Forums | MacLife
You are not logged in.
#1 2009-04-16 11:41 am
Best, least expensive, wireless
My step-daughter just moved and really needs to go wireless. What is the least expensive/best for the money/ Mac friendliest router? She can't afford to go the Mac/Airport Extreme route.
Thanks in advance
Tony
Tony
"There weren't another other way to be."
Waylon Jennings "Honky Tonk Heros"
Offline
#2 2009-04-16 11:47 am
- mrreet2001
- Member
- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 4251
- Website
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
Dlink- works like crap - cheap:
no not buy
Linksys - works pretty good till it breaks will be soon - cheap:
could buy if your prepared to replace them every 2 or so years.
Apple Airport Extreme - works awesome huge range (compared to the others)- relatively cheap considering the replacement cycle of the linksys:
buy
Apple Airport Express -works great but with les features and less range ... cheaper than a AE:
buy if don't need the extra features of the AE
Last edited by mrreet2001 (2009-04-16 11:49 am)
2.66Ghz QuadCore-Nehalem w/24"LED CD ---2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)
Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)(10.5 server)--- 400Mhz G4 PM (10.4 Server)
1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac
"So he fels down in a poisoning gas."
Offline
#3 2009-04-16 11:55 am
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
Thanks mreet,
That is kind of what I thought. I've been using my old Airport so long I thought maybe one of the others had something good by now.
Maybe it's time I upgraded to a Time Capsule and give her a "hand me down".
Tony
"There weren't another other way to be."
Waylon Jennings "Honky Tonk Heros"
Offline
#4 2009-04-16 12:34 pm
- Fracai
- Evacipate
- From: St. Elsewhere
- Registered: 2000-05-25
- Posts: 2832
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
I bought an Asus WL520GU a few months ago. There was a rebate at the time so I think it ended up being about $20, but NewEgg has it for $45.
It's been solid since I installed it, but this past weekend I installed Tomato anyway. It's a far better interface and includes stats and a slew of other features. There's even a mod that re-enables the USB support (and fixes a few additional small bugs).
Installing the new firmware was dead simple as well. Rename the file, restore the router to factory settings, upload using the web interface.
Whatever router you end up with, I'd recommend installing Tomato or DD-WRT (more complex interface and features), if only for the better interface.
Offline
#5 2009-04-16 3:12 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
- Moderator
- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 13702
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
I've never had a problem with the Linksys routers. I've had my 54G for over 4 years. It still works nicely. It's reliable, fairly inexpensive, and easy to setup.
I'm not dead yet.
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
"There are few things graven in stone, excepting your date of death."
Offline
#6 2009-04-23 11:27 am
- zoees
- Member
- From: Maryland
- Registered: 2001-08-14
- Posts: 2690
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
I'd recommend an Airport Extreme.
Out of the box- no configure.
TIVO
X-BOX 360
Wii
MacBook Pro
Toshiba laptop
Printer
Old B&W G3 with a USB WIRELESS Dongle
All work and continue to- unless my cable goes out. Which is another story.
"I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do".—D. Dale Gulledge
Offline
#7 2009-04-23 12:34 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18033
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
mrreet2001 wrote:
Dlink- works like crap - cheap:
no not buy
I had a D-Link wireless router that worked pretty well. The only thing wrong with it was that it required the occasional power cycling (about once a week) to stay working. (It would "work" for web browsing and email, but would drop connections to EVE-Online for some reason. WoW would continue to work fine, so it was kind of a smurf.)
It's about three years old now. I never updated the firmware or anything, so dunno if there was a known fix. Now it's been installed at a friend's house for a couple months, and every time I've brought a laptop over, it's worked like clockwork, no restart needed. However, it's running in bridge mode (their DSL modem handles DHCP & NAT.)
I replaced my D-Link with an Airport Extreme to get the Airport Disk feature. I've never had my APEBS crash, but my cat gets behind the cabinet and unplugs it pretty frequently. She's a hellion.
We use Airport Extremes at work, some of them will freeze solid from time to time. I haven't taken the time to log it and find a pattern. I figure; inside, they're computers. Computers crash. 
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
Offline
#8 2009-04-23 12:34 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18033
Re: Best, least expensive, wireless
zoees wrote:
I'd recommend an Airport Extreme.
Out of the box- no configure.
TIVO
X-BOX 360
Wii
MacBook Pro
Toshiba laptop
Printer
Old B&W G3 with a USB WIRELESS Dongle
All work and continue to- unless my cable goes out. Which is another story.
You really should at least configure wireless security.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
Offline
