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Better Personal BroadBand Router


FuzzButt

So what is your favorite? Best Router for personal use?  

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So What do you think is the better Router? Those with special features? Ease of use? Quality equipment that just works? Let us know what your choice would be and possibly what is on your desk.For me it is the BEFSR41 from Linksys. A Top Product a few years ago I believe.Mine is still working great after 2 Firmware updates and many TeraBytes of data that have passed through it. I do have a newer BEFSX41 that I bought to see if I had a Router issue a few months ago but while it works fine it does take a bit of a while to boot up.Comments or other suggestions are welcome.Chris

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I have the same router as you (BEFSR41) and recommend it to anyone who is interested in setting up a wired network. It has good features, easy to configure and most importantly, it just plain works.

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Linksys BEFRS41 for me, too. The last couple of firmware updates, particularly since October 2002 have been really stable. Easy to configure, flexible, though not the most full featured. I hope they fix Stateful Packet Inspection. They had it in earlier firmware revisions but it's been missing since middle of last year.

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I also have a Linksys BEFSR41 and it's worked very well for me so far.I can also say that the Belkin line of routers do well. I bought one for my parents last year for their little network and while its web interface doesn't look as nice as the one on the Linksys routers, it does do the job.

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I use a NetGear PR114 Websafe router(I like that part + I can track web visits with (Kids)..just pugged it in , limited set-up ,8 months so far and no problems.

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Here's another vbte for the Linky BESFR41. I've got one at home and we also use one at work. Both have been working fine from day one.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got my D-Link DI-604 last week and was happy to see it's stellar review in the latest issue of Scot's newsletter. It really is simple to set up while offering a lot of options and configuration possibilities. I picked mine up via TechDepot which after the $10 rebate which is good through the 31st made it $35 plus shipping. No affiliation, just happy with their service and the good deal.

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Purely by chance I purchased a D-Link DI-604 last Saturday and today there's the review in Scotts Newsletter. I have to agree with Scott, it is terrific. No problem getting up and running and this is my first use of a Router and very happy with the whole process. D-Link rules! I bought mine at the local Radio Shack. B)

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I have had the DI-804 for over 18 mos. now and it was the best of the bunch then at twice the price (resellers discount even!). Mine is still going strong, but nice to see how things have improved and the price is tremendous IMHO. I hope Scot let's us all know when that port issue is fixed and I just may have to get the new one for the extra features. :rolleyes: Mountain View Digital

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In our shop we sell mostly Dlink and Linksys routers, neither of which have given us any real trouble. However at home I use a Linux product called Smoothwall (the free version) that I run on an old 233 which I put together from spare, unused shop parts. It is not as easy to set up as the commercial hardware routers but once it's up the html interface is easy to use and quite extensive. I particularly like the logging features and traffic graphs, but don't like not being able to forward multiple ports in one rule (buying the commercial version would resolve this, but I'm cheap).Have a look here http://www.smoothwall.orgkddoj

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I installed a Siemens Speedstream router / 802.11b AP / power line unit for a home client last month, it was easy to configure and the ethernet over 110v power lines works great. I've seen this unit for $50 at Compusa, that was 1 week after I got it for $90 at Circuit City.I have been playing with streaming video from an XP machine using media encoder 9, after a while my Linksys router locks up and has to be reset.

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Guest LilBambi

jay --Hope it's still within 30 days of your purchase at Circuit City. I believe they still are doing that thing where they will pay you the difference plus a dollar or something like that if you bring your receipt and the flyer with the price for $50 ;)Might be something to check into if it is still within 30 days since you actually purchased it. You could check their site: CircuitCity.com

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The most important category is missing from the poll.It Does Not Matter.The main difference between the Entry level Cable/DSL Routers is the number, and range of ports that can be opened through the Hardware Firewall. If you are a gamer, and or use applications that need ports opening, it is an issue you have to look at.You need to list your special ports opening and check the specs. of each targeted Router to make sure that it can keep these ports Open.If you want a more elaborate Router with better VPN, and SPI capacities you have to look at the Top Models of SMC, Linksys, and Netgear. They have each a higher level hardware for more than $100.Otherwise I would go with the lowest price, and the decor:If you need Cobalt Blue, get Linksys.Dark Blue get, Netgear.Nice Gray Silver, get D-Link.Futuristic look, get Belkin.Stylish, get Microsoft.Battleship Gray, get SMC.Humble look, get Siemens SpeedStream, or Hawking.In other words there are no real differences between the above.Linksys (as reflects in the posts above) has the best marketing of all Entry Level Network products, but marketing is not a Technological variable.===================================================The story is different in the Wireless Cable/DSL Routers arena.Among the 802.11b the Speedstream 2624 would be my choice. It has a 5dbm removable Antenna (the “stick†that come with the others is only 2.2dbm). This Antenna makes it one of the best range wise.The menu system is very elaborate with many firewall options, port mapping, etc. There is a capacity to disable each computer either from the Internet connection or from the wired section, or from the Wireless.However no MAC filtering for Wireless, only filtering by IP. It means that if High Wireless security is very important DHCP has to be disabled and all computers have to be assigned with manual IP.I have few Wireless Routers, and Access Points, and consider the Speedstream as the best of them.

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This is a success story for anyone who's interested.I have two computers in my home - both running WinXP Pro - and a 1024mb Broadband cable service. I was looking for a router that would allow me to use Windows Messenger for video and voice conversations with relatives elsewhere in the world. It was difficult to find a Router that passes uPnP packets from Windows Messenger through the built-in NAT, let alone find a reliable one! Scott's newletter about 4-5 months ago, put me on the track of a DI-604 router he'd evaluated, but I bought the big-brother DI-804V because of it's better specification. I have had no problems getting Windows Messenger to work with this model and am even able to host a web site and FTP server from one of my machines. The router's in-built firewall is also a very useful addition to the software firewall's running on each machine. The router also boasts the ability to cope with VPN tunneling and this also works fairly well, so long as you choose Microsoft's generic encryption. There is currently a problem in Windows XP with L2TP-IPsec encryption and NAT firewalls and routers. Microsoft hastily released a patch under knowlegdebase article 818043 and swiftly withdrew it again. When they get 818043 re-released then the DI-804V router should then reach it's full potential.

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Guest LilBambi

Derek G --Excellent! Wonderful to hear such a great success story.BTW: Are you keeping your website and ftp server in a DMZ?

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Lilbambi,Good question about DMZ. I didn't want to leave myself completely naked by using DMZ, so I just have three virtual server rules to permit pass through (unsurprisingly) on ports 20, 21 and 80. VPN also needs a pass though on port 3389 to work properly. Pass through specification using Virtual Server Rules only works on a dedicated IP address. This is very easy to set up, as you can tell the router the range of IP addresses to use, and also assign a specific IP address to the Network ID used by each machine (MyComputer - Properties - Computername tab - NetworkID button).Hope this helps.

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Guest LilBambi

Sounds like a pretty nice setup Derek G.I think it would be great if we could get Peachy and/or some of our other network pros to comment on the pros and cons of this type of setup as opposed to putting the webserver and ftp in the DMZ.

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I have had a D-Link DI 704 since 2000 and it has never caused any problems. Only once did I have to even do a reset. It just works connected to a DSL modem and 3 computers.At work I have had a Linksys B...something since 9-99 on just 2 computers to a DSL modem most of the time and it has had more hiccups. Have had to reset - etc more times. But neither have been a problem so have had no reason to buy newer models. Would buy either product again if I needed to. Still hemming and hawing over adding a wireless network as well.

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  • 1 month later...

I'd recommend a D-Link DI-704 (p) to anyone who wants a secure, easy-to-setup home network while sharing a DSL internet connection.No software installation is even necessary (if you're not using the print server) as it interfaces through any web browser. It's also highly configurable for power users, and has a built-in hardware network-level firewall.Bought it over a year ago and it hasn't failed me yet! (oh, and it has a lifetime warrany ;))

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