{"id":216,"date":"2010-06-09T05:03:58","date_gmt":"2010-06-09T05:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poojanwagh.opalstacked.com\/techblog\/?p=216"},"modified":"2010-06-26T03:04:14","modified_gmt":"2010-06-26T03:04:14","slug":"looking-for-a-new-router","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tech.poojanblog.com\/blog\/desk\/looking-for-a-new-router\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for a new router"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update 2010-06-25<\/h2>\n

I got the Buffalo WHR-HP-GN<\/a>. I have it sitting around 10 feet away from my HP PC and it’s connected to my router using 100 Mb\/s Ethernet. I just ran a speed test using TTCP<\/a>, and I get from 2674 KB\/s to 3700 KB\/s. So, I’m doing about 10x better. Of course, the Linksys is sitting considerably farther away from the HP PC than the Buffalo is. However, 1) the Linksys can’t act as an access point, so it can’t<\/em> work where the Buffalo is, and 2) I’ve now fixed the problem and don’t care to move routers around.<\/p>\n

Original Post<\/h2>\n

I’ve had it with my Linksys. I’ve run two performance tests using TTCP<\/a>. I generally run the receiver on my FreeBSD machine (for which a port exists). From my gigabit wired Dell Desktop (circa 2004) I get 30830 KB\/s throughput. However, from my late-2009 model HP Desktop connected via 802.11n, I only get 365 KB\/s. You read that right. I’ve noticed that the wireless drops down to 13 MBps when the computer is actually doing something; otherwise, it claims a 135 Mbps connection.<\/p>\n

This could be the HP’s 802.11n card, but I have a feeling it is the WRT110N router. Besides, I’m pretty pissed that Linksys’ latest firmware has an advertising service (when a site doesn’t exist, it points you at a ad\/search page). In the case of the WRT110N, you cannot disable it.<\/p>\n

So, I’m looking around for a new router. After a hiatus, Buffalo is back on the market. I’m looking at their plethora of 802.11n offerings. The $90 WZR-HP-G300NH<\/a> has 64 MB of ram and 32 MB of flash available. It also has a USB port for NAS if I want that. The other option would be to use my old Linksys WRT with Tomato or something (and disable wireless on it) and buy a cheaper Buffalo 802.11n to use as an access point.<\/p>\n

The fourth option which I’m seriously contemplating is to run gigabit cable around my house (literally on the outside), through the attic, and to the HP computer. However, when I add up two cables (12.50 each) and a gigabit router ($35), I end up at $60, which isn’t that much away from the wireless router (and it saves me having to tool around the attic, which is definitely worth $30 to me). Plus, there’s also a Wii next to the HP that needs wireless anyway.<\/p>\n

I’m looking at the $60 WHR-HP-G300N<\/a> and the $40 WHR-HP-GN<\/a>. Both of these are dd-wrt<\/a> compatible. However, it seems that the G300N doesn’t support WDS. So, it looks like the WHR-HP-GN is the best value. I can spend $50 more to get the WZR-HP-G300NH, but I don’t think the extra RAM, USB, and gigabit Ethernet ports are worth it.<\/p>\n