Router recommendation

Burble · 02-09-2009, 13:31

Friday next week I'm having my Virgin Media cable modem upgraded to 50Mbit and in the process am saving the company the princely sum of £1/month. Bargain.

At present I'm using a Linksys WRT54GL running Tomato and until about 3 months ago it had performed flawlessly but lately it seems to get its knickers in a twist and stops routing. I can fix it by logging into the web interface and doing an release & renew of the WAN IP address but it's not ideal because I've got a Slingbox at home and it's a pain when the router throws a hissy fit and I can't watch the Slingbox from whatever crap hotel I'm in. I could schedule a reboot but I'd rather solve the problem than work around it.

I've seen reports that despite having a 100Mbit WAN port the WRT54GL won't give more than about 30Mbit so I'm looking for a new one.

Virgin Media will give me a router as part of the installation but I need nice things like PAT, bandwidth monitoring and so on so whatever thing they supply won't be of much use.

Any suggestions? I like the way Tomato is extremely easy to configure so I'm wanting to keep something GUI based if possible. I could use one of the spare Cisco 1712's or similar that I've got at work but away from work I don't want to faff about if I want to change an ACL or whatever.

I've got a PIX501 sitting idle at home but that baulked at the 10Mbit I originally had from Virgin. Maybe I'll give that another try first of all.

Burble · 02-09-2009, 13:37

I forgot to say that I don't care if it has GigE or 10/100 LAN ports. Same for wireless as I've already got something else doing the switching and a couple of AP's handing the wireless stuff.

Will · 02-09-2009, 13:39

I've always liked linksys stuff... but I've had quite a lot of luck with Draytek stuff if you've ever used it in the past.

Dlink is flakey. Netgear is ok I think. Cant's stand belkin stuff

Burble · 02-09-2009, 13:44

I like Linksys stuff too but AFAIK none of the Linksys kit that'll cope with 50Mbit will let me run a 3rd party firmware (like I do today) which gives me a lot more features.

D-Link stuff is generally crap in my experience and Belkin is utter garbage!

Will · 02-09-2009, 13:47

Not sure if Draytek stuff allows 3rd party :/

It's all a bit beyond me really - I just thought I'd give you my thoughts on dlink and belking though

Daz · 02-09-2009, 13:50

I have a Draytek 2910vg in the garage, if you want to try it?

No third party firmwares but it does do a lot of stuff(tm)

Briggykins · 02-09-2009, 13:52

Not expecting anyone to buy one, but I've had Netgear and a couple of other makes I can't remember now, and my Belkin router is the only one that's worked consistently well. It's not all-singing all-dancing but it does the job fine. Just wanted to put some love in for my little router.

Burble · 02-09-2009, 13:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daz

I have a Draytek 2910vg in the garage, if you want to try it?

No third party firmwares but it does do a lot of stuff(tm)

That'd be awesome - ta. I'll drop you a PM

Joe 90 · 02-09-2009, 14:05

I was gonna suggest a WRT54... I've got one running DD-WRT and its perfect. however I never push that much bandwidth so don't know how that particular firmware would coap, I do prefer it to Tomato though.

Fayshun · 02-09-2009, 14:13

I've got a crappy ebuyer-special-rebranded-Safecom that's never let me down in 4 years, but then again I don't ask much of it.

02-09-2009, 13:31	#1
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	Router recommendation Friday next week I'm having my Virgin Media cable modem upgraded to 50Mbit and in the process am saving the company the princely sum of £1/month. Bargain. At present I'm using a Linksys WRT54GL running Tomato and until about 3 months ago it had performed flawlessly but lately it seems to get its knickers in a twist and stops routing. I can fix it by logging into the web interface and doing an release & renew of the WAN IP address but it's not ideal because I've got a Slingbox at home and it's a pain when the router throws a hissy fit and I can't watch the Slingbox from whatever crap hotel I'm in. I could schedule a reboot but I'd rather solve the problem than work around it. I've seen reports that despite having a 100Mbit WAN port the WRT54GL won't give more than about 30Mbit so I'm looking for a new one. Virgin Media will give me a router as part of the installation but I need nice things like PAT, bandwidth monitoring and so on so whatever thing they supply won't be of much use. Any suggestions? I like the way Tomato is extremely easy to configure so I'm wanting to keep something GUI based if possible. I could use one of the spare Cisco 1712's or similar that I've got at work but away from work I don't want to faff about if I want to change an ACL or whatever. I've got a PIX501 sitting idle at home but that baulked at the 10Mbit I originally had from Virgin. Maybe I'll give that another try first of all.

02-09-2009, 13:39	#3
Will BBx woz 'ere :P Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 2,147,487,208	I've always liked linksys stuff... but I've had quite a lot of luck with Draytek stuff if you've ever used it in the past. Dlink is flakey. Netgear is ok I think. Cant's stand belkin stuff __________________ *No No!*

02-09-2009, 13:47	#5
Will BBx woz 'ere :P Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 2,147,487,208	Not sure if Draytek stuff allows 3rd party :/ It's all a bit beyond me really - I just thought I'd give you my thoughts on dlink and belking though __________________ *No No!*

02-09-2009, 13:50	#6
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	I have a Draytek 2910vg in the garage, if you want to try it? No third party firmwares but it does do a lot of stuff(tm) __________________ apt-get moo

02-09-2009, 13:52	#7
Briggykins Vodka Martini Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Exeter Posts: 753	Not expecting anyone to buy one, but I've had Netgear and a couple of other makes I can't remember now, and my Belkin router is the only one that's worked consistently well. It's not all-singing all-dancing but it does the job fine. Just wanted to put some love in for my little router. __________________

02-09-2009, 13:37	#2
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	I forgot to say that I don't care if it has GigE or 10/100 LAN ports. Same for wireless as I've already got something else doing the switching and a couple of AP's handing the wireless stuff.

02-09-2009, 13:44	#4
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	I like Linksys stuff too but AFAIK none of the Linksys kit that'll cope with 50Mbit will let me run a 3rd party firmware (like I do today) which gives me a lot more features. D-Link stuff is generally crap in my experience and Belkin is utter garbage!

02-09-2009, 14:05	#9
Joe 90 Absinthe Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chester Posts: 2,345	I was gonna suggest a WRT54... I've got one running DD-WRT and its perfect. however I never push that much bandwidth so don't know how that particular firmware would coap, I do prefer it to Tomato though. __________________ 360 Blog \| Join GiffGaff \| Twitter

02-09-2009, 14:13	#10
Fayshun Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Adrift in the Orca Posts: 6,845	I've got a crappy ebuyer-special-rebranded-Safecom that's never let me down in 4 years, but then again I don't ask much of it. __________________ We must move forward not backward, upwards not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling...