Gren Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Am moving in a few weeks and looks like we'll be changing to Virgin for our phone/BB/TV so will need to buy a new router. Never had a problem with my current Netgear so am going to stick with them. Am currently looking at these 3 : 54g Router Rangemax Mimo Draft N Gigabit The first is similar to mine and is much lower than the rest. The second has a better range (which I may need as the new house is older/larger) but will it get better range without a Rangemax card/dongle? The 3rd is more 'future proof'but again will I see any improvement with a non-N wireless laptop. The gigabit wired connection is nice as I may use this method sometimes to connect laptops but do I really need it over the standard 100 connection? Thoughts? Am happy to spend the extra if I get some real benefit from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Historically, I've nearly always used Netgear kit but I've had a couple of the newer "white" routers die on me over the last year and was never massively convinced by the range in my house. So in a break from tradition, I replaced the latest failed router with this D-Link DIR-655. It hasn't missed a beat and I can always connect to it from wherever I am in the house and garden. It's also got a gigabit switch which my main desktop and server are plugged into. Also comes with an insane 10+ year warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Thanks for that, am still sure I'll stick with Netgear but have looked at the one you mention anyway. Never pays to be blinkered! One thing I noticed in the reviews of the D-Link was the WAN connection was limited to 10Mbps. Does this mean that it could not cope with the faster Virgin services and is this the same for most routers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 What about linksys? get what you pay for IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Nope. Can confirm the WAN connection is 100mbit so something dodgy in the review there. I always max out my 20mbit Virgin connection and rarely fall below 19.4mbits on the various speed testers. Most of that is down to the modem itself but shows that the D-Link doesn't get in the way, plus when the 50mbit upgrade happens later this year, still plenty of headroom. Management interface is also very powerful with some very advanced options, if that's your thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Thanks again. Good news. To be honest, I've never much explored the Netgear's web interface that much. Set it up - add security and upgrade firmware when neccesary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Netgear WPN 824 has been a joy with Virgin cable for me. Make sure the in port from the modem is 100 Base T (100Mbit) since Virgin are runiing 20Mbit at the moment and will be extending to 50Mbit over the next 18 months. I live in a 1910 Edwardian and the signal for wireless covers the whole 3 floors without any drop outs or flakey connections / speeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Netgear WPN 824 [/ QUOTE ] That and the WNR834B are the ones I'm now using as bookends! If I could be arsed to dig out any details, I should send them back to Netgear (as their warranty is usually very good). But when something like that dies, I need an instant replacement to keep on doing my job so never bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Cheers Chris. Just what I wanted to hear - that's the model I was leaning towards anyway. Probably won't be going for the '20 soon to be 50' service but may go for the '4 soon to be 10' service and would not want to be sitting on the limit. And as for Linksys, I wouldn't buy one just on looks alone. Currently our router sits in the living room and the missus would go spare if that thing appeared. My own car should tell you how much appearance matters to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Netgear WPN 824 [/ QUOTE ] That and the WNR834B are the ones I'm now using as bookends! If I could be arsed to dig out any details, I should send them back to Netgear (as their warranty is usually very good). But when something like that dies, I need an instant replacement to keep on doing my job so never bother. [/ QUOTE ] Damn! But like you say their warranty is pretty good. Power adapter went on mine and they replaced the whole thing free of charge. Unopened, sealed box arrived by courier. Was without a router for 4 days but you can pay for a quicker service at the time of reporting the claim if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Check out the new Dlink models, they have done very well in the tests recently. They do a good cable, wireless N model. 655 or 615 ? something like that I think it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burble Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I always recommend a Linksys WRT54GL - I've got one running a 3rd party firmware (I need to have PAT support) and it's fantastic. Personally I wouldn't touch a Belkin with a barge pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 [ QUOTE ] Historically, I've nearly always used Netgear kit but I've had a couple of the newer "white" routers die on me over the last year and was never massively convinced by the range in my house. So in a break from tradition, I replaced the latest failed router with this D-Link DIR-655. It hasn't missed a beat and I can always connect to it from wherever I am in the house and garden. It's also got a gigabit switch which my main desktop and server are plugged into. Also comes with an insane 10+ year warranty. [/ QUOTE ] Another vote for the D-Link 655. I recently replaced my Netgear router/access point combo as it wasn't giving me more than 5mb on my 20mb connection. (You need to check WAN to LAN throughput figures to see if the device can support higher bb speeds.) After spending quite a long time reading reviews I ended up with the D-Link DIR-655 and it's been great. I'm getting the full 20mb on my internet connection and now have giga-lan capabilities too. I don't really need 'N-grade' wireless, but at least it's gives me some future-proofing. Depending on where you buy it from you can get free M&S vouchers (£15 iirc). (Check pdf claim form for participating dealers.) Plus, it's an 11 year warranty, not 10 PS I got mine from PC World. Reserved online for instore collection. The cheapest by far. Here Edit: I now see the Amazon link above shows they are now matching the PC World price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 An update: Dispite PC World not being in their T&Cs as a 'participating dealer', I submitted my claim form for the £15 worth of vouchers. I didn't think I had anything to lose, apart from the price of a stamp. The voucher's came this morning! The router has been faultless all these weeks. I even went out and bought some D-Link Gigabit PCI network cards to upgrade 2 of my PCs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 [ QUOTE ] The router has been faultless all these weeks. I even went out and bought some D-Link Gigabit PCI network cards to upgrade 2 of my PCs. [/ QUOTE ] Result on the price match vouchers. I've had mine for 4 or 5 months and it hasn't needed as much as a restart yet (apart from when I upgraded the firmware). Quality bit of kit and by far the most reliable and consistent wireless connections I've had on any piece of kit under £2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Am all up and running now. Went for the DIR-655 in the end after reading a few reviews. Awesome piece of kit - get 90%+ signal strength throughout the house (100 years old and built to last, solid walls etc). Compare this to my old Netgear DG834GT, supposed to be better for range than a normal 'g' router. This used to drop below 50% when you went to the far corner of the house - a 15 year old house that was much smaller. And all this is with a standard wireless card in laptop, what's it gonna be like with an 'N' card in there?! Have yet to try it in the garden......maybe when spring really does arrive! Thanks for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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