This is my 3rd wireless router this year. The first one (LinkSys) broke down earlier this year due to some problems to the transmitter restarting ever minute or so. I replaced it with a Belkin and that one died on me last week.
Prices of Wireless-N routers have gone down significantly in the past months so I checked out alternatives. No more Belkins and LinkSys for me and when I saw the Buffalo AirStation retailing for just Php3,200, I thought I’d give it a try.
The Buffalo Wireless-N Nfiniti Broadband Router and Access Point promises up to 300Mbps network speeds with the 802.11n Draft 2.0 and a push-button setup. It’s got one WAN port at the back and 4 LAN ports along with it. It also has options to mount it vertically, horizontally or even wall-mounted.
For Php3,200, I thought it’s a good bargain for a wireless-n router and this is the only other brand I thought I could fairly trust.
Which kind of wireless routers do you guys use and what’s your experience with them?
my belkin for my office sana pero it died a few months after i bought it from a guy far south so i did not bother claiming warranty since its a japanese version, i assumed these are just “surplus”, i am now using linksys (2 years old)
at home, my old reliable apple airport extreme (3 years old) and 2 airport express (3.5years old, to extend the signal and hook up my speakers and printer) are working just fine
never tried a buffalo brand
Twitter: kzapkzap
says:
I have a Linksys WRT610N
It is terrible, not its performance but this stupid piece of software installed on it called Home Network Defender, which is almost impossible to turn off, and it randomly blocks sites like Facebook or sites which you visit frequently because it thinks those sites are unsafe. You dont even have to activate it. Imagine not having control of what sites you browse because of your router…. also Linksys support seems like utterly hopeless, just read their forums. I don’t think I’ll be buying another Linksys, theyre just pretty boxes.
Nice, very nice! Are there other cheaper alternatives to this one, Abe? Planning to change my wireless router in a couple of weeks.
@turbo slice — this is actually the cheapest WiFi N I’ve seen so far.
Hayyyyy I dont recommend Buffalo….. if you want to have a problem with your router, go ahead and buy one! I suggest get a Linksys WRT120N instead!
Haven’t got an N-based router yet. Currently using this one which is pretty stable despite being cheap. Only turn-off for me is its lack of load balancing:
http://www.cdrking.com/local/products/index.php?action=&temp=2&typeno=4324284-081984-097659060-6736591&prod=Wireless&prodcode=1153721-902115-626073243-4616621
I bought a TP-LINK wireless router TL WR340GD since I had Globelines 1Mbps installed in my house recently. No problem so far.
Your Bufallo doesn’t have an antenna, Abe?
we have belkin N wireless router at home 2 desktop connected to it and 4 laptops on wifi it works fine but sometimes you have to reset it if connection is intermittent (the prblem is with the router not on the ISP) our pldt connection is 2mbps.
Nice upgrade, Abe. I’m still using a G router from Linksys. It’s about 2 years old now. My other 802.11B SMC Barricade router still works perfectly and it’s about 4 years old already! I think a good powerstrip or AVR helps for longevity.
@Abe: Thanks for the info!
i only use a G router here at home. bought one from belkin just this september 2009. it broke down after one week. since it came with a lifetime warranty, they replaced it. the replacement unit broke down after an hour of use. went back to the store and availed the warranty again. the 3rd unit’s been okay so far. though i must say, i’m really skeptical about belkin’s quality after that experience.
in addition, belkin doesnt have local customer support. when i called customer service (for both the instances the routers broke down) I was connected to an Indian call center, and, although i do not wish to sound racist in any way, communication was extremely difficult:|
I’m using asus wl-500w. It’s a rare breed nowadays and I luckily got it for PHP3400 at a mall shop. It’s also a wireless-n router. What makes this router special is that it has 2 usb ports in which you can plug-in a usb printer and/or a usb external harddisk (or any usb devices). Its default firmware (asus)has a program in which you can make the router a torrent or http/ftp downloader (straight to the external disk attached). Another thing is that, you can easily replace its default firmware with more powerful linux based firmwares such as dd-wrt. If you’re looking for a wireless-n router, also watch-out for Asus RT-N16. It’s the same as wl-500w but with a higher spec. A 500MHz broadcom procie, 128MB of RAM, 32MB of Flash and 4 GiGE ports. So with those specs, you can easily make this router into a server (web, file, media server). However, it’s still not available locally but based on ebay prices, this beast is priced under a hundred dollar.
TP link for me… so far so good!
Have the Wireless-G Buffalo router. so far, no problem at all.
Twitter: surforeo
says:
I’m using “D-link Extreme Gigabyte N” so far haven’t encounter any problem yet. The Good,it has 3 antenna
I’ve had a DLink, Belkin, Netgear and now a Linksys 310N. Of the 4, I doubt I will ever buy a Dlink again cos it just wasn’t so reliable. At least Belkin has a lifetime warranty here that got me a new (and much better) router. But the range of the Linksys is the best I think, not a dead spot to be found in the house. Netgear was also good but that was a G which I traded in for the Linksys N router. Would have wanted the Belkin N+ since it had a USB port, but I got a good deal on the Linksys, and I’ve been happy with it ever since.
Just a tip Abe, don’t throw away your old Belkin router — take it back where you bought it and invoke their lifetime warranty. For my old and dusty Belkin Pre-N, they gave me the N1 Vision, which I thought was very generous of them. But I already had the Linksys, so I just gave the N1 to my sister.
Twitter: garyboi84
says:
Still using my Belkin Wireless G Router for more than 2 years. So far, no problems!
I might get myself a Wireless N Router maybe next year.
Twitter: garyboi84
says:
@jojo30 really?! you can trade-in your old Belkin router for a newer one? I bought mine @ Octagon SM Megamall Cyberzone.
Like rsa1 Im also using a TP-Link specifically TL-WR542G which I bought for P2,350 during its initial offer in the market. Its been running for almost two years now with no problem.
I placed it outside my house enclosed in a “tupperware” at nakatuntong lang sa plywood na may bracket sa dingding.
It handles 10 wired PC, 2 laptop with wi-fi, my psp and dopod 818 pro.
It’s very easy to configure.
I’m using D-Link Wireless G router at home. It’s been working fine for the last 2 years now. The only problem is with my ISP, Globe is prone with connection issues in our area.
For my next router though, I’d find something with a great load balancing feature. Any recommendations?
I agree with Ryan above. I have had my WRT54G for about 3 to 4 year now. It’s plugged into a UPS.
If I had to upgrade my wireless router, in addition to Draft-N or N support, I would probably look for one that supports Gigabit ethernet not just 10/100 ethernet.
I have Belkin N150 router, so far so good. I only dislike its firmware installed which lacking some good feature. A good brand but kinda expensive one if you compare it to other with the same or similar feature.
I’m using Buffalo WCR-G54 wireless Router for whoopping Php1,400…. so far so good
Tenda W311r -an N router @ PhP1160 only..
got this model a month ago at parksquare for only 2,600php :p