Wireless Router + Separate ADSL Modem (Noob)

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Hi,

So I've decided to spend some big bucks on a no nonsense router. I've had some range/speed problems in the past with the Linksys WAG120N.

My choice of router is the Asus RT-N56u which I've seen at the top of some benchmarks. Or maybe I'll go for the el cheapo TP-Link. But 've read bad things viz speed and range.

My question is what do I need to know when buying a separate ADSL modem. Are there any special requirements or can i go ahead and just get the cheapest one I can find? Suggestions?
 
I've just purchased an N56u after my Tp-Link WR1043ND got struck by lightning.

I'm extremely impressed with this router so far. Range is only slightly larger than the Tp-Link but throughput at the fringes of the areas that are covered is 100 times better, media streaming is possible wherever there is signal and that's just on the 2.4Ghz band, havent had a chance to try my laptop on the 5Ghz yet.

The only area that the Tp-Link beats the N56u in wireless performance is at close range where I could get up to 15MB/s transfer rates however I think the N56u is a much better all round performer.

In terms of actual routing capabilities I reckon they were about par for my needs in fact I think I preferred the Tp-Link Qos options.

The USB feature on the N56u is much easier to use than the Tp-Link and transfer rates from extrnal hard drives are also slightly better.

My ideal solution would be to install 2 WR1043's but the design of the house makes this quite difficult so the N56u is the next best option.
 
DLink 2500U is a good choice for a standalone ADSL modem. ~R200 most places. It is also extremely stable. I have not had problems with my 2500U at all.

Advantage of separating the two is that you are a lot more free to choose the router of preference, because there are more "WAN routers" available than "ADSL routers", especially at the high end. Also a lightning strike might not take out your expensive high end router, but just the ADSL modem, making it a lot cheaper to replace the destroyed parts.

You are also free to play with things like OpenWRT, which generally do not support ADSL chipsets very well.
 
+1 to what RoganDawes said.

DD-WRT does not support ADSL chipsets at all. You might actually be able to install DD-WRT firmware on some ADSL modems, but then you'll lose out on the ADSL functions of the modem.
 
RoganDawes said:
DLink 2500U is a good choice for a standalone ADSL modem. ~R200 most places. It is also extremely stable. I have not had problems with my 2500U at all.

Advantage of separating the two is that you are a lot more free to choose the router of preference, because there are more "WAN routers" available than "ADSL routers", especially at the high end. Also a lightning strike might not take out your expensive high end router, but just the ADSL modem, making it a lot cheaper to replace the destroyed parts.

You are also free to play with things like OpenWRT, which generally do not support ADSL chipsets very well.
Click to expand...

Yip. I just lost my adsl router to lightning on Sunday.
 
semaj said:
I've just purchased an N56u after my Tp-Link WR1043ND got struck by lightning.
Click to expand...

You're basically saying that the WR1043ND (R600) is almost as good as the N56u (R1300). So is it worth paying more than double. The only reason I'm going for the more high end router is the benchmark tests, and I really don't want to have the range/throughput problems I had with my recently deceased Linksys WAG120n (one room away nogal).
 
attachment.php


This tells a different story.
 
Wi-Fi benchmarks can be nearly impossable to replicate in the field.
Wireless noise, buildings, antenna coice and set-up and external interference.
All these can change or affect your speed.

Say your avg HD does 80MB/s, so why you need more speed than that on a single network???
 
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You are swaying me into saving money. Especially cos this is a better reflection of network performance?

attachment.php
 
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I have the canyon rebranded tp-link wr1043. Worked wonderfully for its purpose, then I installed openwrt when I switched to 8ta (because stock does not support USB modems and DD-WRT does not support E367 modem yet.). It works marvelously for what it does. If you want to keep it on stock firmware and use it as a NAS, go for the Asus, it has much more processing power to deal with the USB. If you plan on tunning DD-WRT, or OpenWRT, the TP-Link will do as long as you have the external drive formatted to EXT3/4, NTFS will be VERY slow. If you only want to use it as an internet wireless router, both will do the job perfectly. DD-WRT might make it better, depending on the user.
 
P924 said:
I have the canyon rebranded tp-link wr1043. Worked wonderfully for its purpose, then I installed openwrt when I switched to 8ta (because stock does not support USB modems and DD-WRT does not support E367 modem yet.). It works marvelously for what it does. If you want to keep it on stock firmware and use it as a NAS, go for the Asus, it has much more processing power to deal with the USB. If you plan on tunning DD-WRT, or OpenWRT, the TP-Link will do as long as you have the external drive formatted to EXT3/4, NTFS will be VERY slow. If you only want to use it as an internet wireless router, both will do the job perfectly. DD-WRT might make it better, depending on the user.
Click to expand...

I have:
2 Laptops
1 Desktop running XBMC (hopefully this will be replaced by a media server)
2 Smartphones

I had trouble with dropped connections one room away with the smartphones, which is very annoying. And some stuttering on sd video streaming.

I guess i'll go with the cheaper option.
 
I have
2 laptops
2 pcs (wired)
2 smartphones.

around 500-700 torrents seeding at any given time and ~20 downloading

No Problems with streaming to any wifi device.
 
Ok. thanks. I guess that's settled.

Now just to find someone with stock.

Going to get a D-Link 2500 U for ADSL and the TP-Link for the router. IconikIT who are the cheapest (R500) say the supplier is out of stock. I'm checking with Sybaritic. And there was only one other place.

EDIT: Sybaritic out of stock.
 
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PM kernel on the forum, he represents uniterm, who distributes the TP-Link, IIRC.
 
Got this

TP-LINK WR2543ND DUAL-BAND 450MBPS WIRELESS N GIGABIT ROUTER


Its a single radio device, so you can't really consider it dual band. And the theoretical speeds of 450 Mbs are only if you have a 3x antenna on the other end. So I won't see that either. But i figured for R50 more I should go with the beefier device.

Its butt ugly though. Gonna have to hide it somewhere. ha ha.
 
That is a nice device. Not yet suported by the 'WRTs, though.
 
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