raymac46 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 (edited) It's probably OK to keep old computers in the basement for future service - but old routers? Not so much. Now that I have a new AC router in place I went through my junk parts box in the basement today. I found an old D-Link G router and a G range extender from my earliest wifi days, more D-Links and a Linksys Cisco E1000 N300 of indeterminate age. I think I got these from people who I helped replace their router and they handed me their old one. Or maybe they just followed me home. The only useful router in the bunch was an single band N600 based one from 2013, and that wasn't as good as the ISP gateway I used for a few years. I packed up all this networking stuff with a set of ugly beige computer speakers and I'm taking everything to the recycler soon. RIP. Edited September 17, 2020 by raymac46 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrke Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 When I got a new router recently, I did keep the old one as insurance against a disaster that might take out the new one. Otherwise, I agree with you. Somewhere buried in my basement is at least one other old router and I think a switch from about 25+ years ago. They really need to go to the recycler if I ever dig them up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 My backup in case the new router fails would be to re-enable the gateway function on the ISP modem. None of the routers I'm recycling would be as good as that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 Talk about not e-cycling things...someone at another forum has a PCMCIA wifi card that he is trying to use in a Windows 95 computer to get it online wirelessly! He asked for help in finding a driver for the thing. Two of us told him basically to stop wasting time on something like that. I'm not sure he'll listen. I got rid of all computers below Windows 2k. (I still have things on the Y2K and XP offline computers that I use from time to time. ) My current router is a new model of an oldie, Linksys WRT54GL. I have a newer Netgear router as a backup. I learned when my original router went out, it is a royal pain to use a single computer connected to the modem with a cable snaking through the hall to get online. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 (edited) OK you folks have convinced me. I'll keep the best of the old routers (D-Link DIR-855L) just in case and recycle the other 5. Edited September 18, 2020 by raymac46 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 No one needs 5 routers! Find 5 people who might need a backup router and hand them out. Even an old router is good to have in case the new one fails. It saddened me to e-cycle my 2 working modems but they were DOCSIS 2 and wouldn't be of use to anyone. (I've always bought my own modems because Comcast overcharges for those too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 (edited) These routers are ones I've kept in case somebody would need one. I've had them for years and nobody has expressed a need. It's different in Canada where the two major ISPs rent out a gateway and don't allow you to buy your own modem. Most folks here just make use of the gateway. These routers are mostly G protocol and are of little use to anyone. The recycler can decide whether they want to resell them but I doubt they will. Edited September 20, 2020 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted September 20, 2020 Share Posted September 20, 2020 Hello, In some cases, older models of routers may still be supported by third-party firmware like DD-WRT, which may give you an opportunity to continue to use them in a secure fashion, albeit slower than current hardware. I typically keep the previous router around as a spare. It is a good idea to load the latest available firmware onto it and reset it to factory defaults before putting it into storage, just in case you end up giving it to someone else to use. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crp Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 is it worth keeping any router that is not capable of 802.11ac ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 On 9/18/2020 at 2:53 PM, raymac46 said: OK you folks have convinced me. I'll keep the best of the old routers (D-Link DIR-855L) just in case and recycle the other 5. You could have some fun putting OpenWRT on it. https://openwrt.org/toh/hwdata/d-link/d-link_dir-885l_a1 https://openwrt.org/toh/d-link/d-link_dir-885l Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Is it worth keeping any router that is not capable of 802.11ac ? For my husband and I who are two senior citizens - yes. My current router is G. We have no kids and hence no grandkids so we have 2 computers working and are doing emails, browsing and watching YouTube videos. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goretsky Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Hello, An 802.11n router can provide up to 300Mbps when using channel-bonding, and they often came with a gigabit Ethernet switch as well. If it can be secured, it should make for a decent backup/spare router. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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