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t6hawk · Mar 5, 2010, 12:10 AM

My trusty 8 year old Linksys WRT54G is starting to show it's age. I'm thinking of getting a new 802.11n router but I can't decide on a good one. I do like Linksys but will go for a good router preferably with gigabit ethernet. So far most of the reviews I've read from various sites don't have any router that stands out as better than the rest. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

ghporter · Mar 5, 2010, 06:33 AM

Hands down, the best choice would be an AirPort Extreme unit. It has dual band N WiFi, a 3-port Gigabit wired router, allows sharing of an external drive or printer, and supports the latest, most secure WiFi security.

I've been a Linksys user for a very long time, and when I upgrade (soon), I'm going this route.

Simon · Mar 5, 2010, 08:49 AM

The latest AirPort Extreme.

It's got a whole set of nice features and it's a typical Apple product: whereas you can get others to work like you want, this will always work like you want. You get what you paid for applies here too.

olePigeon · Mar 5, 2010, 11:29 AM

Another vote for the latest AirPort Extreme, and an AirPort Express if you have a stereo.

mduell · Mar 5, 2010, 11:51 AM

Linksys has a couple good options: WRT320N ($95) if you just want dual band N, WRT610N ($160) if you need simultaneous dual band.

Some people like the Apple gear, but I don't like the interface, performance, or stability.

ibook_steve · Mar 7, 2010, 12:28 AM

I love my Airport Extreme, but my biggest problem with it is the lack of a web configuration interface. You have to use Airport Utility, and if you don't have Airport Utility installed on a machine, you can't change the settings on the router.

Steve

Simon · Mar 7, 2010, 12:40 AM

That's a valid point IMHO. Apple went the AP Utility route because they're concerned with getting a good and user-friendly config interface rather than some cheap web interface that looks (and behaves) like it was designed by a 12 year old in a chinese sweatshop. The downside is obviously that while you pretty much always have access to a browser, not every computer already has AP Utility installed.

AKcrab · Mar 7, 2010, 03:48 PM

Sure, but how often are you changing the settings on your router? I don't think it's a deal-breaker. It also allows grandma to set it up with minimal (if any) assistance.

Apple should make an Airport Utility for the iPhone...

mduell · 10:24 PM

Falling off topic, but given how often I configure a wireless access point (rarely) and situation I'm usually in when I have to (off nominal), I prefer the highly accessible webpage approach.

Originally Posted by Simon

That's a valid point IMHO. Apple went the AP Utility route because they're concerned with getting a good and user-friendly config interface rather than some cheap web interface that looks (and behaves) like it was designed by a 12 year old in a chinese sweatshop. The downside is obviously that while you pretty much always have access to a browser, not every computer already has AP Utility installed.

That's a false dichotomy. Linksys/Dlink/Netgear would make awful and ugly Windows app, while Apple could make a beautiful (CSS) and functional (JS) web interface.

Simon · Mar 8, 2010, 03:57 AM

Huh? Who cares about dichotomy? It's just the plain and simple reality we encounter every day. AP Utility is nice. Most web configurations are horrible. The former is rarely already available, the latter is ubiquitous.

ghporter · Mar 8, 2010, 06:31 AM

I don't think that "all web configuration" interfaces are by default horrible, even if most that I've seen are really bad. Likewise, I don't think that AirPort Utility is superior just because it's Apple or because it's not browser-based. We really are talking bananas and oranges here. Good web page design could make an Apple browser-based configuration system rock, while decent client programming could make a Linksys or D-Link (OK, maybe not D-Link

) wired configuration program pretty nice. The issue is not the paradigm. It's that AirPort Utility does its jobe very nicely, while most other brands' web interfaces mostly just "get by," not because they're browser-based, but because they aren't very imaginatively or robustly built.

Simon · Mar 8, 2010, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Good web page design could make an Apple browser-based configuration system rock, while decent client programming could make a Linksys or D-Link (OK, maybe not D-Link

) wired configuration program pretty nice.

I fully agree. As it is right now, Apple's AP Utility does a pretty good job. All the Linksys/D-Link interfaces I've had to deal with so far sucked. There's no reason that it has to be that way and of course this could eventually change. OTOH if I have to buy today, I'll get what's around today.

It's that AirPort Utility does its jobe very nicely, while most other brands' web interfaces mostly just "get by," not because they're browser-based, but because they aren't very imaginatively or robustly built.

Exactly. I couldn't have said it any better.

ghporter · Mar 8, 2010, 07:38 PM

I'd like to see more options in the whole field of router management, like really intelligently (and understandably) designed web interfaces on everyone's devices, including Apple's, and value-added application-based configuration interfaces for other vendors' stuff. Linksys used to have that for their wireless access points, but that sucked VERY badly due to their design, so their web interface was a huge improvement. Which hasn't substantially changed in several years. Netgear has decent, if somewhat cryptic and hard to navigate interfaces, but at one time they used a URL rather than a local IP which led to some really, really pissed off customers (GoDaddy squatted on the Internet destination for their URL). Siemens' SpeedStream boxes aren't quite "bad," but they aren't as easy to use as Linksys'. USRobotics has the same sort of generic web interface that SpeedStream does. Nobody updates their firmware regularly enough, and they seldom do more than tweak what the interface does, not the interface itself. None of this is good for business.

Big Mac · Mar 9, 2010, 06:44 AM

Wow, I haven't heard of US Robotics since the days of dial-up primacy. Thought they went out of business long ago.

I like Netgear and 2WIRE the best right now.

Wiskedjak · Mar 9, 2010, 07:34 AM

Quite happy with my D-Link. When configuring my Airport Express I find the AirPort Utility to be fairly flaky; there are many times when it simply refuses to see the router.

Simon · 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

When configuring my Airport Express I find the AirPort Utility to be fairly flaky; there are many times when it simply refuses to see the router.

There was a bug that caused that to happen and it was fixed a while back. Do you still see the same behavior? In my case the bug fix did really fix the issue. Haven't had such problems since.

I still always recommend configuring through Ethernet rather than wifi whenever possible. Regardless if it's an Apple base station or not. It's usually easier to recover via Ethernet if you accidentally screw up configuration.