Jump to content

Router purchasing advice

PiercingGoblin
By PiercingGoblin
in Networking
 Share
Posted

Hello LTT! I know I can always come here when I want reasonable tech advice... so here I am!

 

My current router is a D-Link DIR655, and I'm looking to make an upgrade. I have a couple criteria that I have seen as I have been searching for routers, and I'm just not sure which ones are important, and which ones are just marketing gimmicks. Can anyone shed some light on what's important when buying a new router?

 

  • DD-WRT Support
    • I would really like something that can support DD-WRT, or already comes preinstalled with it (like some Buffalo routers)
  • RAM
    • Does a router having more RAM really make a huge difference? Can it help with packet buffering issues if people are streaming netflix / saturating my line?
  • Flash Memory
    • I think this mainly pertains to DD-WRT, as I know there are different versions of DD-WRT that are for different Flash sizes
  • Processor Speed
    • This one gets me the most. I see routers that advertise 800 - 1000MHz (1GHz) processors in their routers. Is this feature something that would help the average user, or more something for someone that will add a lot of configuration (QoS, port forwarding, etc.)?

 

My ISP is Time Warner Cable, and one of the main things I would *hope* to fix is that when my roommates stream netflix, I pretty much lose the ability to do much on my network (games lag, videos lag, etc.). I get about 15Mbps down. Is there any solution to something like this that could be solved by a newer router? (I know DD-WRT has some support for limiting bandwidth consumption by IP / MAC),

 

Thanks guys,

PiercingGoblin

"Never trust the authenticity of a quote on the internet."

   -Abraham Lincoln 

 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/366622-router-purchasing-advice/
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Hello LTT! I know I can always come here when I want reasonable tech advice... so here I am!

 

My current router is a D-Link DIR655, and I'm looking to make an upgrade. I have a couple criteria that I have seen as I have been searching for routers, and I'm just not sure which ones are important, and which ones are just marketing gimmicks. Can anyone shed some light on what's important when buying a new router?

 

  • DD-WRT Support
    • I would really like something that can support DD-WRT, or already comes preinstalled with it (like some Buffalo routers)
  • RAM
    • Does a router having more RAM really make a huge difference? Can it help with packet buffering issues if people are streaming netflix / saturating my line?
  • Flash Memory
    • I think this mainly pertains to DD-WRT, as I know there are different versions of DD-WRT that are for different Flash sizes
  • Processor Speed
    • This one gets me the most. I see routers that advertise 800 - 1000MHz (1GHz) processors in their routers. Is this feature something that would help the average user, or more something for someone that will add a lot of configuration (QoS, port forwarding, etc.)?

 

My ISP is Time Warner Cable, and one of the main things I would *hope* to fix is that when my roommates stream netflix, I pretty much lose the ability to do much on my network (games lag, videos lag, etc.). I get about 15Mbps down. Is there any solution to something like this that could be solved by a newer router? (I know DD-WRT has some support for limiting bandwidth consumption by IP / MAC),

 

Thanks guys,

PiercingGoblin

 

None of these matter for home connections.

This becomes serious when you have a lot of IP rules, policies or whatever else advanced function you can think of.

For example I have 40/40Mbps internet at home, to test this I plugged in an old TL-WR720N router, it reached speeds of around 42Mbps with the firewall on. We are talking about a router with 32MB ram that can't even support DD-WRT.

 

IP QoS is possible on DD-WRT but useful only when you pay for the full version. In the free version IP QoS is in my opinion useless, so don't get your hopes up. With the internet connection you have now, almost any router could handle it without any issues.

 

With your specific requirements you would need to buy a Linksys (Owned by Belkin) WRT AC1900 router and that's great and all, but it costs 220 USD.

 

If you want my suggestion, get a MikroTik RB951G-2HnD nothing special looking nor do the specs say something, but the software makes it a beast. It won't be as easy to setup buy hey who doesn't like a challenge? Not to mention that it has excellent bandwidth management.

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/366622-router-purchasing-advice/#findComment-4966080
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

None of these matter for home connections.

This becomes serious when you have a lot of IP rules, policies or whatever else advanced function you can think of.

For example I have 40/40Mbps internet at home, to test this I plugged in an old TL-WR720N router, it reached speeds of around 42Mbps with the firewall on. We are talking about a router with 32MB ram that can't even support DD-WRT.

 

IP QoS is possible on DD-WRT but useful only when you pay for the full version. In the free version IP QoS is in my opinion useless, so don't get your hopes up. With the internet connection you have now, almost any router could handle it without any issues.

 

With your specific requirements you would need to buy a Linksys (Owned by Belkin) WRT AC1900 router and that's great and all, but it costs 220 USD.

 

If you want my suggestion, get a MikroTik RB951G-2HnD nothing special looking nor do the specs say something, but the software makes it a beast. It won't be as easy to setup buy hey who doesn't like a challenge? Not to mention that it has excellent bandwidth management.

 

Good to hear. A quick note on your "only free version" bit, I did find this article that lets you run some iptables commands to limit bandwidth. Would this be worth the effort?

 

http://www.panjitresna.com/limit-user-internet-bandwidth-on-dd-wrt-router/

"Never trust the authenticity of a quote on the internet."

   -Abraham Lincoln 

 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/366622-router-purchasing-advice/#findComment-4966100
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Good to hear. A quick note on your "only free version" bit, I did find this article that lets you run some iptables commands to limit bandwidth. Would this be worth the effort?

 

http://www.panjitresna.com/limit-user-internet-bandwidth-on-dd-wrt-router/

 

Sure, if you want to modify the firmware. This is how the QoS looks on DD-WRT, from what I understood you can only use the first set of options...

9swdeR2.gif

 

And these are some of the options for MikroTIk...

 

vk4sJCf.gif

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/366622-router-purchasing-advice/#findComment-4966151
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

Neat! I'll  have to keep in mind that MikroTik one, given its price. Do you think wireless N is sufficient for most browsing on a phone? All of my actual browsing is mainly done on my desktop, which is wired.

"Never trust the authenticity of a quote on the internet."

   -Abraham Lincoln 

 

Link to comment
https://linustechtips.com/topic/366622-router-purchasing-advice/#findComment-4971859
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Networking

×