Thread: Router Suggestions

I've been researching custom firmwares for the past few weeks as my current router (a western digital n900central - 2GB storage built-in but god-awful firmware and stability issues) is near unusable. I live in an apt building and the 2.4GHz frequency is absolutely jammed (currently 14 SSIDs within range) so I require 5 GHz capability as all my stuff is wired or Apple.
I picked up the Linksys E2500, the cheapest, most-accessible dual-band router supported by DDWRT. Throw that on but lo and behold had I read further the 5GHz band is not supported. I research Tomato and find that also supports this router (yay!) so I flash Tomato's newest version and it supports 5GHz but I get awful speed tests and DHCP dropped out twice in two days.
I returned that router and found a good deal on the Linksys EA6300 - bad reviews and no DDWRT support but AC and dual-band. So far it's given me full speed tests on 5GHz and has been up for about a week without issue.
I wasn't about to spend $200 on a router so I didn't go with the Asus DDWRT router, but I've heard good things about that one. Anyone wondering should probably go with it!

Originally Posted by rush2049

The 68U has a faster 802.11n speed (if your client can support it)
The 68U has WPS setup (but I recommend you disable it)
The 68U can act as a bridge or a wireless repeater if neccessary
The 68U can have a dual internet connection (66U can too I think, but it was a firmware added feature)
The 68U has 1x USB2 and 1x USB3 (66U has 2x USB2)
The 68U has a wireless on/off button and an led off button

and this last bit I am not 100% sure on... but I think the 68U has a faster processor (dual core) and a bit more ram......

Since Im just using this for my house for common things like gaming, regular browsing, and filesharing over the network, how much of a difference is the 66U going to be compared to the 68U? Everything above doesnt really strike me as anything as a show-stopper or worth spending an extra $70.

Black Friday deal for the 66U now at $150:
ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab - Newegg.com

If your not going to be using it's usb ports for sharing over the network then I wouldn't worry about it.

There might be a signal strength difference, but they are both outstanding.

Originally Posted by rush2049

If your not going to be using it's usb ports for sharing over the network then I wouldn't worry about it.

There might be a signal strength difference, but they are both outstanding.

Im going to be hooking up one (if not two) external HDDs so perhaps I should consider the 68U? How much of a speed difference are we talking about between USB 2.0 and 3.0?

Fuck it, Ill sit on the 68U and see if I can find a sale for Cyber Monday. No use settling for average when above average is going to cost me a little more and last for some time.

Also going to pick up
Newegg.com - WD My Passport Ultra 2TB USB 3.0 Titanium Portable Hard Drive WDBMWV0020BTT-NESN
since my 1TB is old. REAL old... I think it was one of the first 1TB drives WD made.

usb 3 is worth it......

Right now im sitting on the fence on picking up 5 2TB WD red drives and building a NAS or buying a pre-made box...... I want to just set it and forget it.

Alright, the router is setup and running on the stock firmware. I see the confusion from before where it looked like I meant that I would never update the firmware when I really meant I wouldnt update TO the custom firmware unless I had a reason, so the question now is "why should I convert to DD-WRT"? Im not looking to delve into the advanced abyss of router settings. I will just have regular usage of internet browsing and gaming from one hard-wired PC and a few wireless laptops and smartphones. Im also hooking up the 2TB WD 3.0 USB I just got for filesharing internally and externally.

So I ask all the DD-WRT folks: why move over to the custom firmware?

Originally Posted by enf

Alright, the router is setup and running on the stock firmware. I see the confusion from before where it looked like I meant that I would never update the firmware when I really meant I wouldnt update TO the custom firmware unless I had a reason, so the question now is "why should I convert to DD-WRT"? Im not looking to delve into the advanced abyss of router settings. I will just have regular usage of internet browsing and gaming from one hard-wired PC and a few wireless laptops and smartphones. Im also hooking up the 2TB WD 3.0 USB I just got for filesharing internally and externally.

So I ask all the DD-WRT folks: why move over to the custom firmware?

If you are not going to use the advanced settings, no real reason to go with DD-WRT. I use it for the QoS to manage my terrible bandwidth.

Sent from my S3 using Tapatalk

I have a WD AC1300 My Net. While it isn't perfect, I have it essentially running as a wireless access point (DHCP disabled, static IP) and placed in the center of my home so I can take full advantage of the dual band wireless AC/N features... mainly for running the NVIDIA Shield PC Game Streaming.

While I think there were higher rated routers out there, this one was pretty much in the middle of the road when it came to price/performance, and I don't have any problems streaming in any corner of the house.