Torn between ADSL modem/router decision...please help!

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sha99

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howzit!

Im about to get a 512k ADSL line installed here at my home (taking the MWEB uncapped offer) and am trying to figure out which one of these routers to get. I dont know too much about routers and Im not all that clued up on the benefits of each devices technical aspects, but here is my setup and requirements:

  • I have 4 devices:
    • 1 Home Theatre PC (with a gigabit LAN connection)
    • 2 Laptops (both are 802.11n enabled)
    • 1 iPhone 3GS
  • I need to restrict access to the home network to only these devices by IP/MAC address (not sure about iPhone)
  • needs be to inconspicuous (should blend in with my Home Theatre setup)
  • wireless radius needs to coverabout 15metres (through concrete walls and all)
  • be able to see exactly how much bandwidth each device uses
  • not a must, but having the provision for a USB 3G failover would be nice also :)

I have seen the following routers that piqued my curiosity:

What are your thoughts? Any others you guys out there can recommend?
 
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I would go for the cheapest one: WAG120N (hschutte got one for ~R450)
It features basically everything you need, except for gigabit LAN:
  • 4x 100Mbps Ethernet (LAN) ports
  • 1x ADSL2+ port
  • 802.11n wireless with MAC address filtering / WPA2 security

The WAG160N is like the WAG120N, except that it has auto MDI/MDI-X support, dropping the need for crossover cables :)
It also supports static and dynamic routing, which the average ADSL / network user won't need.

The WAG320N is a beast. It supports both 2.4 & 5GHz frequencies. Its also a gigabit router (instead of just 100Mbps) and all its LAN ports has auto MDI/MDI-X (like the WAG160N).
Another awesome feature is its USB2.0 interface, allowing you to convert it into a NAS (network attached storage) device.

I would recommend the WAG120N, unless you know that you're going to make use of the 1Gbps LAN and/or USB2.0 interface, you should rather go for the WAG320N.

Just note that you won't be able to have a 3G failover option with any of these routers, even though the WAG320N has an USB2.0 interface!
Also note that you won't be able to track the bandwidth usage of the devices separately with any of these routers (AFAIK). What you can do though, is install NetLimiter 2 Monitor on the PC's to track the individual bandwidth usage of the PC's and use the ISP's usage page to calculate the iPhone usage :) NetLimiter 2 Monitor is free, but it can be a mission to install on Windows 7 though. NetLimiter 2 has 3 zones: local computer, local network and Internet. Those 3 zones are very useful to distinguish between the type of network usage. That way you can tell the difference between how much data you transfered on your LAN to/from your media center and also how much Internet bandwidth you used.

All of the Cisco/Linksys products are exceptional, but they usually do come with a big pricetag too! I doubt that you'll easily be able to get the WAG120N for R450 unless you use hschutte's contact.
 
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Thanx a million for your comprehensive reply, Pada!!! Just the type of info I was hoping for. I actually had a good think about it last night and the WAG120N seems like a better fit for my needs.

cheers!
 
I have the WAG160N and i hate it. I couldn't connect to it wirelessly over my iphone or Blackberry and its range is nothing short of ***.
 
rodga, it seems like a nice router, although I can't find ANY reviews or information regarding the 3G of that router.

What you guys could do for 3G connectivity is to share the 3G connection on a Desktop/Laptop using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing). Disable DHCP on your router and simply share the 3G connection, which would run a DHCP server on your PC. Then renew the IP addresses of the other devices on your network and then they'll have Internet connectivity via that Desktop/Laptop. Its definitely not an ideal solution, but its not that bad either.

Here's a nice ADSL2+, Wireless N, Gigabit Router with USB2.0 for storage: http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=382
* Price excludes VAT & shipping (also excludes VAT).
Yet again, I haven't seen the router in action with its NAS (network attached storage) functionality.

It would be awesome if someone could comment or give more information regarding that D-Link DSL-2650U's 3G & NAS capabilities...
 
thanks, ill probably end up doing that anyway
im told to stay from the smaller brands - but will keep an eye out on that tp-link
ican get the dlink and linksys wag120 for the same price - sub 700
which would you recomend?
 
If you want a decent distance with the wireless, then I would rather go with the TP-Link or D-Link routers than for the Linksys one, since it has 2 internal antennas and a small Antenna Gain of 1,8 dBi! (like Guantanamo confirmed with his WAG160N).
The TP-Link has 3dBi gain and the gain on the D-Link is N/A.

The only thing that I hate about the TP-Link routers are that they don't support SNMP like most other routers do. Its quite nice to have if you want to draw usage graphs :)
 
We have had many dealings with D-Link routers and generally have had no problems with them at all. Easy configuration even for noobies. Good security etc. Generally good product.
 
Pada said:
I doubt that you'll easily be able to get the WAG120N for R450 unless you use hschutte's contact.
Click to expand...

Wait... what?

Hold on a sec.

What contact?
I would love you if you set me up with this contact. I am looking to buy a WAG120N, but the pricetag for it, lowest I can find online is R850.

If you can hook me up for a R500~ that would be pure win!
 
Send him a PM, I have attached a link to his post (which is now moved to his blog). I haven't asked/confirmed the price with him, but it was definitely what he said a few months ago...
 
Pada said:
Also note that you won't be able to track the bandwidth usage of the devices separately with any of these routers (AFAIK).
Click to expand...

are there actually any ADSL routers that can do this? Software isn't an option with a mix of Macs and PCs and users clever enough to bypass monitoring software. And if so, would it also measure wireless traffic?
 
Well, my D-Link DSL-2500U has SNMP, which allows me to monitor the total Internet usage, but unfortunately it won't be able to tell me from which LAN IP though.

I don't know of any ADSL routers that can tell you which LAN PC generated the traffic. If you have a router capable of running OpenWRT/DD-WRT/RouterOS, then I'm pretty sure that you can setup MRTG graphs for each LAN IP address.
Nowadays I'm quite into MikroTik routers (running RouterOS) and not into DD-WRT much more. In RouterOS its quite simple to draw graphs from each LAN IP, by simply creating a Simple Queue for each LAN IP. The router can then create graphs from each Simple Queue. There are probably other ways of drawing the graphs on the MikroTik routers too...

One thing that you have to remember is that tracking people by IP isn't the best, since most people know how to change their IP address to a static one. There are a couple of ways around this too, like running the HotSpot package, where you give each person a Username & password that they have to authenticate with on a Portal page and then they get tracked by their MAC address instead, which very few users know how to spoof.

Racer, if you could perhaps tell us exactly what you want to monitor, we should be able to give you good suggestions...
 
Pada said:
Racer, if you could perhaps tell us exactly what you want to monitor, we should be able to give you good suggestions...
Click to expand...

i have a client who sub rents his office space. he wants to know exactly who is using how much bandwidth in the office. they've already tried monitoring software, but as i said the guys there are clever enough to disable it when they wanna download something big. i've had similar requests from other clients as well.. anyway, i'm thinking that maybe a managed switch is the best option, as i've looked high and dry for an ADSL router that can monitor each LAN port. But even with a managed switch, i'm not sure how to get around measuring the ones using wireless instead of cable.
 
racer said:
are there actually any ADSL routers that can do this? Software isn't an option with a mix of Macs and PCs and users clever enough to bypass monitoring software. And if so, would it also measure wireless traffic?
Click to expand...

Sonicwall routers can do this.
 
wheunis said:
Wait... what?

Hold on a sec.

What contact?
I would love you if you set me up with this contact. I am looking to buy a WAG120N, but the pricetag for it, lowest I can find online is R850.

If you can hook me up for a R500~ that would be pure win!
Click to expand...

Please will you let me know if you come right at the R500 mark. I also need a Linksys soon & the price sounds great.
 
the_don46 said:
Please will you let me know if you come right at the R500 mark. I also need a Linksys soon & the price sounds great.
Click to expand...

i actually followed up this with hschutte, i think the price he got was a fluke, cos when i went the gave me a price of about +-R700
i went the D-link 2650 u

@pada im quite happy with it - runs 24/7 only had to reset it last night after about 2 months
oh and i tested the 3g falover and NAS - both work well!!
thanks for your advice
 
rodga said:
i went the D-link 2650 u
Click to expand...

I have bad experiences with D-Link products so I have a mental block there :)

Willing to pay more for a Linksys because every Linksys I have used for a client is still working.. They seem to be worth the extra cost.
 
the_don46 said:
I have bad experiences with D-Link products so I have a mental block there :)

Willing to pay more for a Linksys because every Linksys I have used for a client is still working.. They seem to be worth the extra cost.
Click to expand...

i could get them at the same price
so went for the D-link for the above mentioned features

if it fails ill get a linksys
(touches wood)
:)
 
I'm using a D-Link DSL-2500U in half-bridge mode at home, and I haven't had to reset it once, except for the few times that I've changed my username.

@rodga: Thanks for the info.

A friend of mine has the 2640U and its wireless range is quite limited, so we extended it with a TP-Link WR1043N running DD-WRT :)
The 3G fallover seems awesome, so I'll definitely have a look at the 2650U next time.
 
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