What router do you find best for 6 to 12 devices, mixed PC and Apple?

[AmeliaG]

I need some new router solutions. What router do you find best for 6 to 12 devices, mixed PC and Apple i.e. both PC desktops and laptops and iPads and Macbooks etc.?

[Supz]

Apple Airport Extreme.

[AmeliaG]

Originally Posted by Supz

Apple Airport Extreme.

Sounds like that is going to be the way for me to go. My brother just recommended the same thing.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by AmeliaG

Sounds like that is going to be the way for me to go. My brother just recommended the same thing.

Apples wireless devices are the best I have used. And I have tried them all. (I am not a MAC users either). I have PC computer, iPhone, iPad. My Wife has an iPhone, iPad Mini and I MAC. I had the issue where my building old and built out of concrete. I baught 3 other wireless routers that could not penetrate, so I had no wifi in my bedroom. I actually baught 2 airport expresses. Put one in living room, 1 in bedroom. Had them connected as 1 network in about 10 minutes utilizing my iphone's wifi section to configure and it works AWESOME. But if you just need 1 good one. I would go with the extra money for the Extreme. If you need to spread it out. Get 2 expresses...or 1 extreme and 1 express if you have the extra dough

[johnnyloadproductions]

Linksys (cisco) E2500 Advanced Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Router

I've been using it for close to 1 year now. Cisco routers have always been very good (ones I used at other places) and never have had problems.

27" iMac, My windows desktop, iPad 1, iPhone 3GS, macbook air, Gateway Laptop (windows and linux), PS3... all devices connected to it hear, sometimes 3-4 running on it.

I'm able to do server upload and downloads while watching movies through netflix on my iPad and more.


What it's going to come down to is whether you want to save $100. I will bet the AirPort extreme is easier to setup but I doubt if it'll shave more than 5-10 minutes on the time. Ask yourself, are you really as tech inept as grandma? I doubt it.

If it comes down to aesthetics and the name, than get the airport extreme, otherwise be sensible and get a cisco router.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

Linksys (cisco) E2500 Advanced Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Router

I've been using it for close to 1 year now. Cisco routers have always been very good (ones I used at other places) and never have had problems.

27" iMac, My windows desktop, iPad 1, iPhone 3GS, macbook air, Gateway Laptop (windows and linux), PS3... all devices connected to it hear, sometimes 3-4 running on it.

I'm able to do server upload and downloads while watching movies through netflix on my iPad and more.


What it's going to come down to is whether you want to save $100. I will bet the AirPort extreme is easier to setup but I doubt if it'll shave more than 5-10 minutes on the time. Ask yourself, are you really as tech inept as grandma? I doubt it.

If it comes down to aesthetics and the name, than get the airport extreme, otherwise be sensible and get a cisco router.

I gave the E2500 to my friend. It sucked for me. I bought it to replace a netgear. As I mentioned before. I am not an 'Apple' guy. So the name for me means nothing. It is just a better product. It should be Cisco (Linksys) not Linksys (cisco). Because if you think anything about that thing is 'Cisco' besides the name, youre crazy.


Cisco


Linksys

[johnnyloadproductions]

Did I knock you off your pedestal a bit there sire?

Considering I own more devices (left some out), have owned more and ran more through my network, at least from an experience POV it makes me more qualified then you. I hope that sinks in!

If you got money to burn and want a device that matches your other apple products, knock yourself out! I own plenty of apple products and they are good, but for the router there is no need.

It should be Cisco (Linksys) not Linksys (cisco)

This is just a matter of perspective, my focus was on the product and reinforcing it's value
by referencing that it was made by Cisco.
I will add that Cisco is a company that specializes in networking and routing products, so naturally it should be cheaper as that is what there company does.
Here, straight from wikipedia:

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States,[5] that designs, manufactures, and sells networking equipment.

I want you to focus on that last sentence and let it sink in...
The apple product is fine but with the experience I've had with the CISCO PRODUCT there is no reason to drop an extra Benjamin on it!

Originally Posted by Supz

I gave the E2500 to my friend. It sucked for me. I bought it to replace a netgear. As I mentioned before. I am not an 'Apple' guy. So the name for me means nothing. It is just a better product. It should be Cisco (Linksys) not Linksys (cisco). Because if you think anything about that thing is 'Cisco' besides the name, youre crazy.


Cisco


Linksys

[PeR930]

Anything that can take DD-WRT. If your devices can take 5ghz N band, then go for that. Unfortunately I don't know much about apple devices.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

Did I knock you off your pedestal a bit there sire?

Considering I own more devices (left some out), have owned more and ran more through my network, at least from an experience POV it makes me more qualified then you. I hope that sinks in!

If you got money to burn and want a device that matches your other apple products, knock yourself out! I own plenty of apple products and they are good, but for the router there is no need.

This is just a matter of perspective, my focus was on the product and reinforcing it's value
by referencing that it was made by Cisco.
I will add that Cisco is a company that specializes in networking and routing products, so naturally it should be cheaper as that is what there company does.
Here, straight from wikipedia:

I want you to focus on that last sentence and let it sink in...
The apple product is fine but with the experience I've had with the CISCO PRODUCT there is no reason to drop an extra Benjamin on it!

Not sure what 'pedestal' you are talking about. I am talking facts. That router is very basic. Simple as that. I feel sad even talking about the apple portion of this. I wish someone else mad it. I talk of my experience with a specific situation with concrete walls. Ive purchased almost ever router on the market. The LAST one I tested was the apple one. I wish I did not wait this long. You get what you pay for...

If you dont have to cover space, and the 'Cisco' gets the job done. Save the 100. This is just my opinoin.

You can do the same with an airport express as with the Cisco. A bit more, for less of a price I believe..She asked for the best for quite a # of devices.

Get an Aruba Networks AP.

[johnnyloadproductions]

Originally Posted by Supz

Not sure what 'pedestal' you are talking about. I am talking facts. That router is very basic. Simple as that. I feel sad even talking about the apple portion of this. I wish someone else mad it. I talk of my experience with a specific situation with concrete walls. Ive purchased almost ever router on the market. The LAST one I tested was the apple one. I wish I did not wait this long. You get what you pay for...

If you dont have to cover space, and the 'Cisco' gets the job done. Save the 100. This is just my opinoin.

You can do the same with an airport express as with the Cisco. A bit more, for less of a price I believe..She asked for the best for quite a # of devices.

Get an Aruba Networks AP.

Reference how many devices I had. Yes, concrete changes everything as routers emit RF and it cannot penetrate concrete. You'd almost be better off with an Ethernet hub in that case, omitting the wireless devices that is.

I'll vouch for the linksys, it works.

The apple will work just as well, maybe just slightly better, but it'll cost you an extra $100.

[ruff]

ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router, DD-WRT Open Source support, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab

This is currently the best router available in my opinion. Just got one and it is magnificent.

[The Truth Hurts]

get a $60 dlink 655...
handles the 39 (24 wired/15 wifi) things connected to it with zero issues anf full coverage of my whole house.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

Reference how many devices I had. Yes, concrete changes everything as routers emit RF and it cannot penetrate concrete. You'd almost be better off with an Ethernet hub in that case, omitting the wireless devices that is.

I'll vouch for the linksys, it works.

The apple will work just as well, maybe just slightly better, but it'll cost you an extra $100.

I was better off buying 2 apple expressed and creating a mesh network out of them. This worked through concrete perfectly fine. Which you cannot do with the Linksys.

[TMM_John]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320115

Linksys/"cisco" products have given me headaches lately. I've always had good luck with asus products.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by ruff

ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router, DD-WRT Open Source support, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab

This is currently the best router available in my opinion. Just got one and it is magnificent.

yeah I'm running 3 of those right now... have wireless everywhere in the house now... pretty happy

[johnnyloadproductions]

Originally Posted by Supz

I was better off buying 2 apple expressed and creating a mesh network out of them. This worked through concrete perfectly fine. Which you cannot do with the Linksys.

I Amelia's only concern was the routers ability to multiplex, i.e. handle several devices simultaneously.
Concrete wasn't mentioned in her original post.
P.S. Most people don't live in bunkers now these days.

Originally Posted by TMM_John

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320115

Linksys/"cisco" products have given me headaches lately. I've always had good luck with asus products.

Take a look at the router I was discussing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124414

It's so freaking popular, it's not even in stock at the moment!!!
Talk about having social proof to back be up!!! It's 4 stars too!

[TMM_John]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124414

It's so freaking popular, it's not even in stock at the moment!!!
Talk about having social proof to back be up!!! It's 4 stars too!

Or it's almost 2 years old so they're not really stocking it any more. The vast majority of Newegg reviews are 1 star or 5 depending on if they needed to RMA it or not. Linksys products, both pre and post cisco, have given me countless headaches. I'm pretty much done with them. And don't fool yourself that you're getting a "cisco" product by buying linksys.

[Sly]

Not every day you see a fight about routers…

Anyway, I have this switch: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o03_s00_i00

And this router, provided by Time Warner: http://compare.ebay.com/like/3008488...pes&va r=sbar

I don't really use the wireless features so I can't comment much on that. I love my switch though.

[Donny]

Originally Posted by Supz

Apple Airport Extreme.

Agreed. Best router I've ever owned.

[johnnyloadproductions]

Alright. Practical people have money and time is money... Get the Apple Airport Extreme, it'll save the chance for a headache.

[TMM_John]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

Alright. Practical people have money and time is money... Get the Apple Airport Extreme, it'll save the chance for a headache.

But then you'll be stuck with an n router as ac becomes more & more popular

[Supz]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

P.S. Most people don't live in bunkers now these days.

You mean people do shitty construction now and everything is made of sheet rock. Thats a good attemp though.


Enjoy your lynksys router in your well constructed home.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by Sly

Not every day you see a fight about routers?

Anyway, I have this switch: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o03_s00_i00

And this router, provided by Time Warner: http://compare.ebay.com/like/3008488...pes&va r=sbar

I don't really use the wireless features so I can't comment much on that. I love my switch though.

Sly, have you never played "see how mad you can make someone over the dumbest shit ever"

currently I am winning.

[johnnyloadproductions]

Originally Posted by Supz

Sly, have you never played "see how mad you can make someone over the dumbest shit ever"

currently I am winning.

I'm going to back away from this argument as I've had my say, and it would be more than convincing to the average individual.
I am also backing away because margins in adult are slim and Supz, it would be evil for me to induce the need for you to enter intense psychological therapy sessions, because you're rhetoric didn't measure up to a keyboard warrior on a porn forum.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

I'm going to back away from this argument as I've had my say, and it would be more than convincing to the average individual.
I am also backing away because margins in adult are slim and Supz, it would be evil for me to induce the need for you to enter intense psychological therapy sessions, because you're rhetoric didn't measure up to a keyboard warrior on a porn forum.

I am done as well. Because there is really nothing to argue about. I am sure your router treats you well, as well as mine does for me. I am sure they are 2 good solutions for what she needs to do.

But whatever you just said makes no fucking sense. What do margins in adult have to do with you thinking i have a therapist and you are sad that I was egging you on during a conversation on a webmaster board?

I truly wish you the best. My margins are fine.

[johnnyloadproductions]

Originally Posted by Supz

But whatever you just said makes no fucking sense. What do margins in adult have to do with you thinking i have a therapist and you are sad that I was egging you on during a conversation on a webmaster board?

What I meant by margins are slim is I wouldn't want you to cross the threashold of negative cashflow by having to hire a therapist.

Originally Posted by Supz

I truly wish you the best. My margins are fine.

That's good to hear, I wasn't doubting you. The thread was derailed a while ago and I had myself a good trahlala.
Perhaps you and I will become good friends some day.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

What I meant by margins are slim is I wouldn't want you to cross the threashold of negative cashflow by having to hire a therapist.


That's good to hear, I wasn't doubting you. The thread was derailed a while ago and I had myself a good trahlala.
Perhaps you and I will become good friends some day.

I know what you meant, I do speak english.


Yes, maybe one day.

[geedub]

Originally Posted by ruff

ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router, DD-WRT Open Source support, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab

This is currently the best router available in my opinion. Just got one and it is magnificent.

I use one of these as well, pretty bitchin.

[AmeliaG]

I've been using Linksys products and they seem to work really well out of the box, but have kind of short life spans. At least, I've ended up buying more of them than I am thrilled about.

Anyone used both the ASUS RT-N66U and the Airport Extreme and have a thought on one versus the other?

[johnnyloadproductions]

Originally Posted by AmeliaG

I've been using Linksys products and they seem to work really well out of the box, but have kind of short life spans. At least, I've ended up buying more of them than I am thrilled about.

Anyone used both the ASUS RT-N66U and the Airport Extreme and have a thought on one versus the other?

Blood, sweat, tears, and reputations were risked in this thread resolving the issue for you... and you still can't make up your mind, AMELIA?!!!

[Due]

Originally Posted by AmeliaG

I've been using Linksys products and they seem to work really well out of the box, but have kind of short life spans. At least, I've ended up buying more of them than I am thrilled about.

Anyone used both the ASUS RT-N66U and the Airport Extreme and have a thought on one versus the other?

I use the ASUS RT-AC66R as well as the Apple Timecapsule at home. The TM is the Airport extreme with a build in HDD.

I noticed that my timecapsule would often loose wifi signals / drop connections when the network was busy, I suspect that the CPU can't handle the DHCP / Nat tables or its an issue with the WIFI part of the router.

I disabled DHCP and WIFI from the time capsule and have it setup to connect to my network through a Linksys range extender. Its connecting both my kids computers to the internet acting as a switch.

Since it's running in switch mode I can still access the disk for my timemachine backups.

The RT-AC66R router seems to have the option to install various apps such as p2p software, vpn server, cloud stations, dlna/itunes servers and probably more to come as it seems to be app based.

If you wanna stay ahead of the technologies go with the Asus router.
Unless you connect 100% apple products to the router I probably wouldn't choose Apple.

P.S. Using and preparing the disk drive in the Timecapsule seems to be a lot easier than preparing and using USB disk drives in the Asus router

[Roberto]

Linksys wrt54g it's where it's at yo.

[BradBreakfast]

PFsense on a spare PC or old laptop with 2x NIC's.

OpenSource for edge devices, in my opinion is a very good idea. Even SonicWall just last week had major vulnerabilities released with exploit proof of concept code.

or eBay a pre-built unit: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=pfsense&_saca t=0&_from=R40

If you don't want something this powerful then go with a Asus Black Diamond series router. And don't forget to enable Quality of Service (QoS) on whatever device you choose.

[AmeliaG]

Originally Posted by johnnyloadproductions

Blood, sweat, tears, and reputations were risked in this thread resolving the issue for you... and you still can't make up your mind, AMELIA?!!!

It has only been a day. I do appreciate the passion though.

[AmeliaG]

Originally Posted by Due

I use the ASUS RT-AC66R as well as the Apple Timecapsule at home. The TM is the Airport extreme with a build in HDD.

I noticed that my timecapsule would often loose wifi signals / drop connections when the network was busy, I suspect that the CPU can't handle the DHCP / Nat tables or its an issue with the WIFI part of the router.

I disabled DHCP and WIFI from the time capsule and have it setup to connect to my network through a Linksys range extender. Its connecting both my kids computers to the internet acting as a switch.

Since it's running in switch mode I can still access the disk for my timemachine backups.

The RT-AC66R router seems to have the option to install various apps such as p2p software, vpn server, cloud stations, dlna/itunes servers and probably more to come as it seems to be app based.

If you wanna stay ahead of the technologies go with the Asus router.
Unless you connect 100% apple products to the router I probably wouldn't choose Apple.

P.S. Using and preparing the disk drive in the Timecapsule seems to be a lot easier than preparing and using USB disk drives in the Asus router

Point to Asus.

Edit: As in, I mean that your post makes me think I'd like to go with Asus.

[AmeliaG]

Originally Posted by BradBreakfast

PFsense on a spare PC or old laptop with 2x NIC's.

OpenSource for edge devices, in my opinion is a very good idea. Even SonicWall just last week had major vulnerabilities released with exploit proof of concept code.

or eBay a pre-built unit: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=pfsense&_saca t=0&_from=R40

If you don't want something this powerful then go with a Asus Black Diamond series router. And don't forget to enable Quality of Service (QoS) on whatever device you choose.

That might be outside of my skill set or that of anyone I work with, but I surely would feel all uber cyberpunk with one of those setups.

[AmeliaG]

I went with the ASUS, well, the next one up in the ASUS family, basically the same thing but with Wireless AC connectivity. Loving it so far. Thanks for all the good advice!

[fuzebox]

The airport extreme makes a clicking sound when transferring data. Annoys the fuck out of me.

[bigluv]

LOL at a bunch of weekend warrior tech experts comparing their epeen sizes.

Every home router I have ever bought or touched sucked the bone. Some suck less than others. Most people don't notice these things unless they have the right mix of requirements when the weakness of the equipment (software) is exposed. And the vast majority of people when they do uncover a weakness in their router, don't understand that that is what is going on.

I haven't touched an apple routing product, but I doubt its any better, just costs more.

Unfortunately to my (somewhat now outdated) knowledge there isn't really a corporate level router that you can buy and set up yourself and besides, where would you stick your printer USB, and connect your PS3, and etc etc.

So it's shitty advice for a shitty situation. 1) Buy & try until you find something that works for you and does what you want 2) If you are more technically inclined than average then you could do better with a router that supports open source custom s/w, at least then it'll get some updates through its lifetime.

Both options is fiddling.

If your requirements are modest (X devices is no big deal) then make your decision on price and availability and you'll probably be fine.

EDIT: Just noticed I'm late to the party. Asus products are decent hardware and they support open source custom s/w if you choose, so not a bad choice.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by bigluv

LOL at a bunch of weekend warrior tech experts comparing their epeen sizes.

Whats your epeen size?