recommend me an 8 port wifi router?

[t0m]

title says it all. i need an 8 port router. i have been avoiding wifi (im stubborn) but if im going to buy a new router it might as well have wifi in case i ever change my mind about it =) the main thing im looking for is 8 physical ports and a good build.

i have an unreasonable brand-hate for linksys stuff (the only router i have seen die, and i have seen 3 or 4 of them die now), and i like netgear so far (6 year old netgear router still going strong)...i also really like sonicwall (after working with one in a corp setting) but they look like they are all pretty expensive for joe sixpack. i also wouldnt mind checking out some of those custom firmwares like dd-wrt, but thats not super important i dont think (anyone tried it? maybe i do need it? lol).

i used to work in networking, so i know what im looking for, but i am totally out of touch with the hardware after a few years of doing graphics and not networking...im going to try to spend some time researching when i get home from work, but some starting points would be much appreciated.

oh, my current setup is an old netgear router and a netgear hub. we have 3 pcs, an old xbox and a minimum of 2 360s (but need room for a few more as my place is lan central station).

thanks for any input folks

[Cptn Vortex]

Just get a good 8 port gigabit switch, and connect it to a regular router. This way you have considerable network speeds, and it will not mess with your internet connection. A switch is WAY better than hub. Netgear GS108 Ethernet Switch, GS108NA, FrontierPC.com Canada

and Netgear RangeMax NEXT WNR834B Wireless Router, WNR834B-100NAS, FrontierPC.com Canada

[Cheator]

You won't find many 8 port guys ith wifi without going soho. I'd recomend like above, though you can get nice 5 port gigabit freedom9 switches flr cheaper.

[t0m]

well i found this one on tiger direct but some of the reviews sound a little ugly. i had considered getting a big switch for the livingroom but came to the conclusion that a new router was the way to go if i was going to put any money into it (current setup is still working, just old and im starting to see situations where lan night is getting bigger than my lan).

oh and what is the state of draft-n support? last i paid attention (a few years now) most sites were recommending that we stay away from draft-n because it was likely to not really be compatible with the real deal when(if) it comes out...is that still pretty much the current consensus or has progress been made?

what about other new technologies? any new buzz words or features i want to research to be able to make a smart choice?

[Mibs]

As far as I know draft-n is pretty much finalized now. Meaning that whatever you buy now that's n should work with all your other n devices. At least according to Patrick Norton on revision3....

[misterd]

That Netgear is ancient and 108 is useless unless you have a matching card. Draft is still draft... but you can flash the firmware at last on the D-Link 655 you could go from draft 1.0 to 2.0 - And I agree with vortex, get a 8 port gigglebit switch and use a 4 port wifi router off of it. DD-wrt is pretty fantastic to say the least. The amount of stuff you can do with it is insane. Worth checking out if you have a supported model.

[Jack Rabbit]

Have you looked through the home brew PC Router thread? If you have a lot of strange people bringing strange computers to your LAN I would certainly like to have more control over the network to block and DMZ unwanted activity. The bigger distributions like Astaro offer all kinds of in line anti-virus, VPN, and what not. You can also set up the WiFi on a captive portal to improve security. If you have a spare old comp you can re-purpose it might be a fun project and would probably win you some geek points, too.

DD-WRT is good and also has a lot of great features. OpenWRT is a competitor that was lagging behind DD-WRT the last time I checked. They are well worth checking out if you get a compatible router. If you do not like it (and do not end up with a brick) you can always re-flash back to the vendor firmware.

[lcdguy]

Get this one if you like netgear. BTW if it's not prosafe then i wouldn't touch netgear. The prosafe builds are much more durable. Metal Casing vs Plastic, Lifetime Warranty, SOHO level. :).

BTW we have sonicwalls at work. I hate them sooooooo much.

Linky Linky -> FVG318 - NETGEAR.com

[t0m]

Originally Posted by t0m

i have an unreasonable brand-hate for linksys stuff (the only router i have seen die, and i have seen 3 or 4 of them die now)

oops i cant believe i got that wrong...its d-link that i have a hate on for. i just went digging around my closet for 'network appliances' hoping to find another hub or something i can use for now and i found my two old dead d-link routers (one wifi + one wired). i always used to get d-link mixed up with linksys even when i was using the d-link



Mibs - misterd - thanks

Jack Rabbit - unfortunately i dont have enough parts to make another pc (yet). i dont really have to worry about security either, most of the time we play xbox on lan night, pc nights are usually smaller with only a few lap tops and my 3 pcs.

lcdguy - why do you hate sonicwall? my only experience is with one i installed/maintained for a while in a cell phone shop in the mall...the place was a mess after an employees 'buddy' came in and tried to fix it for them, so i spent almost a whole day ripping it down (and temp rigging it so they could still use the pos system and make sales/changes to peoples accounts). when it came time to install the sonicwall i was a little intimidated, but it went incredibly well, and it works so good that i havnt had to make a (network related) trip back there since i installed it. i instantly wanted one in my house after that but it was worth more than my whole pc

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by Mibs

As far as I know draft-n is pretty much finalized now. Meaning that whatever you buy now that's n should work with all your other n devices. At least according to Patrick Norton on revision3....

It's not quite finalized ...

First, most Draft N routers are still 2.4 GHz (there are a few dual band units out there, like the Apple Airport Extreme, Linksys WRT600N + WRT610N, D-Link DIR-855, etc.) ... The final spec routers will be dual band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and will gradually settle into only supporting the 5 GHz band as it will provide the least interference with other devices and vice versa (better range and compatibility in urban areas). The downside here is your 2.4 GHz Draft N equipment, like most electronics, will be obsolete in several years.

Second, as it is still a draft stage, not all N products will necessarily work with each other. For example, the earlier revisions of the D-Link DIR-655 would not work with Apple's Airport wireless cards in N mode. This was fixed through firmware and driver upgrades in this particular case, but one cannot guarantee N equipment from company A will work with N equipment from company B at this point in time.

The good news is that any Draft N revision 2.0 equipment will be software (firmware or driver) upgradeable to the final specification, which will hopefully be released some time in 2009. Along w/ the final spec should come universal compatibility.