Networks What Router? (Cable approx. £50)

Any suggestions for a new router?

I've been using a Draytek Vigor 2110n for about 3 years (I think) but after it's just taken over an hour to try and access the set-up pages I think it's time for a new one.

Would like to keep it under £50 if possible and I'm on Virgin so cable compatible.

Thanks in advance.

 

Going from a draytek to an under £50 router.....wired or wireless ? Either or you will struggle for something decent for that price if wireless.

 

Is it going to be best then if I just replace the Draytek like for like?

I need wireless for tablet/phone unfortunately.

 

Draytek are very good quality routers, be a bit more than £50 to replace it .

 

What are the requirements ?
Input bandwidth (do you need a gigabit router) ?
Internal interface (do you need gigabit or not) ?
What WiFi standard (g ? 2.4ghz n ? 5ghz n ? 450mbps n ? 600mbps n ? 900mbps n? 1300mbps n ?)

 

some thing from Cisco.
Best to use Virgin box in modem mode and an external router like the E4200.

 

Yeah I think this cost me £100 at the time but if I'm going to be better of spending a bit more then I will. I was hoping to get away with not much of an impact on performance for alot less money given how long I've had mine.

As for requirements I run 4 computers (well 2 PC's, 360 & PS3), I have 100mb service from VM which is another excuse for the upgrade as I'm sure my 2110n only does 100mb. On wireless just need an N connection really.

 

Ok, if you really get 100mbit internet from your provider, then i cannot recommend you anything less than ASUS RT-N66U. The issue ? Price - it is priced at £109.99.

Now let me explain why not some cheap router. The issue is not the interface side of the thing, but the processing power. To really handle 100Mbit of data, you unfortunately need 400MHz+ CPU in your router. Cheap routers don't have that, and even some expensive routers don't have that. I had a Linksys E2000 (priced around 60 euros), which could only route 90/7Mbit at the stock speed. I had to overclock it to 480MHz, and only using the overclock it could handle my 100/8Mbit internet connectivity. Of course overclocking a router is not a good idea and i had random router reboots and crashes.

So if you really have 100Mbit speed from your provider (not the interface speed, but the package speed you are paying for), then i suggest you to first explore how well it handles the NAT at that speed, if can NAT the whole 100Mbit to your computers.

 

Well it's the 100mb package but on my PC speed tests it seems to average about 70/10 but I was never to sure whether that was router restricted in any sense.

I'll have to look at that ones mentioned and see if I can spare a bit more cash.

Thanks for the help.

 

Well i wouldn't suggest Linksys E2000, becaue as i said, i had to overclock it to be able to work at provided speed. RT-N66U is the best choice, but of course it is on the expensive side.

It is easy to determine if your speed is limited by router - connect your computer with gigabit ethernet directly to your modem. If it goes faster than through router, then you are limited by router. If not, then it is your provider or the modem which limits the speeds.

Look around for routers in your price category, then try to find reviews or in worst case, try to contact the manufacturer and ask them which of their routers will be able to handle such traffic.

 

I have the older RT-N56U, If and when it dies i will replace it with the 66U.

 

+1 on the rt-n66u if its anything like my rt-n56u. Its crazy fast compared to the virgin 'super' box, get wifi at the chinese takeaway 4 doors down, run a printer from it, and an ftp server for my friends, and the only problems i've EVER had in the 6mnths of using it have always come down to the virgin hub in modem mode when I've finally troubleshooted the problem.

And its shiny

 

+1 on the rt-n66u if its anything like my rt-n56u. Its crazy fast compared to the virgin 'super' box, get wifi at the chinese takeaway 4 doors down, run a printer from it, and an ftp server for my friends, and the only problems i've EVER had in the 6mnths of using it have always come down to the virgin hub in modem mode when I've finally troubleshooted the problem.

And its shiny

 

I have used this one a lot and its absolutely amazing!

http://uk.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN66U/

 

I picked this up for £40 second hand. great router with bt infinity. The latest firmware includes ipv6 a new download manager and other stuff. The interface is the same as the newer models now which imo looks really nice.