Looking for router recommendation - hate my WRT54G (v5)

Hi all,

The subject line pretty much says it all.

I have maybe 5 PCs hooked up to my WRT54G, and PCs hooked up wirelessly keep
losing their connection without any logical explanation (eg, they're sitting
right next to it). I'm reading that when used with P2P apps, this router
apparently likes to keep connections alive for longer than necessary, and as
a result wireless connections tend to become flaky after a while. That
certainly seems to be what I'm experiencing.

Since this is a V5 router, my third-party firmware replacement options are
quite limited.

So I'd like to try something else. While I'm at it, I'd like something with
slightly better range, and, preferably, something with *much* better logging
facilities.

I thought I'd be doing a good thing by having all my wireless
cards/components come from the same manufacturer. So, I have Linksys stuff
wall-to-wall. Is it worth trying something from their SRX line, or forget
about a Linksys router entirely?

This has probably been covered a billion times before, so if there are any
good resources (and not marketing hype), I'd love to read it...

Homer J. Simpson wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> The subject line pretty much says it all.
>
> I have maybe 5 PCs hooked up to my WRT54G, and PCs hooked up wirelessly keep
> losing their connection without any logical explanation (eg, they're sitting
> right next to it). I'm reading that when used with P2P apps, this router
> apparently likes to keep connections alive for longer than necessary, and as
> a result wireless connections tend to become flaky after a while. That
> certainly seems to be what I'm experiencing.
>
> Since this is a V5 router, my third-party firmware replacement options are
> quite limited.
>
> So I'd like to try something else. While I'm at it, I'd like something with
> slightly better range, and, preferably, something with *much* better logging
> facilities.
>
> I thought I'd be doing a good thing by having all my wireless
> cards/components come from the same manufacturer. So, I have Linksys stuff
> wall-to-wall. Is it worth trying something from their SRX line, or forget
> about a Linksys router entirely?
>
> This has probably been covered a billion times before, so if there are any
> good resources (and not marketing hype), I'd love to read it...
>
>
The v5 is the problem. Running multiple v3 units here for quite some
time now with dd-wrt firmware and have had zero problems. The v5 (and
more than a few v4) units have always been problems, having less RAM and
crappier radios, cheaper parts, etc. Try to find some v3 units, usually
get 'em around here (SoCal) for $20-$30 bucks each.

Got fed up with poor support and wireless continually dropping out.
FWIW, bought a D-Link wireless router and no problems any more. Also,
had problems with Linksys router's buffer overflow when lots of users
on my web server. Router would simply hang.

IMO, Linksys is creating market opportunity for others with poor
quality and bad support.

Homer J. Simpson wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> The subject line pretty much says it all.
>
<SNIP>
>
> So I'd like to try something else. While I'm at it, I'd like something with
> slightly better range, and, preferably, something with *much* better logging
> facilities.
>
> I thought I'd be doing a good thing by having all my wireless
> cards/components come from the same manufacturer. So, I have Linksys stuff
> wall-to-wall. Is it worth trying something from their SRX line, or forget
> about a Linksys router entirely?
>

Homer J. Simpson wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> The subject line pretty much says it all.
>
> I have maybe 5 PCs hooked up to my WRT54G, and PCs hooked up wirelessly
> keep losing their connection without any logical explanation (eg, they're
> sitting
> right next to it). I'm reading that when used with P2P apps, this router
> apparently likes to keep connections alive for longer than necessary, and
> as
> a result wireless connections tend to become flaky after a while. That
> certainly seems to be what I'm experiencing.
>
> Since this is a V5 router, my third-party firmware replacement options are
> quite limited.
>
> So I'd like to try something else. While I'm at it, I'd like something
> with slightly better range, and, preferably, something with *much* better
> logging facilities.
>
> I thought I'd be doing a good thing by having all my wireless
> cards/components come from the same manufacturer. So, I have Linksys
> stuff
> wall-to-wall. Is it worth trying something from their SRX line, or forget
> about a Linksys router entirely?
>
> This has probably been covered a billion times before, so if there are any
> good resources (and not marketing hype), I'd love to read it...

IMHO - The linksys series are popular but mostly troublesome. Many seem to
perform much more reliably in virtually all situations.

A couple that I personally have had excellent results with are the XyZel
P220 which is a B/G wireless and the Netopia 3387WG, again A/B/G wireless,
both with 4 port 10/100 switches. The XyZel has a web based configuration,
the Netopia a vt100 (telnet) interface. The latter geared more towards
commercial/enterprise use.

Good luck,

Bob