Recommend me a router

I have a D-Link EBR-2310 that did not play well with Vista and does not play well with Win7 either. Constant loss of browser connection but other connections remain working and just plain unreliable in all aspects. I need a wired router and we only have at most 4 PC's connected at a time and this is basically for sharing the web connection I have so no file sharing. I have paid under $50 for the last 2 I have had and they do not cut it and both have been D-link so I want to get away from D-link and would be willing to pay up to $100 for something that actually works.

I have finally ran down my problem and the router is the issue!

Edit: Have tried Linksys a few years back with Win XP and had same issue so I want to get away from both Linksys and D-Link.

edilee012 said:

I have a D-Link EBR-2310 that did not play well with Vista and does not play well with Win7 either. Constant loss of browser connection but other connections remain working and just plain unreliable in all aspects. I need a wired router and we only have at most 4 PC's connected at a time and this is basically for sharing the web connection I have so no file sharing. I have paid under $50 for the last 2 I have had and they do not cut it and both have been D-link so I want to get away from D-link and would be willing to pay up to $100 for something that actually works.

I have finally ran down my problem and the router is the issue!

The Windows 7 compatiblity center lists hardware that has been tested for 7:

Windows 7 Compatibility Center home

Cheers!
Robert

Thanks for those links! The Win7 compatibility doesn't even have wired routers just wireless which I feel are useless since they have connection issues and poor speed and would not function well for my needs.

The D-link router I had functioned fine with no problems till Vista SP2 was released and since then I lose connection every 15 mins or so when I am browsing sites BUT if I have any other type of connection active it remains working. I have tested this with background things downloading and with none active and I still lose connection just on the browsers and I have tested both IE and Firefox. When I initially installed Win7 I didn't have an issue till about 2-3 days into the install and if I am correct I started losing connection again when I installed BitTorrent but I didn't use BT right away and connection started dropping before BT had been ran for the first time.

This problem has plagued me for about 6 months or so or whenever the release of Vista SP2 was and seems whatever it is has carried over into Win7. I did a fresh install of Win7 also not an upgrade so either BT is the culprit but like said it's connection never drops and if I hook straight into the modem bypassing the router I don't have any issues. Unfortunately my net connection is being shared with 2 other PCs for now otherwise I would not need the router and would just get rid of it.

I will look around on some retail sites again but it seems new wired routers are hard to find and the ones you do find are mainly for business use which is the route I might have to take and pay the extra $ for all the high end features.

edilee012 said:

Thanks for those links! The Win7 compatibility doesn't even have wired routers just wireless which I feel are useless since they have connection issues and poor speed and would not function well for my needs.

The D-link router I had functioned fine with no problems till Vista SP2 was released and since then I lose connection every 15 mins or so when I am browsing sites BUT if I have any other type of connection active it remains working. I have tested this with background things downloading and with none active and I still lose connection just on the browsers and I have tested both IE and Firefox. When I initially installed Win7 I didn't have an issue till about 2-3 days into the install and if I am correct I started losing connection again when I installed BitTorrent but I didn't use BT right away and connection started dropping before BT had been ran for the first time.

This problem has plagued me for about 6 months or so or whenever the release of Vista SP2 was and seems whatever it is has carried over into Win7. I did a fresh install of Win7 also not an upgrade so either BT is the culprit but like said it's connection never drops and if I hook straight into the modem bypassing the router I don't have any issues. Unfortunately my net connection is being shared with 2 other PCs for now otherwise I would not need the router and would just get rid of it.

I will look around on some retail sites again but it seems new wired routers are hard to find and the ones you do find are mainly for business use which is the route I might have to take and pay the extra $ for all the high end features.

Most wireless routers have up to four wired connectors and the wireless signal can be turned off. Wired only routers are becoming older and harder to find. It is the "Supply and Demand" thing ... more demand for Wireless, less for wired only.

I do not agree with your assessment of wireless speed. I am sitting in my living room with an old Dell D505 connected to a wireless D-Link g modem. My Internet speed is indistinguishable from my wired computers.

I know this is not technically accurate, but my Internet access is between 3 and 6 MBS while my modem speed is 10/100 MBS. I could be using a 1 GBS modem but my Internet speed is still limited to 6 MBS or less so the speed of the modem cannot make my Internet connection go faster. A wireless g modem is more than satisfactory for most home users.

Cheers!
Robert

edilee012 said:

Edit: Have tried Linksys a few years back with Win XP and had same issue so I want to get away from both Linksys and D-Link.

I recently switched to a 4-port Belkin Wireless N that was super easy to set up, has nice features configurable through a browser, multi-channels that automatically avoid crosstalk and has pretty blue status lights.

Very happy with it.

Brink said:

Hello Edilee,

I have not had any problems with the D-Link DIR-615 (rev B model) or DIR-855 in Vista or Windows 7 when using the latest firmware for them.

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

I am actually looking at the DIR-655 and maybe that will solve my problems. It does have wireless and 4 wired ports which will do me just fine and I believe it lists as Win7 and Vista compatible and there have recent firmware updates.

My thoughts on wireless is based mainly on the fact I need a solid connection for gaming and from what others I have heard from about wireless is it is not reliable enough for gaming. I have a laptop that I very rarely use and when I do connect it into the network I use the wired port. Thanks for the input!

Yea bro, I have that router. The xtreme n wireless gigabit router model DIR-655. First thing you wanna do is upgrade the firmware on it immediately. If you don't, it will keep on disconnecting you and it has major setup problems. I had to call technical support a good 3 or 4 times and the issues I had with this router they could not solve. I had to sit down and think of what to do. I'm pretty tech savy and found the problem with this router being the QoS. You need to go into the network address configuration utility and turn network shaping off. All this feature does is slow down your internet speed. Also, this router is known to reset or disconnect under an intense load. This is because of the "DNS Relay" feature. This might be needed to turn off also. Just a few things to let you know. Other than that, the router has been working great lately! Good luck!

I recently bought the Netgear WNDR3700. Screamingly fast,very reliable and easy to set up. The one drawback is the price(currently $159 at online stores), but the price should come down.
If you decide to up your budget I would highly recomend this router!