Please advise about new router.

xera

xera

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Well my old linksys WRT54G3G 1.1 router finally died, and I must admit I am quite relieved, because this thing gave me so much trouble, and wasted so much of my time.

It's specs,
-WLAN, 54Mbps
-LAN 100Mbps x4
-Slot for mobile connect card

The admin page was so badly designed, and would sometimes take longer to load than the average online website. I believe this was to do with their sloppy html, and javascript all being in the main html file.
So I am definitely not wanting to get anything Linksys or Cisco again, thank you very much.

Requirements:

1. IEEE 802.11n/g/b Wireless (150-300Mbps)
2. Gigabit LAN (4 ports)
3. USB 2 port (for Cell C or other usb modem?)
4. Admin interface: Must be well designed, reliable, fast and responsive.

How do the 3G routers these days work? Do they still use mobile connect cards? Or would it be better just to use a non 3G router with a USB port and 3.75G USB modem?

Thanks!
 
Are you serious?

Well I guess we could live with 100Mbit. It's just a bit slow sometimes....

But having faster wlan would be great! But it seems a bit odd that they can come with faster wlan than lan, when I'd expect it to be t'other way round.

Thanks..
 
xera said:
Are you serious?

Well I guess we could live with 100Mbit. It's just a bit slow sometimes....

But having faster wlan would be great! But it seems a bit odd that they can come with faster wlan than lan, when I'd expect it to be t'other way round.

Thanks..
Click to expand...

Just get a wireless N ADSL router. :)

I like D-Link and heard TP-Link are excellent.

±R750 D-link DSL-2760U rangebooster N ADSLmodem + wireless router + 4port 10/100 switch , 802.11b/g/draft N , 270mbps , 2x Usb with built-in print server ; ADSL2/2+ : 24Mbps downstream / 1Mbps upstream ; 2x antenna

±R600 TP-LINK W8960N http://www.tp-link.com/products/productDetails.asp?pmodel=TD-W8960N
 
It's actually fairly useless to have a Gigabit + 802.11n router if you're not connecting a couple of PC's via Gigabit LAN, because you rarely exceed 100Mbps throughput with 802.11n, unless your signal is very good.

Seeing that you already have an ADSL router, it's unnecessary to get an ADSL modem too, but it's not a crisis if you do get one ;)
I'd recommend the following TP-Link router: TP-LINK WR1043ND 300Mbps Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router which goes for R545.00 (excl VAT).
You can also install DD-WRT firmware on it, but if you're considering to do that, I'd recommend that you ask the supplier to pre-install it.

You can find a list of supported 3G modems here for DD-WRT.

I've got the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH router and I'm reasonably impressed with it.
It's got exactly the same CPU as the TP-Link that I've mentioned above, but it has 64MB RAM & 32MB flash, compared to the TP-Link's 32MB and 8MB flash. My router also includes a Gigabit switch.
 
I once worked with a cheapo D-link router, man it was slow. Are the more expensive ones better? My 6 year old microcom router is faster at rebooting etc than a new cheapo D-link. Was quite dissapointed!

PostmanPot said:
Just get a wireless N ADSL router. :)

I like D-Link and heard TP-Link are excellent.

±R750 D-link DSL-2760U rangebooster N ADSLmodem + wireless router + 4port 10/100 switch , 802.11b/g/draft N , 270mbps , 2x Usb with built-in print server ; ADSL2/2+ : 24Mbps downstream / 1Mbps upstream ; 2x antenna

±R600 TP-LINK W8960N http://www.tp-link.com/products/productDetails.asp?pmodel=TD-W8960N
Click to expand...
 
Praeses said:
I once worked with a cheapo D-link router, man it was slow. Are the more expensive ones better? My 6 year old microcom router is faster at rebooting etc than a new cheapo D-link. Was quite dissapointed!
Click to expand...

Have had Telkom Billion & Marconi and SMC to compare to - about the same reboot times IIRC.
 
Pada said:
It's actually fairly useless to have a Gigabit + 802.11n router if you're not connecting a couple of PC's via Gigabit LAN, because you rarely exceed 100Mbps throughput with 802.11n, unless your signal is very good.
Click to expand...
+1!
My access point can be right next to me and I won't get above 100mbits speeds on wireless N :p Gigabit is pointless on an adsl router, rather just hook up the router to a gigabit switch if you do lots of copying between PC's on the LAN.
 
And stay away from Belkin, just bought a new one and oh its really crap. Change some settings, and then you need to manually reboot the rooter by plugging out the power cord. Does not want to reboot the normal way.
 
Hey everybody, thanks for the replies!

Pada said:
It's actually fairly useless to have a Gigabit + 802.11n router if you're not connecting a couple of PC's via Gigabit LAN, because you rarely exceed 100Mbps throughput with 802.11n, unless your signal is very good.
Click to expand...
Yes, There are always 3 computers connected via LAN. And at least 1 spare is always handy...
Oh and wireless signal is very good.

Pada said:
Seeing that you already have an ADSL router, it's unnecessary to get an ADSL modem too, but it's not a crisis if you do get one ;)
Click to expand...
What? Where do you get that idea from.

Pada said:
I'd recommend the following TP-Link router: TP-LINK WR1043ND 300Mbps Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router which goes for R545.00 (excl VAT).
You can also install DD-WRT firmware on it, but if you're considering to do that, I'd recommend that you ask the supplier to pre-install it.

You can find a list of supported 3G modems here for DD-WRT.

I've got the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH router and I'm reasonably impressed with it.
It's got exactly the same CPU as the TP-Link that I've mentioned above, but it has 64MB RAM & 32MB flash, compared to the TP-Link's 32MB and 8MB flash. My router also includes a Gigabit switch.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that looks pretty good...
Do you know about, or recommend the DD-WRT firmware?
 
xera said:
What? Where do you get that idea from.
Click to expand...

Probably because you could simply connect it to a Gigabit switch. All PCs connected would get Internet and be able to share stuff at Gigabit speeds. Gigabit switches are cheap, about R500 for 5 ports IIRC.
 
xera: I thought you already had a separate ADSL modem, because people with the Linksys WRT54Gxx routers usually do :)
DD-WRT firmware is awesome if you want to do more advanced stuff than what the normal ADSL modems/routers allow you to do.
What 3G modem do you have?

PostmanPot: you can get an 8 port Gigabit switch for R295 (excl VAT): http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=24_116&products_id=827
or a 5 port one for R229 (excl VAT): http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=92_94&products_id=650
 
You are right, they are very cheap these days!

±R265 D-Link GigaExpress DGS-1005D 5 port gigabit un-managed switch - auto-MDI/MDIX , 4k MAC address , 1MB ram buffer per device

Rather quote retailers though. Quoting suppliers/distributors where one needs an account to buy from gives an inaccurate example of price. It's getting done way too much on these forums. In the case of Scoop, they will sell to the public but will charge an increased price - for obvious reasons. :)
 
Pada lol yes we did actually have an ADSL modem, but it is of no use as the land lines are always stolen.

Yes I could just get a Gigabit switch. But then what about my wireless devices, and the USB Port?

I have the Cell C E1820 USB modem. Would I be able to use it as an internet modem for everyone on the network, with the TP-LINK WR1043ND for example? Sorry I am new to this USB on router thing, I did hear something that gave me the idea one could do that.
 
xera said:
Pada lol yes we did actually have an ADSL modem, but it is of no use as the land lines are always stolen.

Yes I could just get a Gigabit switch. But then what about my wireless devices, and the USB Port?

I have the Cell C E1820 USB modem. Would I be able to use it as an internet modem for everyone on the network, with the TP-LINK WR1043ND for example? Sorry I am new to this USB on router thing, I did hear something that gave me the idea one could do that.
Click to expand...

Yes, you would have to share the Internet connection from your/a "central" PC, which is connected to the others via a 10/100 or Gigabite switch/wireless router/switch..
 
xera said:
So wouldn't you be able to plug the usb modem directly into the router?
Click to expand...

Oh I see it has a USB port. So you may very well be able to share the Cell C connection like that. I know that on the D-Links you can...
 
PostmanPot: I'm quoting from Scoop Distributions & Uniterm Direct because both of them do sell to the public AND I've bought almost all my network equipment from those 2.

I'd reckon that the Huawei E1820 would work with the DD-WRT firmware, but you might have to upgrade to the latest version for it to work though.
 
Pada said:
PostmanPot: I'm quoting from Scoop Distributions & Uniterm Direct because both of them do sell to the public AND I've bought almost all my network equipment from those 2.

I'd reckon that the Huawei E1820 would work with the DD-WRT firmware, but you might have to upgrade to the latest version for it to work though.
Click to expand...

So how much you pay? Ex VAT price + VAT + a bit more (like Scoop)?

Or do they increase the ex VAT price for non registered people?
 
My brother's CC & my office is registered at Scoop, so I don't pay extra.

My brother's CC/my office isn't registered at Uniterm Direct, so I paid: excl. VAT price + excl. VAT price on shipping + VAT on both.
 
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