan. This has been the most reliable. It also was the cheapest at about
$5 after rebates.

So, I'm going to toss these pieces of junk under a bus. What is a GOOD,
RELIABLE router these days? It needs to handle port forwarding and I'd like
to be able to associate MAC addresses to IP addresses if possible. Wireless
G is nice as is dual WAN capabilities.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Most I've ever tried worked fine, you might see if those
that are dying or needing reset, benefit from having a
heatsink put on the main chip and a bit improved case
ventilation. If they've ran hot for a long time the
capacitors might have popped and need replaced (or
similarly, a new one you get now could suffer the same fate
eventually, though now with more embedded in the chipset
they tend to use a little less power, generate a little less
heat- but that heat can instead be more concentrated making
a heatsink even more important... some dont have one and if
you put your finger on the chipset and it gets painful
quick, slap one on there.

If you want one with 11g and so many features it's crazy, I
suggest a Buffalo WHR-HP-54G, running DD-WRT (though with
this particular brand, you have to use TFTP to flash it, if
that difference is important then you might instead consider
a Linksys WRT54GL (the "L" on the end being important,
there's an inferior model without the "L"). Don't recall if
it supports 2 WAN or not though, I'd suspect not.

On the other hand, today it could be good to step forward to
a mimo or 11n router.
 
Paul said:
A search on "low cost Linux router" may dig up more
articles like this. When you build it yourself, you
know what you're getting. As long as commercial routers
rely on firmware, you'll never know what to expect.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5826

I had a Linksys for several years. The early firmware
required several reboots a day. I never bothered to
flash release after release (maybe I would have found
one to keep me happy if I had). I did eventually select
a release, thinking that enough time had gone by, for
them to get it right.

After installing the new firmware, I noticed that the
need to reboot had disappeared. But I also ended up
losing DNS on a regular basis. Which was the last
straw. I bought a cheap wired router from a different
company and am using that as a replacement for the Linksys.
The shocking part, when I was putting the Linksys back
in its box, I still had the sales receipt. The new router
I got, was 1/10th the price! I cannot believe I paid so
much for that piece of junk.

Here is a motherboard with processor for $70, that might
make a base for building a box. Only two PCI slots though.

PC CHIPS V21G V1.0C VIA C7 VIA CN700 Flex ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813185094

Examples of four port Ethernet cards:
http://www.techexcess.net/adaptec-quartet-64-4-port-pci-10-100-nic-ana-62044.aspx

If you run out of expansion, there is always the USB ports
for stuff like the wireless.

There were bundles like this around, but I think these
stopped shipping a while ago, and there really isn't
any stock left.

Biostar M7VIG 400 A&V&L/M-ATX Motherboard + AMD Geode NX1750 CPU Combo
http://www.electroseller.com/page/electroseller/PROD/AMD_Socket_A_Boards/MB-7VIGC29/

Paul
Click to expand...

You Penguins are shameless, trashing Linksys, to promote
your view of the world. Linux is hardly the answer to everyone's
networking problems.

The BEFSR41 has been in use and accepted as a great home/gaming
router, for a long time now. It is pretty much the defacto home router.
Equipment, expected to work in a home LAN, will often be tested for
it's ability to function with this router.

I have no numbers to work with, but it wouldn't surprise me, at all,
to find that there are many more home users of that router than there
are home users of Linux. And I am positive there are several orders
of magnitude fewer problems reported with the use of that router, than
to the use of Linux. Most users forget the router is there, altogether.

Luck;
Ken
 
Another brand to avoid is D-Link. The one I had would lock up randomly, and most often when connecting or disconnecting PCs to the network. The replacement they sent me did the same thing. I replace it with a Buffalo WHR-G54S that is about 15% faster with wireless and work flawlessly. It can assign IP addresses by MAC addresses, but does not have port forwarding.
 
Noozer said:
So, I'm going to toss these pieces of junk under a bus. What is a GOOD,
RELIABLE router these days? It needs to handle port forwarding and I'd like
to be able to associate MAC addresses to IP addresses if possible. Wireless
G is nice as is dual WAN capabilities.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Cisco 837 here. Can't fault it. I've never reset it in three years of
ownership. Yes it was a pain to set up, and it was expensive, but it was
worth it.

We have four SOHO 800's at work too which we run ~500PCs through all day
long without issue.

The 837 has a firewall built in, and depending on version has separate
DMZ port, full h/w accelerated VPN etc. but you do need a grasp of IOS
to use it.

I then have a Netgear ProSafe Wireless Access Point - and again, yes it
was expensive, but it has VLAN support, support for multiple SSIDs and
encryption standards simultaneously, and guess what, it runs Linux under
the hood...

Alex
 
Another brand to avoid is D-Link. The one I had would lock up randomly,
and most often when connecting or disconnecting PCs to the network. The
replacement they sent me did the same thing. I replace it with a Buffalo
WHR-G54S that is about 15% faster with wireless and work flawlessly. It
can assign IP addresses by MAC addresses, but does not have port
forwarding.
Click to expand...

I have been using a D-Link DI-614+ for a couple of years now. Had to reset
it maybe three times. No problems staying connected at all. Using mainly
Win98se and Linux.

Steve
 
Mine was a DI-524
I have been using a D-Link DI-614+ for a couple of years now. Had to reset
it maybe three times. No problems staying connected at all. Using mainly
Win98se and Linux.

Steve
Click to expand...
 
You Penguins are shameless, trashing Linksys, to promote
your view of the world. Linux is hardly the answer to everyone's
networking problems.

The BEFSR41 has been in use and accepted as a great home/gaming
router, for a long time now. It is pretty much the defacto home router.
Equipment, expected to work in a home LAN, will often be tested for
it's ability to function with this router.

I have no numbers to work with, but it wouldn't surprise me, at all,
to find that there are many more home users of that router than there
are home users of Linux. And I am positive there are several orders
of magnitude fewer problems reported with the use of that router, than
to the use of Linux. Most users forget the router is there, altogether.
Click to expand...


You seem to be focusing on the wrong factor. Linksys has
routers that run Linux, as do some other companies. In
fact, the Linksys WRT54G used to run Linux, then they
switched it to (I forget what OS at the moment), at which
point everyone said it "sucked", even Tom's Hardware did a
review concluding that, and eventually Linksys came back
with the Linux version which remains the most preferred
model of 802.11g router made by Linksys.

Moral of the story? Linksys has some good and back units
just like everybody else. Probably a lot more good than
average, but even they demonstrated that Linux does a good
job, and even better if you take one of those WRT54G and put
OpenWRT or DD-WRT on it.

A standalone PC system running Linux isn't a bad option from
the perspective of a potentially solid router, and that it
is more configurable and might also be set to run a DNS
server, caching proxy, mail server, etc... a lot more
functionality possible than a closed source, limited
standalone consumer router.

On the other hand, there is a beauty in having a low-power,
low-heat (but still heat density is a concern, all run a tad
on the warm side w/o a fan), small footprint router like
Linksys et al. make, but they do seem more subject to
instability from overheating, as some people will try
standalone router after router and continually have problems
while others can get good results with the same model(s).

I used to like routers in metal cases, reducing EMI and
addt'l ruggedness seemed to be benefits. Eventually I
changed my mind that it was easier to add ventilation to the
plastic cased ones, particularly those with very soft
plastic as they can be put onto a drill press and a couple
dozen holes added to the top without the result looking
mangled if a nice pattern is marked out ahead of time.
 
Mine was a DI-524
Click to expand...

This is how it usually goes, one model is fine but another
has problems, or it can depend on the location, how prone
one is to heat buildup in certain situations.

FWIW, I used a D-Link DI-704 for a few years and it worked
great, but being several generations ago it lacked some
advanced features (did have IP:MAC assignment and port
forwarding, IIRC) and especially no wifi... IMO it only
makes sense to get one with wifi as that can be disabled
(for security reasons if applicable) until needed.
 
I agree, Linux isn't the answer to every computing problem.

Regards,
Christopher Koeber
 
Ken said:
You Penguins are shameless, trashing Linksys, to promote
your view of the world. Linux is hardly the answer to everyone's
networking problems.

The BEFSR41 has been in use and accepted as a great home/gaming
router, for a long time now. It is pretty much the defacto home router.
Equipment, expected to work in a home LAN, will often be tested for
it's ability to function with this router.

I have no numbers to work with, but it wouldn't surprise me, at all,
to find that there are many more home users of that router than there
are home users of Linux. And I am positive there are several orders
of magnitude fewer problems reported with the use of that router, than
to the use of Linux. Most users forget the router is there, altogether.

Luck;
Ken
Click to expand...

It is not "your view of the world". I'm a very pragmatic guy.
Where can I get an OS to run on a piece of hardware for
free ? Will Microsoft give me an OS for nothing ? Linux
is as good a place to start as any. Maybe I could even do
it with Solaris, or FreeBSD. There are lots of options, but
at least with Linux, it is easy to find a download and
get started. And there might even already be people who have
implemented what I'm looking for (the "low cost router").

Just for the record, everything I've ever tried to do in
Linux, wasted the whole day. So it is very much a matter of
trading loads of your "free" time, in exchange for an OS
you got for nothing.

Paul
 
kony said:
You seem to be focusing on the wrong factor. Linksys has
routers that run Linux, as do some other companies. In
fact, the Linksys WRT54G used to run Linux, then they
switched it to (I forget what OS at the moment), at which
point everyone said it "sucked", even Tom's Hardware did a
review concluding that, and eventually Linksys came back
with the Linux version which remains the most preferred
model of 802.11g router made by Linksys.

Moral of the story? Linksys has some good and back units
just like everybody else. Probably a lot more good than
average, but even they demonstrated that Linux does a good
job, and even better if you take one of those WRT54G and put
OpenWRT or DD-WRT on it.
Click to expand...

Talk about "focusing on the wrong factor", the embedded os used
in the router was never the issue. My DirecTiVo runs under a
version of Linux, but it is not an issue for the user.

A standalone PC system running Linux isn't a bad option from
the perspective of a potentially solid router, and that it
is more configurable and might also be set to run a DNS
server, caching proxy, mail server, etc... a lot more
functionality possible than a closed source, limited
standalone consumer router.
Click to expand...

You realize you are talking about replacing a 6"x5"x1.5" box
with a whole computer? I should hope it would be more
versatile.

On the other hand, there is a beauty in having a low-power,
low-heat (but still heat density is a concern, all run a tad
on the warm side w/o a fan), small footprint router like
Linksys et al. make, but they do seem more subject to
instability from overheating, as some people will try
standalone router after router and continually have problems
while others can get good results with the same model(s).

I used to like routers in metal cases, reducing EMI and
addt'l ruggedness seemed to be benefits. Eventually I
changed my mind that it was easier to add ventilation to the
plastic cased ones, particularly those with very soft
plastic as they can be put onto a drill press and a couple
dozen holes added to the top without the result looking
mangled if a nice pattern is marked out ahead of time.
Click to expand...

You seem fixated on heat issues, I have never seen such a
problem with these routers or switches most all of which run
off low voltage "wall warts". The rack mounted ones don't
suffer from heat problems either. Do you live in a tropical
clime? You might want to invest in some air conditioning.

Luck;
Ken
 
Paul said:
It is not "your view of the world". I'm a very pragmatic guy.
Where can I get an OS to run on a piece of hardware for
free ? Will Microsoft give me an OS for nothing ? Linux
is as good a place to start as any. Maybe I could even do
it with Solaris, or FreeBSD. There are lots of options, but
at least with Linux, it is easy to find a download and
get started. And there might even already be people who have
implemented what I'm looking for (the "low cost router").

Just for the record, everything I've ever tried to do in
Linux, wasted the whole day. So it is very much a matter of
trading loads of your "free" time, in exchange for an OS
you got for nothing.

Paul
Click to expand...

My point being that getting a good stable router, as a network
appliance, is a more practical approach, for most users in the OP's
situation, than setting up a Linux box to function as a router.

The current crop of routers from such as Linksys should be
expected to function well, and have all the features the OP was
asking for. I haven't researched the marketplace for routers, but
there are good companies with extensive lines of networking gear.

Luck;
Ken
 
Paul said:
A search on "low cost Linux router" may dig up more
articles like this. When you build it yourself, you
know what you're getting. As long as commercial routers
rely on firmware, you'll never know what to expect.
Click to expand...

I've already got an NSLU2 NAS running Linix, but it's only got one ethernet
port.

I want a dedicated hardware solution that I can count on working. With a
Linux box I'd always wonder if I forgot to configure something. Either that,
or I'll wonder if I can get a bit better performance from it and screw it up
whilst tinkering.
 
Ok... I'm sick of all the crap that I've got around here...

- SMC Barricade. Dies at even a hint of a large download or upload.

- Hawking H2WR54G. None of the features work. I enable port forwarding, and
the ports don't forward. This has two WAN's and I tell it all traffic to my
mailserver must go out WAN1. Nope, it goes where it likes. Not to mention it
halves my download speeds.

- Netgear. Wife has it right now, so I'm not sure of the model #. She needs
to power cycle it a few times a day just to keep the connection working.

- WLan. This has been the most reliable. It also was the cheapest at about
$5 after rebates.

So, I'm going to toss these pieces of junk under a bus. What is a GOOD,
RELIABLE router these days? It needs to handle port forwarding and I'd like
to be able to associate MAC addresses to IP addresses if possible. Wireless
G is nice as is dual WAN capabilities.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

I can't really match the features you're looking for, but a reliable
router..

Most people on the internet and those i've spoken to in companies seem
to have had good experiences with Linksys. But myself and my friends -
all techies - have all had bad experiences with them.
Netgear is supposed to be more reliable.

I contacted my ISP 'cos they'd get lots of feedback of routers messing
up. Needing to be turned on and off. They recommended Speedtouch.
I find my one works fine. I've barely had to turn it on and off. But
the interface is child like, it's not really for a techie.

A friend mentioned 3com as reliable. I believe him. I think they have
a good name too.

But maybe contact your ISP and get a router from them under warranty.
I spoke to the technicians and they seemed familiar with routers going
down and recommended speedtough as having no problems like that. I
bought 2 routers from them, same model , incase one went down. Turned
out none have gone down. Which is excellent Eventually one will, and
i've got the other one.

I haven't really tried out lots of different routers. I've just had
bad experiences in the past with new Linksys, new DLink, and a second
hand netgear. Since the netgear I got a new speedtough and it works..
Though as I said, not a geek friendly GUI!
 
Talk about "focusing on the wrong factor", the embedded os used
in the router was never the issue. My DirecTiVo runs under a
version of Linux, but it is not an issue for the user.


You realize you are talking about replacing a 6"x5"x1.5" box
with a whole computer? I should hope it would be more
versatile.







You seem fixated on heat issues, I have never seen such a
problem with these routers or switches most all of which run
off low voltage "wall warts". The rack mounted ones don't
suffer from heat problems either. Do you live in a tropical
clime? You might want to invest in some air conditioning.

Luck;
Ken-
Click to expand...

I had a linksys BEFSR41, it had overheating problems. How did I know?

The thing needed to be restarted very often, and it did get a bit
warm. It behaved a bit like I think a computer does when it gets too
hot..

It stops working you turn if off and on, then it works for a very
brief period, and stops. You leave it off for longer, turn it on, and
it works for longer.

Before I got my speedtouch router I had to rely quite a bit on a PCI
DSL Modem thing.

But I'm not advocating linux as an alternative for everybody or even
for myself at the moment.
 
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