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High end router sub $100

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  • Mar 5th, 2012 8:46 am
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Deal Addict
May 29, 2011
1676 posts
1073 upvotes
Ottawa Valley

High end router sub $100

I have bad luck with routers, 4 in the past 3 years.
My current Belkin router seems to drop connection lots, usually during the best times of BF3.

So instead of buying yet another $40 router, Im looking for a decent quality one, but not interested in spending over $100.

I was looking at used apple airport extreme routers, but that crept over my budget, and every router I find seems to have issues (linksys E2500, Buffalo high power 300 etc).

I was eyeing up some of the new Asus routers and the D-Link DIR-645 caught my eye.

My network consists of 2 PCs, 2 laptops, media server, 2 phones and 2 tablets. My internet is the top tier Rogers cable. My goal is stability.

Anyone know of any HOT deals on decent routers? Otherwise Im leaning towards the D-Link DIR-645 based on reviews.
I aim to be inclusive and considerate of others in my posts. If I fall short of that mark, feel free to let me know in good faith, and where appropriate, I'll edit my posts.
10 replies
Deal Addict
Oct 10, 2008
1354 posts
566 upvotes
how tech savvy are you? Because stability is a combination of hardware and software.

I've got a pretty cheap Router (TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND) but loaded a recent stable build of DD-WRT and haven't had any issues that I am aware of. However, using a 3rd party firmware typically isn't supported by a vendor.

You can read a bit more about suggested routers for that here: https://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2012/ ... -firmware/

Here are some sample price points:

Netgear = $126 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... k=WNDR3700
Asus = $94.99 - http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... Tpk=RT-N16
TP-Link WR1043ND - $59.99 - http://canadacomputers.com/product_info ... _id=026991 (can be found cheaper)
Deal Addict
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Oct 27, 2004
1300 posts
66 upvotes
+1 for the ASUS N-16 w/ DD-WRT. I've been running one of these for about a year, painlessly. They can be found for ~$60 if the right promotion is running.

ASUS RT-N16 4 Port Gigabit Wireless N Router With 2x USB 2.0 Ports

NCIX: $89.99
ME: $89.99
Hookbag.ca: $101.16 :facepalm:

-1 for anything involving the brand D-Link. The DIR-655 was a non-stop waste of time and effort until I replaced it with my ASUS.
Deal Addict
May 29, 2011
1676 posts
1073 upvotes
Ottawa Valley
Thanks. I used asus before and found them very solid.
I aim to be inclusive and considerate of others in my posts. If I fall short of that mark, feel free to let me know in good faith, and where appropriate, I'll edit my posts.
Deal Addict
Oct 10, 2008
1354 posts
566 upvotes
dirkpitt wrote: -1 for anything involving the brand D-Link. The DIR-655 was a non-stop waste of time and effort until I replaced it with my ASUS.
Yeah, I replaced my DIR-655 with the TP-Link. The D-Link wired network was flawless, but wifi needed a kick on older firmwares. the most recent was okay, at least stable ... but my DAP-1522 sucks worse now. I might grab a second TP-Link and DD-WRT it, to be used as a replacement access point instead of the DAP.
Jr. Member
Dec 24, 2006
141 posts
22 upvotes
kitchener, on
Costco has Linksys E3000 in store for $99.
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Nov 15, 2004
4311 posts
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Thornhill / North Yo…
TheHemming wrote: Yeah, I replaced my DIR-655 with the TP-Link. The D-Link wired network was flawless, but wifi needed a kick on older firmwares.

Weird...I had the opposite experience with those two routers. The DIR-655 has been working flawlessly, whereas my 1043ND had quite a lot of wireless stability issues...I always had to restart wifi every week or so. Might have been an old build of dd-wrt. It's currently being used as an extra access point with the default firmware, which is decent. (btw, what build are you using? might give it another try)
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Oct 27, 2004
1300 posts
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ceraf wrote: Weird...I had the opposite experience with those two routers. The DIR-655 has been working flawlessly, whereas my 1043ND had quite a lot of wireless stability issues...I always had to restart wifi every week or so. Might have been an old build of dd-wrt. It's currently being used as an extra access point with the default firmware, which is decent. (btw, what build are you using? might give it another try)
I had a lot of issues with my D-Link... I can't remember the reason that I initially decided that it was time to upgrade the flash (just did--HNAP insecurity fix), once I did I would've been better off using a telegraph. Wifi would reset hourly. Unit would hang daily. A lot of features just don't work, including DMZ, web filtering, etc. To top it off, there was obvious heat fatigue issues that made it more and more unreliable.

I've got a pretty intense network at home that has to support dozens (yeah, it's nuts) of devices, and the D-Link couldn't take it. My ASUS N-16 does just fine!

I was a D-Link fanboy for a long time before this unit, but given the horrendous quality of the firmware and poor support provided by D-Link, I was convinced that open source was the way to go. I won't look back at D-Link, and try to persuade anyone who comes to me for technical advice to do the same.
Deal Addict
Feb 5, 2008
1190 posts
501 upvotes
Abbotsford
I just picked up the Linksys e3000 from Costco as suggested by 24x7. I'm not usually a Linksys fan as I've had issues with the brand in the past, but I have to say I'm very impressed with the e3000. I'm running the stock firmware and like dirkpitt, I also have many devices connected to it (24 port gigabit switch as well as multiple wireless devices). The routers has fantastic wireless coverage and keeps up with everything that I'm doing on the network.

I never thought I'd suggest a Linksys product, but the e3000 is definitely the best router I've used.
Deal Addict
Oct 10, 2008
1354 posts
566 upvotes
ceraf wrote: Weird...I had the opposite experience with those two routers. The DIR-655 has been working flawlessly, whereas my 1043ND had quite a lot of wireless stability issues...I always had to restart wifi every week or so. Might have been an old build of dd-wrt. It's currently being used as an extra access point with the default firmware, which is decent. (btw, what build are you using? might give it another try)
Yeah, the old DD-WRT builds sucked for the TP-Link router we have.

I think it's 17990 or something like that on mine, and all I use is the Wireless feature & PPPoE. Been up for 53 days straight now without a reboot or issue, not dropped Tx or Rx wireless packets. I am using it for SSL Newgroups downloads over wifi too, so I know there are lots of connections.

There is a small update from the one I have here:

http://wwwn.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloa ... -ddwrt.bin
http://wwwn.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloa ... bflash.bin

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