[OFB Cafe] Best, Affordable Gigabit Router

[Donald Spoon]

Timothy Butler wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>     I'm still trying to replace my router -- the T-Mobile one didn't 
> pan out. So, I'm thinking about a Linksys WRT54GL. But, does anyone 
> know of a similar price and quality (or better) router that has a 
> gigabit switch rather than 10/100 like the Linksys? It seems sort of a 
> shame to buy a 10/100 when most equipment these days could use gigabit 
> if the router supported it...
>
>     Thanks,
>         Tim
>
I can't claim to answer your question, but maybe I can insert another 
bit of info...  You probably know all this stuff anyway, but I will 
press on from a position of ignorance like I usually do!

I have the WRT54GS, which is quite similar to the one you are 
considering.  In fact, the GL is just a "modernized" G model that can be 
hacked with Linux firmware rather easily.  That is supported by Linksys 
too!  There are some advantages to the "hack" in that it opens up 
several features that don't come "stock" with the Cisco firmware.

First Point:  The "Internet" connection on the rear panel will NOT 
connect to your DSL  or Cable line directly.  You still need to go 
through a DSL or Cable  "Modem" to make that connection.  For example, I 
have the Speedstream 5100 here for my AT&T DSL connection.  The WRT54GS 
"can" connect up to the Ethernet port on it, however I don't have mine 
configured that way. 

Second Point:  Your INTERNET connection speed is limited by the DSL / 
Cable Modem!  In my case, all it will do it 10 Mbs (not 100)!!  It makes 
no difference how fast the "downstream" equipment is, all you can get is 
10 Mbs throughput!  Check out your DSL modem / bridge.  This is my 
original one, and I know for a fact it only does 10 Mbs out.

Now to explain how I arrived at the above conclusions.  I have a 
Gigabyte LAN that has two Gigabyte switches in it (one upstairs and one 
downstairs).  All the computers and the WRT54GS hang off one of these 
Gigabyte switches except my Notebooks, which are "serviced" through the 
WRT54GS, and which runs at 802.11g wireless speeds (54 Mbs??).  ALL of 
my computers (including the notebooks)  get almost EXACTLY the same 
download speeds from Internet sources!  IF the WRT54GS was somehow the 
limiting factor, the notebooks should be slower, but they are not!  So 
this means that something between the LAN and the internet is the 
limiting factor. 

The only thing I have between the LAN and the Internet is a Debian-based 
firewall/dhcp server, and the DSL Modem.  The firewall is an old AMD 
K6-2/ 450 Mhz computer with two 10/100 NICs in it.  I have Gigabyte NICs 
in all the rest of my computers.   I use to have a 10 Mbs NIC on the DSL 
modem side, but it "went south" and had to be replaced several years ago 
with a 10/100 one.  I have the AT&T "Elite" service here (6 Mbps down 
and 768 Kbps up), which is still within the 10 Mbs limit of my DSL Modem 
/ Bridge.

So, my conclusions here are that looking for a Gigabyte wireless router 
"might" be wasted time and money IF your DSL Modem / Bridge won't 
support it these speeds FOR INTERNET CONNECTIONS .  The only time it 
might be worth-while is if you want to make your LAN as close to 
Gigabyte - capable as possible.   To take the fullest advantage, you 
probably want to have a WIFI that will do the new draft "N" spec.  WIFI 
cards for notebooks are just now including draft N capability.  I think 
802.11n will go up to about 300 Mbs or so...  This might be a factor if 
you are wanting to serve up some extremely high-bandwidth video over 
your LAN.   I would look at WIFI Gigabyte routers that support the 
draft-N spec.  I suspect that is about the fastest you will find right 
now.  I just Googled this and found a few reviews that were 
enlightening.  I'll let you make your own decisions, but for me I think 
I will wait a few months until the N specs become ratified.  There seems 
to be a LOT of hardware incompatibilities among the various chipsets 
right now.  I would imagine this will settle down AFTER the "N' spec is 
ratified...

Currently I can run VNC servers / clients on all my computers in the 
house over my existing connections and I don't experience any noticeable 
delays or artifacts on games, videos, etc.  This is even true on my 
laptops running over the wireless connections!  For a time, I was 
viewing videos from my son's upstairs Myth server on my laptop 
downstairs!  It wasn't HDTV (didn't have the right equipment), but it 
was entirely useable and saved wear and tear on these old arthritic knees!

HTH!

Cheers,
-Don Spoon-