Recommend me a Router - Wireless & high throughput

[Budza]

Wired isn't an option- let's keep this about wireless

Will be used for a file server:

8-10 clients connected, doing between 5GB-30GB daily.
Most will be using wireless- 2.4 or 5, so 'proper' dual band could be an advantage. MiMo advantageous too..
Copying multiple GB at a time, for larger (20GB+) transfers, they can connect to GB LAN.
USB2.0 External HDD (non bus powered) connected, likely 2TB drive, NTFS formatted or whatever supports files >4GB.

Range is about 25m, and over 2 storeys. Transmit power should be high- apparently the 751G is particularly good in this regard.

I've looked around and found these:

http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=100_119&products_id=1281

The RB-751G is a wireless SOHO Gigabit AP with five Ethernet ports, one USB 2.0 port and a high-powered 802.11b/g/n wireless AP with antennas built in. It is also possible to connect an external MMCX antenna to replace one of the built in antennas.

Specifications
- TX power: 30dBm
- CPU: Atheros AR7241
- Antenna gain: 2x2 MIMO PIF antennas, max gain 2.5dBi; external MMCX option
- CPU speed: 400MHz
- Max Power consumption: 13W
- RAM: 64MB
- LAN ports: 5
- Gigabit: Yes
- Wireless standards: 802.11b/g/n
- USB: 1


http://za.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN56U/#overview

LAN Ports WAN x 1, LAN x 4 RJ-45 for 10/100/1000 Base T
Supports Ethernet and 802.3 with max bit rate 10/100/1000Mbps and auto cross-over function (MDI-X)
Antenna 2 x internal antenna for 2.4GHz application with 3.8dBi gain
3 x internal antenna for 5GHz application with 5.1dBi gain
Memory 8 MB flash and 128 MB RAM
USB port USB2.0 x 2
Operating Frequency Simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz


Suggestions?

 

[Budza]

Also, a 3.5" external 2TB drive, one that can run 24/7 and service a few requests at the same time...

Is any old drive OK, or do I need a higher rated one? 5400rpm should be fine, as USB2.0 is the bottleneck here.

Green drive or performance drive?

 

[Pada]

That Asus router might be great for simultaneous dual band WiFi connectivity, but just take note that the throughput that you'll get to & from the USB portable drive connected to the router will be very limited! Like you'll get 5-10MB/s or perhaps 20MB/s if you're very lucky.

I've never used RouterBoards for storage, so I can't comment on their speed though. What I can say about the RouterBoard 751G is that it has internal low gain antenna's, so you'll need to buy external antennas for it.

Generally WiFi signals don't work well over multiple floors. You might be able to get good enough reception on the other floor to connect and browse, but I highly doubt that you'll be able to get decent LAN transfer speeds like that.
So my recommendation would be to have an WiFi AP per floor, and then to change their channels (typically need 4 clean channels inbetween) so that they don't interfere.

You can probably start off with that expensive (~R1400) Asus router. The speeds + signal strength on 5GHz should be pretty good.

Lastly, I'd recommend that you rather get a proper gigabit NAS in RAID 1 (Mirroring), rather than just a small external drive connected to a router. The reason for this is both for speed and redundancy. Also, USB 2.0 is limited to 30MB/s.