Cheap ADSL Holds Up 802.11n Router Design 268
sholto writes "Ever wondered why you can't find the perfect 802.11n router? You know, the one with dual band, great range, USB print server and storage? Australian ISPs used to give away modem routers to consumers with expensive ADSL plans, but competition has forced them to drop the plans' prices so low they can't subsidize the boxes any more. D-Link Australia says R&D into N routers is now becalmed in a Catch-22."
Its the ISPs fault? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:AirPort Extreme (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry, but I just had to comment on this one. In a mixed OS office like the one I work in (ie: Mac and PC laptops across the board - 8 people), it can have problems. The first is it takes Windows machines forever log into it. And then after there are dropped connections, setting up printers can be a nighmare, and the Samba shares are hard to keep online. All these problems on the Windows side granted. We switched to a Linksys with Tomato and haven't had a problem since on either Mac or PC.
Re:AirPort Extreme (Score:3, Interesting)
I've never had simular problems, what do you mean by "it takes Windows machines forever log into it" and "setting up printers can be a nighmare, and the Samba shares are hard to keep online," if I'm interpreting that correctly it sounds like you're actually using the disk and print sharing features of this router, or are you implying that Samba connections that just plain pass through it are giving you problems? If the latter, I've never seen such issues. If you're talking about the former, I don't actually use the file and print sharing features on the Airport, it could be complete garbage for all I know.
Then again, I'm the type that wants a router to "route" and a file server to share files. Any printer in 2010 that can't share itself over the network via a built in print server is also not worth my time.
Are you seeing any problems with non-disk and print sharing features?
Re:AirPort Extreme (Score:3, Interesting)
This comes from some guy who works for Dlink... (Score:1, Interesting)
Now. Lets think.
Why is it that no-one buys dlink equipment? because its notorious for being crappy, overpriced junk that does not work? And, if you're lucky enough to get a dlink that works, it will fuck up after 12 months, forcing you to buy another modem at your own expense.
Read: Consumers don't like the shitty useless bug ridden featureless pieces of crap dlink has pushed on us for so long. Now dlink is fealing the heat. And try to blame Australia because no-one buys their fucking shitty products any more?
Fuck off!
Disclaimer: I'm an Australian who bought dlink once, and never again.
Fritz box 7270 (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.avm.de/en/Produkte/FRITZBox/FRITZ_Box_Fon_WLAN_7270/index.php [www.avm.de]
Best piece of electronics I've owned, bar none. Sip telephony, answering machine, nas, print server, fax, dsl modem, dect base station, wireless N 300 mbps with triple antennas, usb port for 3g modem fall back connectivity, vpn server, firewall, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some features here.
Runs linux, and hacker community has extended firmware to run p2p daemon for example.
Why o why? (Score:3, Interesting)
Ever wondered why you can't find the perfect 802.11n router? You know, the one with dual band, great range, USB print server and storage?
Because you've got myopia and you're only looking at the D-Link range? D-Link hardware's ok, as far as cheap goes, but their tech support is the pits.
Whatever happened to plain old access points? (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't want a router. My linux box works quite well for that, thank you very much. However nobody sells a simultaneous dual-band, gigabit, 802.11n access point (at least not in an affordable, consumer-grade package). Instead I have to pay for crap that I don't want and that just makes things more complicated (I have to figure out how to turn stuff off, if it can even be turned off at all).
Also, internal antennas suck, especially for 5GHz. If I put my router/ap in a central closet that I have wired for ethernet and power, I'm lucky if I get 2 bars on 5GHz in my main usage area. Now instead of having my access point neatly tucked away I have to have it sitting out in a different room just so I can cover half of my house. And I don't even have that big of a house!
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
D-Link=Garbage. AEBS=Full of Win. Sholto = Shill (Score:4, Interesting)
I've gone through so many bad experiences with D-Link equipment over the years that I will never buy any equipment from D-Link ever again. I will go out of my way to get people I know to replace these craptacular pieces of shit every chance I get.
I've had D-Link PCMCIA cards, routers, modems, etc and every single one of them is an overheating piece of garbage. It's like no one in the company has ever heard of heat management.
OTOH, I set up an Airport Extreme Base Station at my parents' house last year. It has all of the features Sholto says you can't find (Dual band-N, great range, USB print and storage, etc) and does it without needing to be reset every ten fucking days. Care to venture a guess the uptime this AEBS, D-Link? 16 MONTHS. I'm usually pleasantly surprised when D-Link crap can make it 16 days without needing a reset.
I suppose I have to give the old Linksys WRT-54 units their props.
A new style of router config (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder how a standard router (commercial or OpenWRT) would work on their network.
I went through them all and ended up with a Cisco (Score:3, Interesting)
I went through a steady stream of these - some with integrated DSL some without - Linksys, DLink, Netgear etc. They all had stability and speed issues or other niggly little things that required reboots and firmware updates. Finally I broke down and bought a Cisco 857W which is a real Cisco device running IOS including DSL, Wireless, Statefull Firewall and IPSEC VPN. I was studying for my CCNA so it was a good device to learn on and was how I justified the purchase to the Mrs.
It might cost AU$450 and have a pretty masstive learning curve to configure it properly but man is it solid and a great performer. It has an uptime currently of over six months with only 2 DSL activations (ie it has only had to reconnect to my ISP once in six months) and I do quite a bit of bittorrenting via wireless with hundreds of connections and with the firewall on getting over 16MBit/sec out of my ADSL2+ link.
There is a reason that you see them or their more expensive 877 cousins provided with the business links - because the telcos know they work and are stable as hell and will result in greater uptime and fewer support calls making the cost worth it.
Cisco may be overpriced, especially with it only being 802.11g, but you also get what you pay for. I'll never go back to the SOHO kit for my home.
Re:DO NOT WANT: print server, storage, P2P daemon, (Score:3, Interesting)
I understand that putting the modem into the router saves space, but it creates headaches. I'd rather own my own router, and have the telco only own a trivially-swapped modem. I don't like it when I have to operate hardware in my house that I'm not permitted to tamper with and keeping the modem separate minimizes this.