Best Router for high traffic?

[Joshatdot]

I used to have Linksys BEFSR41 v2 (forgot what fw it had), but then it started to get brain farts and hang, I would have to reboot it .

Then I switched to D-Link DI-605 Rev E v3.51, that worked quite well.

Then I needed WiFi, so I got a DI-624 Rev C v2.70, and is what I currently have. Lately under heavy torrent or P2P traffic, it self reboots.

I did abit of Google-fu, and the Linksys WRT series comes up alot: WRT54G, WRT54GS, WRT54GL. They come up alot because of OpenWRT or DD-WRT firmwares.

Do any of you here have a WRT54xx?
Are they really reliable?
Do you run any of the 3rd party FWs?
Do those FWs make it more reliable?

or, What else do you recommend for heavy torrent/P2P traffic?

Forgot to add, I have my Xbox 360 wired to the router, does the 3rd P. FWs effect it networkability?

 

[akramh]

I have a WRT54GC, the one that can't be used with 3rd party firmware like tomato. It runs fine for our uses, but we don't have very heavly trafic. I'm almost always downloading a torrent or two. have 3-4 pc connected wifi and a wirered dreambox receiver on it. for me it's reliable, I never have to restart it except in very rare situations...

I don't think having a 3rd party firmware will conflict with your x-box connectivity.. the only thing I heard is that for hosting games on x-box that you probably need PNP configured or open the required ports and it should work fine.

 

[DarkXeno]

Ok your going to think Im nuts but I use a D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router. D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router Let me just say yes it is pricey, but here is what I have setup just to give you an idea of whats going on at my place and why I picked it. I have a heavy useage setup Webserver, gameserver, three laptops, xbox, wii, two other pcs hooked up one does media streaming the other just torrenting. The reason I picked it up was the QoS, dual band wifi, gigabit NIC access, and the USB for an networked hard drive. I call into my network when Im out on the road, to say one thing tho I have never used the GamingFuel feature on it. I upgraded from a D-Link 524 to this and have only had to reboot the new one once since it was setup over a year ago. Thats my two cents.

 

[zigzag3143]

router

I to have Linksys BEFSR41 v2 (forgot what fw it had), but then it started to get brain farts and hang, I would have to reboot it . Then I switched to D-Link DI-605 Rev E v3.51, that worked quite well. Then I needed WiFi, so I got a DI-624 Rev C v2.70, and is what I currently have. Lately under heavy torrent or P2P traffic, it self reboots.

I did abit of Google-fu, and the Linksys WRT series comes up alot: WRT54G, WRT54GS, WRT54GL. They come up alot because of OpenWRT or DD-WRT firmwares.

Do any of you here have a WRT54xx?
Are they really reliable?
Do you run any of the 3rd party FWs?
Do those FWs make it more reliable?

or, What else do you recommend for heavy torrent/P2P traffic?

Forgot to add, I have my Xbox 360 wired to the router, does the 3rd P. FWs effect it networkability?

I have a question waht kind of volume to you consider heavy? I do torrents all the time and cant max out my router (also a linksys) you lan should be running at least at 100Mb and your download slower than that . could you give us some mors info

Ken

 

[jebuchanan]

I use the D-Link DIR-825 and it seems fine with high traffic (no resets as of yet).

 

[Brink]

I use the D-Link DIR-615 Rev B, without any problems on heavy loads. It has never reset on me.

 

[mikinho]

For heavy traffic I really can't recommend any consumer level router. I recently switch from a Time Capsule to a Cisco 831 to pfSense and I will never go back to a consumer level router.

I've had problems with D-Link, Linksys (using DD-WRT is a huge improvement over their base firmware though), Apple (TimeCapsule was a complete waste, luckily it was free). The Cisco 831 worked perfectly for months w/o having to be rebooted but it is an older router and without RAM and CPU upgrades really can't keep up.

So I went with pfSense and am loving it. I have it running as a Hyper-V virtual on my W2K8 R2 RC server with a dedicated NIC and am getting 15.2MB down and a little over 2 up on speed tests. When downloading an ISO from MSDN Subscriptions I was getting 2713 KB/sec on a single file. I have Comcast 16MB/2MB package but I was getting no where close to those numbers w/ any of my previous routers.

 

[itznfb]

The Linksys WRT54GL is the most reliable consumer router ever made. period. however, the WRT54 series is over 10 years old now so in terms of pure performance it's no top dog, although it still holds its ground. there is a reason a 11 year old router is still the best selling router.
Best performing router i've used is the Trendnet TEW-633GR. also very reliable.

 

[Joshatdot]

I have a question waht kind of volume to you consider heavy? I do torrents all the time and cant max out my router (also a linksys) you lan should be running at least at 100Mb and your download slower than that . could you give us some mors info

Ken

I am a member of a private music tracker group (no commercial stuff, live mix recordings of DJs from around the world), and I share everything I download. Once I re-hash the stuff I got b4 W7, and continue to share everything again...I would guess over 1000 torrents. Not everyone of them is being shared from me at the same time, but at times there can be 10s to 100s connected.

This doesn't include other public trackers traffic I also share.

 

[ccatlett1984]

The best SOHO router for high traffic would be a Linksys WRT54G-TM (tmobile hotspot edition) and flash it with DD-WRT. Also most home routers come with a barely adaquate power supply (brick), by going with a brick that has more capacity (amps) you will see more stability.

 

[ccatlett1984]

I have a question waht kind of volume to you consider heavy? I do torrents all the time and cant max out my router (also a linksys) you lan should be running at least at 100Mb and your download slower than that . could you give us some mors info

Ken

Its not the download throughput that most routers have issues with, its the shear number of open and "half-open" TCP connections.

 

[mikinho]

The best SOHO router for high traffic would be a Linksys WRT54G-TM (tmobile hotspot edition) and flash it with DD-WRT. Also most home routers come with a barely adaquate power supply (brick), by going with a brick that has more capacity (amps) you will see more stability.

Note: If you go with the WRT54G-TM make sure to read the per model instructions on putting DD-WRT on there, see WRT54G-TM - DD-WRT Wiki. And get the v2. The v1 only had 32 MB of RAM.

 

[ccatlett1984]

T-Mobile Edition Model: WRTU54G-TM. This version has two RJ-11 telephone ports and two SIM card slots. The WRTU54G-TM is not supported by DD-WRT. It cannot be flashed http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/WRTU54G-TM.

 

[mikinho]

I didn't know they made a v2 of the 54G-TM , do you have a link handy?

Ignore me. The v2 (WRTU54G-TM) can't be flashed WRTU54G-TM - DD-WRT Wiki. v1 it is. I only looked at the specs (64 MB vs 32 MB) without checking DD-WRT compatibility list.

I'm a big fan of DD-WRT but the speeds and stability I'm getting from my pfSense blows it away.

 

[mikinho]

T-Mobile Edition Model: WRTU54G-TM. This version has two RJ-11 telephone ports and two SIM card slots. The WRTU54G-TM is not supported by DD-WRT. It cannot be flashed WRTU54G-TM - DD-WRT Wiki.

You beat me to it.

 

[Digger]

There is a reason why you are having problems with that BESFR41 v2. I have the same one here, was my first router ever actually. Problem is, the wan port is only a 10MB port, not 10/100. I am lucky to reach speeds of 5-6MB down. There is no upgrade for this at all, no firmware will make it a 100MB wan port.

Since i ran into this and realized the problem i have had it on the sidelines lately, waiting to piggyback it to see if the other ports that are supposed 10/100 will work in "daisychain" mode.

[edit] sorry, that should be BEFSR41 instead

 

[Joshatdot]

Well I got a 2nd hand WRT54G v2 (OEM 4.21.1 FW)...but no PSU, so I used my D-Link's PSU - 12v DC @ 500mah. It works, but worried if I am underpowering it. Been Google'ing regulated 12v DC 1000mah PSUs. Got any recommendations?

 

[Joshatdot]

There is a reason why you are having problems with that BESFR41 v2. I have the same one here, was my first router ever actually. Problem is, the wan port is only a 10MB port, not 10/100. I am lucky to reach speeds of 5-6MB down. There is no upgrade for this at all, no firmware will make it a 100MB wan port.

Since i ran into this and realized the problem i have had it on the sidelines lately, waiting to piggyback it to see if the other ports that are supposed 10/100 will work in "daisychain" mode.

[edit] sorry, that should be BEFSR41 instead

My 1st router was the BEFSR41 v2 too! But now I had the D-Link DI-624 Rev E. And right now I am on a Linksys WRT54G v2 (FW v4.21.1)

 

[mikinho]

Well I got a 2nd hand WRT54G v2 (OEM 4.21.1 FW)...but no PSU, so I used my D-Link's PSU - 12v DC @ 500mah. It works, but worried if I am underpowering it. Been Google'ing regulated 12v DC 1000mah PSUs. Got any recommendations?

Too bad, I just threw away 4 Linksys power brickers

The v2 is an older model that will run pretty hot, make sure not to give it too much or it will fry itself eventually and too little can actually be worse so I'd definitely look for a 12VDC 1000 mA. You can normally get a v2 power supply for around $12-$16 w/ shipping. If you feel like messing with it you can take a look at Linksys WRT54G Ultimate Hacking - Google Books has some hacks for using alternative power sources.

And if you haven't already install DD-WRT but do NOT overclock the v2. The CPU is rated for 200 MHz.

 

[mushroomboy]

WRT54GS (V4 lower) or go to the DD-WRT site and find some of the higher ram supported routers. Personally D-LINKs have a huge problem with network traffic and locking up, I've seen 2 of them killed by home users with either 2-6pc's on it. KILLED!? They locked up, had to do a hard-restart, 30/30/30, if that applies to them? (one of them won't even restart/reset it is dead) I really used to like the Linksys, but Cisco screwed them up lowering the RAM/FLASH for consumer use. Anyways that's my input, I think the old WRT54G V4 or lower supports some decent stuff, they are a lot better than the new V5.