routers

Top five budget routers that won't disappoint

I admit it, I have a problem. I am a fan of fast networking products and often feel uneasy if what I have isn't the latest and greatest. That hasn't changed at all, despite the fact that over the years, I have realized that the latest and greatest is generally way more than I need.

The truth of the matter is, for most homes (and even certain types of small offices), all you need is a stable Wireless-N Wi-Fi router. This is because the main purpose of the router is often just to share the Internet connection and some network resources, such as printers and documents. Since the Internet speed generally caps at much lower amount than Wireless-N's speed, it won't get faster if you upgrade the router to the latest and greatest. On top of that, the majority of wireless hardware clients, such as tablets, smartphones, laptops, support Wireless-N (802.11n) or the slower Wireless-G (802.11g) standards. Since the speed of a network connection is determined by the slowest speed of any party involved, a lot of time having a superfast router doesn't help with the speed of the local LAN, either.

That said, if you just want a simple home network to share the Internet and data files, the following routers will more than get the job done. The best part is that none of them costs you more than $80.… Read more

Linksys ships its first 802.11ac router and media bridge

Linksys today announced the availability of its latest Smart Wi-Fi router, the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router AC 1750 HD Video Pro router (model EA6500). This is the company's first router to support the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.

The new router is to compete with similar routers from other networking vendors, such as the Netgear R6300, the D-Link DIR-865L, and the Buffalo AirStation WZR-D1800H.… Read more

Get a D-Link 802.11n router for $9.99

Do one or more of the following traits describe your router?

1. It's old.

2. It supports only 802.11g or "draft-N" Wi-Fi.

3. It's not working as well as you think it should.

4. It died last night.

5. It doesn't support the cool DD-WRT firmware you've been itching to try.

If you answered yes to any of the above, today's your lucky day. For a limited time, and while supplies last, GearXS has the refurbished D-Link DIR-601 802.11n Wi-Fi router for $9.99, plus $4.99 for shipping. It sells … Read more

Some users reporting Wi-Fi issues with iPhone 5

Comments about Wi-Fi issues with the iPhone 5 are beginning to pile up on user forums.

While the cause of the issue is not clear at this stage, a thread on Apple's Support Communities page makes repeated references to Wi-Fi router security settings.

"I deactivate... the WPA2 Personal Wifi Security [on the router] and the iphone started to browse the web normally," wrote one poster identified as C4RLOCO, on the Support Communities forum.

And Apple enthusiast site MacRumors, has its own thread on the topic titled "Painfully slow WiFi on new iPhone 5."

This issue … Read more

GoDaddy offers users one month credit following service outage

GoDaddy customers are being given an apology and one month of free service after grappling with Monday's service snafu.

In an e-mail sent to GoDaddy users, the company's CEO Scott Wagner apologized for the outage that affected Web sites, e-mail availability, and other services.

"We let you down and we know it," the e-mail read. "We take our responsibilities -- and the trust you place in us -- very seriously. I cannot express how sorry I am to those of you who were inconvenienced."

To appease its customers, GoDaddy is kicking in a credit … Read more

Home networking explained, Part 3: Taking control of your wires

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

Now that you have learned about the basics of home networking in Part 1, and how to optimize your Wi-Fi in Part 2, in Part 3, it's time to get your hands dirty and learn how to take control of your network completely.

All home networks start with a network cable. Even if you plan on using all wireless clients, in most cases you will still need at least one cable to connect the wireless router and the broadband modem. … Read more

Home networking explained, Part 2: Optimizing your Wi-Fi network

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

Since my last post on the basics of home networking, which is Part 1 of this series, I've been flooded with even more e-mails than I had been before (which explains why some of you haven't heard back from me). The good news is that nobody is asking about what a router is anymore. I guess I did an OK job explaining that in my previous post.

Most of the e-mails this time asked about how to have the … Read more

Top five Wi-Fi routers with built-in network storage

Generally, for network storage needs, I would recommend getting a dedicated NAS server, such as the Synology DiskStation DS1511+. However, if your needs are limited to casual usage, such as sharing documents and streaming music and photos, then a router with built-in network storage capability -- one that comes with internal storage or can host an external storage device and shares that with the rest of the network -- fits the bill better.

While much inferior to a NAS server in terms of features and especially performance, some routers actually have more to offer, in terms of storage, than one might expect and may just be what you need. In any case, getting a router of this type plus an external hard drive is a lot cheaper than a dedicated NAS server.

Following is a list of five top routers with built-in support for network storage that I've reviewed in recent years. … Read more

Top five N600 routers: Advanced home Wi-Fi doesn't have to be expensive

N600 routers are the first true dual-band routers on the market, capable of delivering 300Mbps Wi-Fi speed -- based on the dual-stream (or 2-by-2) setup of the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard -- simultaneously on its two frequency bands, 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The marketing term "N600" basically means "Wireless-N standard with a combined bandwidth of 600Mbps."

In layman's terms, an N600 router comes with two built-in Wireless-N access points. Wireless clients connected to one of these access points (a client can only connect to one access point at a time) will have a ceiling speed of up to 300Mbps. In reality, the real-world sustained speeds of wireless routers vary a great deal, depending on the environment, distances between router and clients, and the frequency band.

In my experience, N600 routers generally offer about 60Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and about 140Mbps on the 5GHz band, within 75 feet or less. And while these seem much lower than the 300Mbps ceiling speed, they are more than fast enough for most applications, including high-definition media streaming. In fact, 140Mbps is about 50 percent faster than a wired Ethernet connection. Farther out, from 150 feet or more, a Wi-Fi connection is generally only good for accessing the Internet and mild networking needs. You can find out more about the basics of home networking here.

Since the dual stream is currently the most popular standard of Wi-Fi used in clients, getting an N600 router is probably the best value for your money. This is because the speed of a network connection is determined by the slowest speed of any party involved, so if you get a faster Wi-Fi router (such as an N900 router), you might not see any benefits at all if none of your clients support the higher tiers of Wi-Fi speeds.

Below are the top five N600 routers among those I have reviewed in recent years.… Read more