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Networking & wireless forum: N WLAN Router buying advice

by: golfgirlgolf August 4, 2010 9:43 AM PDT

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N WLAN Router buying advice

by golfgirlgolf - 8/4/10 9:43 AM

i'm a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of N routers on the market and looking for some advice.

I recently bought a NetGear N300 WNR2000v2 and have to return it due to it's creating false "DoS Attack: STORM" errors due to low (not adjustable) numbers of connections to the same host due to a "perceived" SYN flood on the part of the router. See this doc for more info - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11382733�

Anyway - so I'm back shopping again - this time looking much closer to make sure I don't just buy the same problem all over again. The Apple Airport Extreme looks perfect with the one large omission of UPnP.

1. One big thing I've noticed is a TON of "Draft" N routers. This means they are at least 1-2+ years old as the N standard was finalized in 2009 and it's now almost 2011... Many use "Draft" as a selling point which I find amusing to shine up something so old. By the same token, many don't disclose so it's a very gray area.

2. Dual band - we've had single band G up until now (without concerns). Not sure if we will ever need this although there is one home office running - Heavy use of uploads/downloads to websites for business purposes - Two (maybe more in the future) WLAN streaming video devices (Apple TV/Video_TS)(ROKU/Netflix) - 3 desktops(LAN), 2 laptops(WLAN) plus hand helds/phones etc. - Rare if ever guests (2 users max) - No current LAN or WLAN Network storage, although this is something we have considered adding.

2a. Dual Band & "Switching" - Some dual bands apparently only really give you one? At least that's AFAIK as there are those that do simultaneous dual bands, and those that have two - but only choose the best one available. FWIW, we do not have issues with too many competing networks, so likely no need for 5Ghz.

3. Gigabit Ethernet - probably very useful if only on a LAN - modem speeds likely do not support this, though possibly in the future?
I suspect the current switch we have isn't Gigabit, but that's an inexpensive thing to swap out.

4. Security - WPA2 should suffice.

5. Macs & PC - the one reason UPnP is really needed. Theoretically it should not matter - but it's not always the case sometimes if makes a big difference for certain units to work well with both systems.

6. 300Mbps WLAN - no sense in getting anything less than this right now in an "N" router.

7. Ports - currently we're only using one out - to a switch, but future network drives or printers is always a thought especially if a Gigabit network is actually faster than USB!

Anyway, sorry this got so long but there are many things to consider. The last thing should be budget - before you all go out and spend all my money for me, LOL. Sub-$100 would be great. The NetGear that's going back cost $60 and we paid too much for it. I've seen N WiFi routers as low as $19.95. We don't need the top of the line - just something that's STABLE and robust.

Thanks in advance for thoughts!

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