looking for a cheap wireless router

[kunar]

so i'm switching internet providers in an effort to save money. only downside is that the new ISP provides a modem but not wireless unless i buy up to a better service. any suggestions on what to look for or what to stay away from as for the router? im in an apartment, about 1000 sq/ft and the modem pretty centrally located so a super strong wireless signal isnt a big deal. also only talking about 5 mbps service so speed isnt really an issue either. just looking for something CHEAP

 

[shane96ranger]

I was just looking at getting an N router earlier and saw this Linksys on Amazon for 16 bucks.

http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Linksys-WRT160N-RM-Refurbished-Wireless-N-Router/dp/B001VMAYAM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1342574430&sr=8-7&keywords=linksys+wireless+router

 

[kunar]

ive heard that linksys went to crap when cisco took over. it does look like a tempting deal though... for less than $20 cant really go wrong.

 

[shane96ranger]

I've got a Linksys that's been pretty reliable. Once in a while I have to reset it, but it always works after that.

 

[brinker88]

This one is by no means "cheap" but I absolutely love it. I've never had a problem with it and it was as simple as plugging it in to set it up.

http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-WNDR4500-Gigabit-Wireless-Router/dp/B005KG44V0/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1342578626&sr=8-13&keywords=dual+band+wireless+router

 

[daniel3507]

I had a netgear router and never had an issue. It was cheaper than that one but it was dual band and some other fancy stuff that served me no purpose. I think it was $80. Just find a cheap netgear is what I would do.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[rtg143]

I have an older Linksys and it works good but I did hear about the Cisco ones having issues. You can find many of them refurbished. That tells a story. You can also try www.geeks.com for deals on routers. I've dealt with them many times.

 

[shane96ranger]

FWIW, my Dad has a Netgear router, and it doesn't have anywhere near the range my Linksys does.

 

[AllanD]

All wireless routers are not created equally and saying the "pinto" model from one
manufacturer doesn't compare with the "Corvette" model from the other doesn't mean much.

I have a Netgear Router and it's got plenty of range for what I want it for.

It's an "N" router.

My ISP only provided ONE wired NIC connection, the Cisco Gateway (my VoIP "Vonage Device") that is next downstream provides four NIC sockets but still isn't wireless

So going "upstream" My Netgear router is plugged into the Vonage/Cisco box which is plugged into the "cable modem" which is in turn plugged into the fiber optic box.

<$20 for a referb unit, though I got mine new when the model was first introduced 18months ago... and I paid a lot more for it...

I've sold half a dozen of these myself to local customers and family

 

[kunar]

so Allan, whats the model of this netgear router and where can i buy it for less than 20 bucks??

 

[AllanD]

I haven't seen my model offered for sale for <$40 even as a refirb....

But here is a selection offered for sale at Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=145&name=Wireless-Routers&Order=PRICE

I look elsewhere, but I always end up buying from Newegg.

 

[kunar]

thanks for the info. when i called to downgrade my service, they let me keep the wireless. fortunately i dont have to worry about it.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

FWIW, I've heard good and bad about the Linksys routers too, but when I looked into it, people were saying that they were more stable with better range when you flashed them with Tomato instead of using the programing that comes with them.

I went with linksys when I needed a wireless router because my old wireless card didn't always play nice with some of the other brands. Plus I got a decent deal on it new, IIRC it's an N model.

 

[pxbacher]

Please never go for a cheap router because I have some bad experience with cheap ones...

Slightly off-topic... All the routers I've owned (cheap or medium-priced) have held up a few years, then either started getting flaky or were just way slower than the new versions on the market so I upgraded. A few years is usually good enough for me, cause by then I'd wanted a faster upgrade anyway.

But I'd always wondered why these things all seemed to go flaky after around the same period of time - like something electronic was wearing out. Long story short, it's the wall wart power supplies that wear out - specifically the filter caps in the cheap SMPS (switch mode power supplies) they ship with everything these days. When the filter caps dry up from running continuously and too warm for too long, the wall wart stops putting out DC voltage and starts putting out something in-between DC and AC. Took me hooking up a scope to figure this out.

Anyway, if your router or modem is acting flaky, has a DC wall wart, and is still good enough for you that you want to keep it going, check for ripple in the DC the wall wart is putting out, or try subbing in a known-good wall wart to see if it fixes the problem.

Cordless phones suffer from this problem as well... They get super noisy when the wall wart (or internal filter caps if it runs on AC) starts dying.

Glad to hear your ISP let you keep yours

-Pete

 

[TheBobmanNH]

Slightly off-topic... All the routers I've owned (cheap or medium-priced) have held up a few years, then either started getting flaky or were just way slower than the new versions on the market so I upgraded. A few years is usually good enough for me, cause by then I'd wanted a faster upgrade anyway.

But I'd always wondered why these things all seemed to go flaky after around the same period of time - like something electronic was wearing out. Long story short, it's the wall wart power supplies that wear out - specifically the filter caps in the cheap SMPS (switch mode power supplies) they ship with everything these days. When the filter caps dry up from running continuously and too warm for too long, the wall wart stops putting out DC voltage and starts putting out something in-between DC and AC. Took me hooking up a scope to figure this out.

Anyway, if your router or modem is acting flaky, has a DC wall wart, and is still good enough for you that you want to keep it going, check for ripple in the DC the wall wart is putting out, or try subbing in a known-good wall wart to see if it fixes the problem.

Cordless phones suffer from this problem as well... They get super noisy when the wall wart (or internal filter caps if it runs on AC) starts dying.

Glad to hear your ISP let you keep yours

-Pete

This is a FANTASTIC tip (and who would have thought I'd read it on TRS considering all the nerdy sites I frequent). I always wondered why my wireless routers go to crap after a few years... this seems a pretty reasonable explanation.