Home Firewall/Router

Mark · January 20, 2014, 10:14:09 AM

My Linksys WRT54G is about 10 years old now and standing right on it I'm only getting 12Mbps on WiFi (if I'm lucky). Methinks it's time to replace, lol.

This used to be my go-to router when people would ask for recommendations. I know they had a bad rep for a while, but whatever version I have has been going strong for this long. I've had DD-WRT on it and went back to stock after a few years. It's just time for newer hardware.

So, what are others using at home and what do you like or not like about it? I'm considering getting an Ubiquity access point, but I still need wired ports so wired or wireless is fine at this point.

Gene Foraker · January 20, 2014, 10:55:03 AM

I upgraded my antique WRT54 last year with this ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router.

ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router

Maybe a little on the high side, but reviews were fantastic and my wireless signal through the house is MUCH stronger. Lots of extra features included.

I guess there is now a newer version http://www.amazon.com/RT-AC66U-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC1750-Gigabit-Router/dp/B008ABOJKS/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Mark · January 20, 2014, 10:58:16 AM

Had not considered ASUS. Price isn't too bad and reviews look excellent.

Thanks Gene!

Anyone else?

Gene Foraker · January 20, 2014, 11:01:28 AM

Note that I edited my reply to include a newer version of the ASUS - http://www.amazon.com/RT-AC66U-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC1750-Gigabit-Router/dp/B008ABOJKS/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Mark · January 20, 2014, 11:12:38 AM

Interesting that the first one had better reviews.

Jeff Golas · January 20, 2014, 11:52:12 AM

The funny thing is I did the exact same upgrade. I had DDWRT on the 54g and watched CPU usage go through the roof when opening a couple computers worth of youtube, etc. Got the ASUS and didn't look back. I still have a stack of WRT's if I ever need em, but I think it may be time to sell them off too.

Joshua Conner · January 20, 2014, 01:21:40 PM

I upgraded my antique WRT54 last year with this ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router.

I did the same thing as well.

I am running tomato firmware on the asus and love it. Yes it was pricey but i love the custom firmware on it and all the new linksys are very closed to tinkering and much more consumer friendly which was a - in my book.

Mark · January 20, 2014, 01:26:43 PM

Thanks Josh! Leaning towards this so far. Is tomato still like $10 or $20? I guess I could google that.. lol

Mark · January 20, 2014, 03:19:11 PM

Tomato is free now? Was it always free? I swore it wasn't years ago unless there was a "required donation" at that time.

Think I might just fire up tomato tonight and see if my router performs any different. DD-WRT was acting wonky after I was running it for a few years so I went back to stock and router ran fine again. Wonder f tomato will do the same or if it will just prove that my hardware is no longer up to the task (which is what I expect).

I'm cheap! lol

Joshua Conner · January 20, 2014, 09:04:42 PM

I paid nothing for it so it must be free

Mark · January 21, 2014, 08:44:12 AM

Didn't get to it last night but yeah, it is free.

Jeff Zylstra · January 21, 2014, 09:30:19 AM

I've had good luck with the Buffalo line of products, but I've heard good things of ASUS as well. I have NOT heard good things of Linksys/Cisco, ever since Cisco bought them. Seems like instability is an issue with them, as well as not being open source anymore for the OS. One real benefit that you'll notice is that all of your phones, tablets, and other wifi enabled devices should be more reliable now. I was having issues, especially when I had family come over and everyone jumped on their wifi enabled phones, tablets, etc....

Mark · January 21, 2014, 09:34:42 AM

Thanks Jeff. I was looking at the negative reviews of the ASUS router and almost all of them were the same -- that it just stopped working. That's exactly what happened with my ASUS netbook after a few years, too, so I guess I'm not decided yet.

What I'd really like to do is get a commercial firewall and an Ubiquity access point. I need the physical ports though (at least I prefer to have them).

You are right about the Linksys Cisco stuff. Cisco dumped Linksys and Belkin owns them now -- not that that changes much.

I'll post what I end up doing, but in the mean time feel free to toss things my way!

Jeff Zylstra · January 21, 2014, 09:44:56 AM

You're most welcome. What you're considering is what I ended up doing. I use a Buffalo WAP along with an old Sonicwall TZ 170 from my office. I know SW is not your favorite, but it does what I need it to do, is stable, and has enough bandwidth. The flexibility and stability of a commercial firewall along with the new, stronger wireless is a good combination. You might want to check out Craigslist or EBay for a used commercial firewall, then add a WAP to it. Just make sure that updated firmware is available, or it can run WRT or Tomato or something like that.

Mark · January 21, 2014, 10:04:44 AM

Wish I had a legitimate reason to upgrade our ASA so I could just take that home. But, as we discussed in a prior thread not long ago, there is no reason to replace it.