buying a new wireless router need help

[Martin_D]

looking to buy a new wireless router i have a budget of £260

am on virgin media 50mb

Hope you can help

---------- Post added at 03:25 ---------- Previous post was at 02:22 ----------

Is this one good http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/26041524/Netgear-N900-Wireless-Dual-Band-Gigabit-Router/Product.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=Netgear+&urlrefer=search

[General Maximus]

usually i believe the more you pay for something the better it is but in this case I can honestly say that if you had that much money to spend on a router I would buy this:

http://www.dabs.com/products/linksys-by-cisco-e4200-maximum-performance-dual-band-wireless-n-router-7FKL.html

That is the top of the range of the linksys products and I have absolute faith and confidence in Cisco. There is at least one networking god on this forum that has this router and I have got the model below and really couldn't ask for anything more from a router. Save yourself the £100 and treat yourself to a few meals out and the cinema.

For those that want to be anal I have just had a 2 second look at http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/view and whilst there is a 100mbit difference between wan to lan throughout we aren't going to be getting 700mbit connections any time soon so why even cry about it.

[greyhairbadger]

Hi,

The Linksys E4200 was my favourite wireless router, too. I very nearly purchased one last month, Unfortunately, the recent release of the V2 of the hardware is slightly less compelling than the 1st (In my opinion).
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31651-cisco-linksys-e4200v2-dual-band-n900-router-reviewed

The Cisco brand is synonymous with networking hardware, and the Cisco badge looks impressive on the router, nevertheless the badge is the only part of the router that is Cisco. It is a Linksys. This is not necessarily a bad thing, Linksys have made some fine networking hardware in the past (including my own WRT54GL), but you will not be buying Cisco at this price point. Again, this is nothing to worry about. You don't need Cisco for a simple home network. If you are buying network hardware for a small business, on the other hand...

(A while ago, Cisco purchased the Linksys brand in order to give them an easy entrance into the rapidly growing low end SOHO market. Up until then, all Cisco gear was pretty much high-end enterprise hardware).

I would echo the question asked in the other forum you posted in. We really need to know your requirements for the router, in terms of the features and performance you need.

for the vast majority of people, the following represents all the wireless router they need:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=238&model=TL-WR1043ND
It lacks some of the features of the higher-end routers, and it is unashamedly a budget router, but it does the job for less than £50.

[thenry]

Theres a E4200 v2 out in the states. Comparing both may be worthwhile with it having a few extra features. it wont support from DD WRT from what i can currently see (google)

If your willing to wait then take a look at my sig for the model number. Its not released yet. The one from the new range already released can only function 1 band at a time which sucks considering todays technology and your budget. Plus the new upcoming (my sig) like th E4200 v2 has a few extra additions which pretty much future proof you. Again not sure about DD WRT, their waiting for it to be released i guess (again google).

[greyhairbadger]

---------- Post added at 03:25 ---------- Previous post was at 02:22 ----------

[/COLOR]Is this one good http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/26041524/Netgear-N900-Wireless-Dual-Band-Gigabit-Router/Product.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=Netgear+&urlrefer=search

The in-depth review at Smallnetbuilder is here:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31603-netgear-wndr4500-n900-wireless-dual-band-gigabit-router-reviewed

Smallnetbuilder have mixed feelings about it. Speaking personally, it wouldn't be my choice, and certainly not at that price. Having said that, I doubt you would be unhappy with it.

[Pbryanw]

CNET (US) seem to like the new V2 version of the Linksys E4200:
http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/cisco-linksys-e4200-v2/4505-3319_7-35098697.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody;1r#revie wPage1

It was the fastest tested router on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands, (though with 450Mbps clients). It's probably what I'd get as well if money were no object. It is quite lust worthy, or as lust worthy as a piece of tech gear can get.

[craigj2k12]

Theres a E4200 v2 out in the states. Comparing both may be worthwhile with it having a few extra features. it wont support from DD WRT from what i can currently see (google)

apparently the v2 doesnt perform as well as the older version, and also the firmware basically is DDWRT

[thenry]

gets hot too...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397933,00.asp

anyway theres a beast in my sig ;)

[qasdfdsaq]

also the firmware basically is DDWRT
That's not a bad thing, though OpenWRT still remains far better than DD-WRT in every way except maybe ease of use and interface.

[Matth]

TP-Link's Dual band (not simultaneous) can be found for £70-80.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002XNO6RU/ref=asc_df_B002XNO6RU6332274?linkCode=asn&tag=reevoocompcp-21&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B002XNO6RU&smid=A7BI1DQVA2WDA
This is an absolutely mad price for a simultaneous dual band router - £37.99
With gigabit ports, USB storage port, UPNP media server & bittorrent client
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/wifi-routers/356017/belkin-double-n - "Not perfect", but looks like the main criticism is related to the poor setup options for the media sharing, making it less than ideal as a "router plus NAS".
But: http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Wireless/Belkin-F6D6230uk4-Dual-Band-Wireless-Router-Problem/td-p/58171 - is it that great with VM?