R700 budget for draft N modem/router

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mm001

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I currently have a cheap wired modem from Cybersmart. It works perfectly including half bridge mode but doesn't have wifi. I've borrowed a friends Netgear DG834GUv5 and the range just about makes it to the other end of my house. The only devices connected via wifi are cell phones with 802.11b/g

My requirements are therefore:
  1. ADSL modem/router
  2. 802.11n and b/g compatibility
  3. WIFI range greater than that of a DG834GUv5
  4. Support for half bridge mode

I have a budget of R700 and found these. However the reviews aren't that impressive.
  1. Intellinet WIRELESS 300N ADSL2+ MODEM ROUTER - R499 ex vat Esquire
  2. Netgear DGN1000-100PES Wireless 802.11n ADSL2 Router - R496 inc vat Zaps Online
  3. WAG120N-EE | Wireless-N Home ADSL2+ Modem Router - R 648.96 inc vat Pc-Direct

What do you think of these routers ?
Any other suggestions ?
 
I doubt that the Netgear would be able to give you half-bridge or even bridge mode.
The range of the WAG120N-EE might be fairly limited due to its internal antennas.

I think you'll be looking in the excess of R1000+ for a router with all those requirements!
Usually the good WiFi routers doesn't have an ADSL modem.

If you're satisfied with your ADSL modem and don't mind 2 network devices, then you can always chain it with a WiFi router.

I'm quite fond of the TP-Link WR1043ND router (5x 1Gbps + USB + 802.11b/g/n, but it doesn't have ADSL) with DD-WRT firmware installed on it. The downside of DD-WRT firmware is that it doesn't have half-bridge mode AFAIK. You can get half-bridge mode by wiring it differently, but then you basically waste 2 extra LAN ports, leaving you with only 2x 1Gbps ports for PC's.
I'm not sure why you'd actually want to go with half-bridge mode when you have DD-WRT firmware installed, because you can do all the traffic splitting on the router.

You can have a look at the WiFi units at Uniterm Direct and Scoop Distributions - but look at the ones with external antennas.
 
I've managed to get the Netgear 834 into half bridge mode with the default firmware. So I think that shouldn't be a problem. Remember that Netgear calls it PPPoE Relay and not half bridge. Having that been said does the DGN1000 come back into favour ? The biggest concern for me is wifi range.
 
I got a TP-Link TD-W8950ND (which is Lite N) and it kicks the Netgear DGN 2200 modem's ass. TP-Link supports bridge mode and it's wireless signal is far superior than the Netgear. The DGN2200 does not even support bridge mode.
 
Since I'm not going to be using the draft N speeds but rather the extended range, will it be viable for me to get a 802.11g modem and get a stronger antenna ?
 
There is a D-Link for around R700 that has "range booster" (2 aerials). It also has 2 USB ports. Might suit your needs.
 
I had a Canyon router connected to my Shiro modem. It was I think R399 from Arxvaldex.co.za.
Firstly, my onboard ethernet port died, then the second time my D-link network card and my Canyon Router got fried by lightning. Its wireless N300, model no. CNP-WF514N3 and was used mainly to communicate with my PS3. Check it out
 
PostmanPot said:
There is a D-Link for around R700 that has "range booster" (2 aerials). It also has 2 USB ports. Might suit your needs.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the DSL-2760U ? How is it ? I can't find any international reviews. And it isn't on the D-Link website
 
Pada said:
I doubt that the Netgear would be able to give you half-bridge or even bridge mode.
The range of the WAG120N-EE might be fairly limited due to its internal antennas.

I think you'll be looking in the excess of R1000+ for a router with all those requirements!
Click to expand...
For a proper router that you don't have to ever reset or worry that about, definitely!
What Pada said is more true than you would know. The problem is the issues you can't see in the specifications or reviews. Not a wireless N router on this planet runs without an operating system in the background. And just like any operating system they are far from perfect. Especially because a company can only spend X amount on developing the "firmware" (aka operating system).

A router that supports DD-WRT and/or OpenWRT will almost always be ahead of anything else just plainly because many people work on those operating systems. OpenWRT especially, it's got a huge community.

Pada said:
Usually the good WiFi routers doesn't have an ADSL modem.
Click to expand...
x1000

Pada said:
I'm quite fond of the TP-Link WR1043ND router (5x 1Gbps + USB + 802.11b/g/n, but it doesn't have ADSL) with DD-WRT firmware installed on it.
Click to expand...
I actually went and did a bit of research on this topic again after our last discussion :p (I was thinking of buying after all)

I can't recommend that router or even the Asus router that I touted last time. Currently if you want Gigabit, Wireless N and USB, the only router I would buy is (literally every other router with Wireless N, USB and Gigabit has issues that cannot be resolved):
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH

Miro sells them, and they come preinstalled with DD-WRT but most people recommend OpenWRT. It's not perfect either, the wireless can drop but it is being worked on (I think with it's original DD-Wrt OS it is stable tho) and there is a script to monitor it and restart the wireless driver as soon as it happens (so it'll reconnect immediately). It should be noted that the wireless driver problem is during benchmark type usage (eg. maxing out the wireless)

To the OP if you don't mind restarting every now and then and you won't be using your router heavily (eg. high traffic volumes) the cheapies are fine. They are cheap for a reason however. Unfortunately the fact of economies of scale still apply. Hence the reason they are targeted at home users.

All the other routers I investigated all have problems. That Buffalo router uses only chips that has fully open source drivers and thus far it is making progress by leaps and bounds in terms of issues and patches for said issues whereas the Asus and TP-Link both have problems that cannot be resolved because source code of their drivers aren't available. As for non-DD-Wrt/OpenWRT routers, haven't done much research but my guess is that even a company like Asus/Billion/etc. doesn't have the resources to create a OS like DD-Wrt or OpenWRT (it is a Linux based OS after all with a long history and many developers)

Benchmarks for the Buffalo also looks very good, it's also got an integrated wireless amplifier (incredibly few wireless routers have amplifiers, instead they can try boost the signal by increasing power but that also increases the noise).
 
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Cool stuff Gnome. I really appreciate that research that you've done. AFAIK, the Buffalo routers are basically developed around DD-WRT.

I think you can get that Buffalo router for much cheaper at Expansys for R1,020 (incl. VAT), compared to the price of R1,412.00 at Miro?
 
mm001 said:
Are you referring to the DSL-2760U ? How is it ? I can't find any international reviews. And it isn't on the D-Link website
Click to expand...

Yup. I've sold quite a few of them. They're actually less than R700. Nice and easy configuration. D-Link in general are awesome, and their support is great (you probably wouldn't need it though ;)).

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
 
PostmanPot said:
Yup. I've sold quite a few of them. They're actually less than R700. Nice and easy configuration. D-Link in general are awesome, and their support is great (you probably wouldn't need it though ;)).

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
Click to expand...

I'd love to have a look at the user manual. Could you please point me to an online version. Perhaps it has a different model number overseas.

Edit : Nevermind, found it here http://ftp.dlink.ru/pub/ADSL/DSL-2760U_BRU_D/
 
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Pada said:
Cool stuff Gnome. I really appreciate that research that you've done. AFAIK, the Buffalo routers are basically developed around DD-WRT.
Click to expand...
Hehe, np. I was so close to buying the Asus, but spent about a day just reading DD-Wrt and OpenWRT forums. Basically every router I found and checked out had problems. My requirements were USB, Wireless N (300mbit/s) and Gigabit LAN.

And yes it was developed around DD-Wrt so it comes with that out of the box. But apart from that the actual hardware is also impressive. Although the current drivers don't support it yet the wireless card supports Bluetooth. It's also got Wireless B/G/N @ both 2.4 and 5ghz range. Both the internal switch/ports/whatever and wireless card has fully open source drivers. The internal "switch" has already got "perfect" drivers with benchmarks maxing out gigabit LAN no problem (something very few ROUTERS can do unless they only have a switch and not proper routing functionality on the switch, eg the switch isn't actually routed, it's just a switch. most routers work that way). Wireless also works well except that a few people, as I said, report that the driver can drop connections once a day or so if you use Wireless N @ 300mb/s under heavy usage. Support ticket is open and although it is only like a month old plenty of activity in it already. So looks promising router all round.

That is under OpenWRT. From what I've read the DD-Wrt standard OS doesn't have wireless problems but for some reason people all say the OpenWRT is better, must have more features.

Pada said:
I think you can get that Buffalo router for much cheaper at Expansys for R1,020 (incl. VAT), compared to the price of R1,412.00 at Miro?
Click to expand...
Awesome, I'm thinking of getting one but I thought Miro would be cheaper since they are a dealer :erm: Guess not.

/hijack (sorry OP :p )
 
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PostmanPot said:
That's it. :) How's it looking?
Click to expand...

Not bad. Hows the range on it ? Greater than the Netgear DG834G ? Btw, The devices that i'll be connecting to it wont be draft N. Contacted Pinnacle, they getting stock in early Feb
 
mm001 said:
Not bad. Hows the range on it ? Greater than the Netgear DG834G ? Btw, The devices that i'll be connecting to it wont be draft N. Contacted Pinnacle, they getting stock in early Feb
Click to expand...

Never really tested it out. On paper though, range should be better than single aerial wireless modems. :p You could also attach "after market" higher dB antennas, or try the tinfoil jobby trick.
 
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