Wireless N which router

**ShuckyD** · November 30th, 2011, 10:19 PM

So I'm building an HTPC this holiday season and with that comes the need to ditch my several year old WRT54G routers with DD-WRT on them, I need the speeds of wireless N and likely dual band simultaneously in my new choice. I was looking at the Cisco/Linksys E2000 or the E3000, I would probably need to get two of them since I have my office wired with a router which is just repeating the signal from the main one (next room over, just didn't feel like penetrating walls).

I've read alot of reviews on the E3000 and they say if you get it plan on cooling it... is that really the case? I need something that will support the speeds of streaming HD .mkv files although I will likely start out with a 500GB HDD in the HTPC locally with much of the content. I was also looking into XBMC as the platform, but that's another whole conversation

Thanks all for any suggestions that you can provide.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...m-_-33-124-388 for $70 looks like a deal, but could that $ be spent on something better?

**Bizkitkid2001** · November 30th, 2011, 11:34 PM

Stay aay from Linksys/Cisco. Their quality has gone way down over the years. I just replaced my grandparents e2000 after it was constantly overheating and losing the signal. After looking around on Linksys' own forums, it seems that bad capacitors are the culprit and lots of people have this issue.

I recommend the D-Link Extreme N Duo Media DIR-855 router. I have had the DIR-855 for almost two years and it has worked flawlessly, even using the stock rom. Great signal strength (Two story home) and fast speeds. (300mbps upstairs and 270mbps downstairs) it has QoS and dual band, so even when I am streaming Netflix and my aunt watching Amazon on demand my latency in games is still 15ms.

DD-WRT also supports a lot of D-Link devices. Plus, D-Link still uses external antennas, while the other big names (Netgear, Linksys, etc...) seem to be moving to a cleaner internal antenna design, which lowers the signal strength.

Edit: I got my grandparents the DIR-655 Wireless N router and it has been great for them. They no longer have to reset their router every other day just to get it to work. My DIR-855 was last restarted 45 days ago and that was only because the power went out. It is such a rock solid router that I installed it in the attic because I knew I would never have to go up their to reset it.

The DIR-655 is on sale at Newegg right now for a couple more hours. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127215 Although I was able to pickup my Grandparents DIR-655 at Staples for only $5 more than Newegg's sale price.

**ShuckyD** · December 1st, 2011, 01:15 AM

Thanks for the advice, I love that I still caught the deal and only paid $25 as I had a $40 credit from NewEgg from a BlackFriday 1/2 off coupon that ran. I see the one you linked me to wasnt the DIR-855, but for less of a price would I really need the 855... i mean $200+ for a router seems a bit crazy. Heck my WRT54G's I picked up for $20 a piece at a computer show

and I'm sure this DIR-655 will be pretty good.

I'm thinking I should just pop on another one since I need two in my final setup. I hope it can be configured as a repeater in the DLink ROM, else it's getting Tomato or DD-WRT. I've used DD-WRT for like 7 years, but TOMATO sounds promising..

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 1st, 2011, 04:57 AM

The only thing you won't have compared to the 855 is the dual band and the LCD screen.

I tried using the 5ghz band but it is far to unstable. Even when I lived in my small 680 sq ft apartment the signal strength was not good and the speeds varied a lot, and I was the only person in range that I could pick up that was using a 5ghz channel. So to me dual band is kind of useless.

The only other thing dual band is useful for is if you wanted to setup two separate wireless networks. The 855 can host two separate networks, one on 2.4ghz and one on 5ghz and each will show up as a different access point. It acts like as if there are two separate routers.

For the price the 655 is my number one choice. I use The D-Link DAP-1522 AP to connect my NAS, Computer, and PS3 to my wireless network. I have another PS3 upstairs also hooked up to a DAP-1522 AP and it has no issues at all streaming 1080p Blue Ray movies (h.264 4.1 Profile 3-20gb in size) I have ripped from my NAS over my wireless network. No stuttering or buffer issues.

Newegg.com - D-Link DAP-1522 Wireless Gigabit Bridge/Access Point Xtreme N 2.4/ 5GHz Selectable Dual Band / Optimized for HD Video Streaming 802.11b/g/n

**ShuckyD** · December 1st, 2011, 08:10 AM

ahh, i was too tired last night when ordering them to realize it wasnt dual band. It still sounds like I could choose either 2.4 or 5GHz, but only one at a time and there is no need for me to do two networks, my guests that come on dont get the password unless i trust them anyway

**Networker4321** · December 1st, 2011, 03:54 PM

Shucky,

I'm sure you know this but just in case, if you use the 2.4 band and you still use 2.4 GHz wireless phones in the home/office you will have interference.

But, I am a Cisco bigot. It's a natural as I sell Cisco infrastructure solutions under an Oracle badge. We do a lot of that with the major vendors.

Good luck!

**nemowolf** · December 1st, 2011, 08:14 PM

sorry if i am chimming in late but the best router i have ever used is the airport and to an extent the airport extreme. Has all the features of your major name brand routers and great network printing built in if thats something your after. If you have a mac or an iphone you can configure on the fly from either.

Extending is a snap with the extenders they sell for 100 bucks.

**ShuckyD** · December 2nd, 2011, 06:40 PM

so the description on NewEgg changed from 2.4/5GHz on the DIR-655 to what appears to be just 2.4GHz and come to find out it doesnt support flashing to other ROMs... boo I'm sitting here with the router in front of me now looking for some way to flash it or get it to be a repeater.

EDIT: Either I'm crazy or that really did change. Anyway really all I want to do is be able to use one as a repeater or access point to the other. I cant get the main cable line in my office, which is why I bought two. Any way to do that with the DLink firmware and the DIR-655?

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 2nd, 2011, 07:21 PM

It should support flashing to other ROMs. DD-WRT supports the 655.

Known incompatible devices - DD-WRT Wiki

You may have to download the latest firmware from D-Link first before you can flash another firmware on it.

Also, there should be a way to turn it into a repeater using the stock firmware. I know that with my 855 I can turn on AP mode and then set it as a repeater, the 655 should be able to do the same thing.

**ShuckyD** · December 2nd, 2011, 07:23 PM

it shows on that page that since it's an ubicom chipset it'll never get supported..

AP mode, hmm... lemme go offline with this machine again for a minute and check it out. brb

EDIT: this link below makes the AP possibility look promising, but the URL is sorta sketch since it's an IP
Wireless N AP Recommendations - DIR-655 act as AP? - AnandTech Forums

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 2nd, 2011, 08:03 PM

Sorry, I thought that said compatible devices.

You can return the second router and buy this Newegg.com - D-Link DAP-1360 Wireless Range Extender instead.

Are you wanting to extend your range or bridge a network?

**ShuckyD** · December 2nd, 2011, 11:23 PM

what I want to do is set up the DIR-655 as a wireless access point to my existing DD-WRT router... OR another DIR-655. I cant get a cable to my office even though it's only a wall or two apart.

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 2nd, 2011, 11:59 PM

How are your paint skills? Can you draw it out?

If your current router is 802.11g, then I would not recommend trying to use the DiR-655 as a bridge as yuor network would only be limited to 802.11g, you wouldn't be getting the faster N speeds.

You have a desktop in your office that you would like to connect to the router, but you can't run a cable to the router because it is on the other side of the wall?

If that is the case, you can do what I am doing. I have my wireless router on the second floor in my attic and my computer, NAS, and PS3 number 1 in my bedroom. I have all 3 connected to Newegg.com - D-Link DAP-1522 Wireless Gigabit Bridge/Access Point Xtreme N 2.4/ 5GHz Selectable Dual Band / Optimized for HD Video Streaming 802.11b/g/n which is then connected to my router wirelessly. This is acting as a bridge, connecting my wired computers to my wireless network. I have another PS3 upstairs also hooked up to a Newegg.com - D-Link DAP-1522 Wireless Gigabit Bridge/Access Point Xtreme N 2.4/ 5GHz Selectable Dual Band / Optimized for HD Video Streaming 802.11b/g/n because the built in wireless G was not fast enough to stream my blu-ray movies.

You can replace your current DD-WRT router with the DIR-655 and then hook up all of your things in your office to Newegg.com - D-Link DAP-1522 Wireless Gigabit Bridge/Access Point Xtreme N 2.4/ 5GHz Selectable Dual Band / Optimized for HD Video Streaming 802.11b/g/n which will allow anything in your office to be connected to the DIR-655.

A repeater just boost a wireless signal, you wouldn't be plugging anything into it (Unless you have the repeater set in bridge mode)

**RicheemxX** · December 3rd, 2011, 12:10 AM

Yeah as Biz said you are really shooting yourself in the foot if you are still using the old G router as a primary. If the computer in the office doesn't need the Wirless N capability then why not reverse your setup. Use the DLink as the primary router and bridge the DD-WRT router as a secondary.

Theoretically it would be best to go Wireless N through out, just keep in mind that also requires having wireless n adapters on all your PCs. At least to take advantage of the added speed. Wireless G devices will still work you just won't get the throughput.

**ShuckyD** · December 3rd, 2011, 12:19 AM

yea I just got annoyed and submitted the RMAs on these two... I was annoyed as I believe NewEgg actually changed the description at one point or else I wouldnt have slipped up and ordered something that didnt support DD-WRT

OK, so something that can run DD-WRT, has Wireless N, and I can get two of them for a reasonable price... any suggestions?

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 3rd, 2011, 12:47 AM

What exactly do you need the router to do?

IMO, D-Link firmwares give the most options compared to most other big name router brands and allow for a lot of tweaking. What is it that you are wanting to do exactly? If it is just a simple bridging of networks than there is no need to have a router running DD-WRT.

And depending on what it is you are trying to accomplish you may not even need to have to buy two routers.

**ShuckyD** · December 3rd, 2011, 12:55 AM

What I need to do is go with Wireless N speeds for HD streaming in my house. I've got comcast cable and the coax comes into another room, no way to get it in here/my office. So both those routers are WRT54G's with DDWRT, the one in the other room has nothing connected to it's local ports.. my office has the other router with DD-WRT connected like a repeater. All of my devices that are wireless connect to either of them, only at G speeds.

So essentially I'd like to run DDWRT on my new choice of router, with the same setup.

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 3rd, 2011, 01:06 AM

With the DiR-655 and the DAP-1522 bridge I linked you could do that without the need for DD-WRT (That is what my setup is which I tried to explain)

Also, you are using the term repeater wrong. Your second router that you plug everything in your office into is not acting as a repeater, it is acting as a bridge.

However, after reading the DD-WRT forums it seems that the router that most people are recommending is the E3000. You can get that and then also get a bridge. If you can find a bridge cheaper than a second E3000 you can save some money instead of buying a second E3000.

Newegg has the E3000 on sale right now for a very good price, but be prepared to RMA the device if get one with a bad batch of capacitors.

Newegg.com - LINKSYS E3000 Wireless Router simultaneous Dual Band Gigabit 802.11a/b/g/n 2.4GHz / 5GHz up to 300Mbps with USB Built-in UPnP AV Media Server

**ShuckyD** · December 3rd, 2011, 11:12 AM

Thanks for the link, i have read about the E3000's overheating and it was said that their quality really went downhill the past few years. I was using the wrong name, i looked at how I have this office setup and it's using DD-WRT as a network bridge. I like DD-WRT because of the more advanced settings, reporting, etc. I can do so I definitely want to stick with devices that give me that.

**Bizkitkid2001** · December 3rd, 2011, 11:19 AM

I'm not sure how different the 855 firmware its compared to the 655 but I have a lot of settings (many that I've never even used) and the router sends me an email every week with a system log.

I was reading on the dd-wrt forums that installing the dd-wrt firmware actually lowers the signal strength of many routers because of the fact the drivers aren't signed. Not sure how true this is or not though.