suggestions on router?

[tphilly1984]

stay away from D-link routers- experience = bad

[geekydude]

First of all, you said your laptop wireless supports N. Does it also specifically say it supports 108Mbps (Super G)? The reason is only Atheros chipset wireless card would support Super G. If your laptop wireless card does indeed use an Atheros chipset, the laptop specification would explicitly mention either 108Mbps, or "Super G". If there's no mention of either, then you can forget about using Super G, even if you get a router that supports Super G, because your laptop will not support it.

Second, it seems that wireless range is your main concern, and you're not doing any heavy BT and doesn't use things like VoIP. If that's the case, then I would highly recommend the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 which sells for $55 at buy.com ($45 with Google Checkout discount). This router comes with a built-in amplifier for both reception and transmission, and the antenna it comes with is 4dBi which is really good. Both the dd-wrt and the Tomato firmware work really well with this model to give you excellent range. Everyone who's used this router has commented that they're really impressed by its range.

I would recommend staying away from the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS. These used to be good routers but not anymore, because Linksys has severely decreased its RAM and flash while retaining the same model number. For example, the WRT54GS these days sell for $90, and you get only 2MB flash, which severely limits your ability to flash it to third party firmwares (do-able but only with special versions that are extremely stripped down). You may say, I'm okay with using the stock Linksys firmware. But let me caution you that the Linksys firmware is still quite buggy and there may be some issue that would force you to look into third party firmware. (For example, there are people who cannot get their VPN clients to work with the stock Linksys firmware no matter what. Once they flash to third party firmware, the VPN client works fine. If you've used VPN with your job, you know that the client choice is dictated by what VPN solution your employer has picked. For example, if they had chosen a Cisco solution, then you need to use the Cisco VPN client. If you cannot get the Cisco VPN client to work with your home router, then basically you cannot do any work from home.) To get a better idea, just go to the forums at the Linksys official website and see for yourself what issues people are having.

The WRT54GL is pretty good. But for the price of $60, I would rather get the Buffalo WHR-G54S from Newegg for $40 shipped, which has exactly the same hardware (same CPU, same 4MB flash, same 16MB RAM) and in addition, comes with the 4dBi antenna which gives you much better reception than the WRT54GL.

So to summarize, if you want really good range, get the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 for $55 at buy.com. If you want to save 15 bucks and still get good range, just not terrific range, then you can go with the Buffalo WHR-G54S for $40 at Newegg.

If you want a draft-N router, I would recommend either the D-Link DIR-655 ($120 at Circuit City) or the Linksys WRT350N ($165 at buy.com, which is what I'm using right now). But frankly, while you may get better speed with a draft-N router, you may not even get better range than the $55 Buffalo WHR-HP-G54.

[WackyT]

The reason is only Atheros chipset wireless card would support Super G.

"Manufacturers that have licensed Super G technology from Atheros include Clipsal, D-Link, Netgear, Nortel Networks, Planex, SMC, Sony, SparkLAN, and Toshiba. In general, Super G products from different vendors are all interoperable in Super G mode."
Super G (wireless networking)

[geekydude]

A manufacturer usually has products that use different chipsets though. The easiest way to tell whether it's Atheros based is to look for the terms "108Mbps" or "Super-G".

[Joi77]

I recently bought three of the Linksys WRT54G routers (all v.6 - I know, I know, but couldn't find 2-4) and am happy with them so far. I hooked one up in my home, one in my parents' home, and one in my boyfriend's and everyone's pleased. I had never installed a router before and found the setup to be pretty painless (keep the manual up and use the handy-dandy Linksys website if you get confused. I did when it came to setting up wireless security). Once I had mine setup, the other two were quick and easy!

I'm no expert on range (or routers for that matter) but I drove to my mailbox to see if I could connect and while I didn't have the full 54.0, I connected and surfed with no probs.