Best Wifi Router I could get today (under $300)? (Prefer it works with dd-wrt)

My old router is starting to show its age. DD-WRT extended it many years, but now I want to get a newer router. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Don’t know about DD-WRT

But Cisco do some decent hardware

On 04/03/2013 11:36 PM, caf4926 wrote:
>
> Don’t know about DD-WRT
>
> But Cisco do some decent hardware

I used to use only Linksys (Cisco) hardware, but I have recently switched to
Netgear. My newest is a WNDR3400, which is dual-band, and runs both 2.4 and 5
GHz at 300 Mbps. I also do not know about dd-wrt, but these routers work with
openWRT. The US retail price is $79. I use openWRT in my Linksys units, but
standard firmware in the Netgear units (I also have a WNDR3300). I have found no
reason to switch them.

I’m right in the middle of the same decision making process and found these pages helpful.

Wireless Routers Review 2013 | Best Wireless Router, Wireless n Routers - TopTenREVIEWS
All Wireless N Routers are not Created Equally - TopTenREVIEWS
Premium Wireless Routers Review 2013 | Best Wireless Routers Review | Wifi Routers - TopTenREVIEWS

If you’re a ww-drt fan check out Simple & secure Wireless N routers and 802.11ac wireless technology for your home or business network | Buffalo Technology as well.
I’ve been testing two identical Buffalo WHR-HP-300N routers*. One’s flashed with the latest OEM firmware and the other with the latest ww-drt from the Buffalo downloads page. It’s been very interesting. Little difference in performance. The OEM software has improved enough to have closed the performance gap somewhat and to have many of the same features. I still prefer ww-drt’s features, but the OEM is more user friendly for sure.

  • on our little island we lose so many components to voltage fluctuations and lightning hits (despite surge protected outlets and UPSs) that we keep a spare of everything on hand to minimize downtime.

On Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:26:01 +0000, 6tr6tr wrote:

> My old router is starting to show its age. DD-WRT extended it many
> years, but now I want to get a newer router. Does anyone have any
> recommendations?

I picked up a refurbished WNDR3800 and put openWRT on it about a month
ago. Got it on Amazon for under $100 bucks. It’s a solid piece of
equipment, and I’m very happy with it.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

I am running a Cisco consumer solution and did substitute the (horrible) Cisco firmware with dd-wrt. The whole choice did cost about 50$ so Cisco might be worth a look.
Generally with dd-wrt you have to consider the following: dd-wrt needs two things to work flawlessly, a sufficiently fast processor on the router (so newer model is better) and a sufficient size in available memory. So more is better. Then you want also a “cheap” solution. Now I would have a look at the dd-wrt website. Besides the router-database that gives you good indication you will notice that the models listed there are quite “outdated”. There is a whole bunch of newer router already well supported although the router does not figure in the database. To find out about Cisco choices available for dd-wrt substitution you may try the following repo (you have to search a bit, but then you want a solution fitting “tightly” to your needs, so a bit of work is to be expected):
Other Downloads | www.dd-wrt.com
were the best practice is to first look at your local vendor what Cisco solutions (or others) are available in the price range you want to bear. Set the price as low as you feel comfortable. Then write down the list of models and prices and go on the website as of above. It is very helpful to google beforehand with “blablabla-model dd-wrt problems” or especially “dd-wrt andn blablabla bricked my router!!”.
As you are having dd-wrt installed I do not have to recall you the 30-30-30 method (which is essential) to flash it.
I would recommend the 64K consumer modems as they have a good wlan-n functionality and the firmware runs well. If you want to extend such a cheap router a lot, bear in mind that you will run again into a size problem. But VPN plugin does not present any problem. Also VPN with VOIP should be feasible. Depending your needs you may wish to have a look for models with a bit higher price but a stronger processing units especially if you change settings a lot during the day, there you really feel that it is easily possible to saturate the cpu of the router. If you do not run a lot of supplemental functions and you use the router mainly for home and its firewall and vpn functions an Exxxx line model may well suffice. WNDR models seam to be better supported and more widespread.
Hope that helps.

P.S. very recently they also support the substitution of adsl-router modems but I did not try this out.

Larry Finger wrote:
> On 04/03/2013 11:36 PM, caf4926 wrote:
>>
>> Don’t know about DD-WRT
>>
>> But Cisco do some decent hardware
>
> I used to use only Linksys (Cisco) hardware,

I used to have a Linksys router. One day it broke. I phoned up and they
agreed that it was broken and said I had to return it first and then
they would send a replacement. I explained that I need a connection!
They said they had to do it that way. So I went out and bought another
router (Belkin) and have never touched another piece of Linksys or Cisco
kit since.

> but I have recently switched to Netgear.

The network guys at work have stopped buying it because of the number of
failures.

I personally try for netgear due to netgear having a better rapport with linux.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Has anyone tried an Asus router?