Recommended router?

[sainswor99]

My old version 5 Linksys WRT54G is starting to have intermittent issues; I tried loading dd-wrt on it, and it looks like the CPU is periodically maxing out and causing lockups. I bought a new Cisco (Linksys) WRT54G2 today, hooked it up, but started having all sorts of video stuttering issues (and dd-wrt doesn't run on it).

If I remove the router from my network, the stuttering goes away, so I'm sure it's the problem; my question is, what router do you recommend? I only need wireless G for my laptop/Wii, so wireless N routers are overkill.

Appreciate the input.

[Tikker]

do you need a router, or just a new switch?

you can pick up a decent 8 port gigabit switch relatively cheap these days now

[sainswor99]

I'm pretty sure it's the router; I already have the SageTV server and my client PC on a seperate switch, both with static IP's. Pulling the plug on the router caused the stuttering to stop; plugging it back in created stutter.

I've put my old router back inline (for now) and no stutter.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

I'm pretty sure it's the router; I already have the SageTV server and my client PC on a seperate switch, both with static IP's. Pulling the plug on the router caused the stuttering to stop; plugging it back in created stutter.

I've put my old router back inline (for now) and no stutter.

That sounds like an interesting problem!

Normally, the SageTV traffic would only pass through the switch. Could it be that the new router has some settings that cause it to flood the network with broadcasts.

It could help if you could describe how you 've got everything connected.

[sainswor99]

Lucas, at this point, I'm not really concerned with solving the problem; I just want to pick up a different brand of router. However, I've included a picture of my network. Again, when I switched the router from the new Cisco WRT54g2 to my old Linksys router, the problem went away.

Just to isolate a few other things:

1. I have no HD programming; SD only.
2. The wireless bridges work fine.
3. The networking setup is identical with both the new and the old router; I have both N and G networks running (N is for bridges in the 5 spectrum; G is 2.4).

Stu

[brainbone]

You should be able to put DD-WRT on the WRT54G2:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT54G2

Edit: Nevermind. You probably don't have a v1 router.

Does turning off the radio in the WRT54G2 temporarily solve the issue?

[sainswor99]

Originally Posted by brainbone

You should be able to put DD-WRT on the WRT54G2:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT54G2

Edit: Nevermind. You probably don't have a v1 router.

Does turning off the radio in the WRT54G2 temporarily solve the issue?

Yeah; version 1.5.

I didn't try that, and I've already boxed it up to take it back to the store. Probably going to pick up a Netgear router, but may wait because the CPU utilization on my old router seems to have dropped immmensely. Not sure what happened there; the only thing that's different is that I rearranged the devices while adding the new router, and I may be getting better airflow.

[techhome]

Go for a WRT-54GL and run Tomato on it rather than DD. As much as others love DD-WRT, I had problems similar to what you describe with it. I used to use HyperWRT Thibor and it worked great. When development halted, however, I moved to DD, had issues and tried Tomato. Tomato has exceeded all expectations and I haven't looked back. BTW, I use the 54G as a wired gateway/router (radio off), use an unmanaged Netgear Gigabit switch on the LAN side of the 54G and have a Trendnet N router (configured as an AP) connected as well. This setup works perfect for me...

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

Yeah; version 1.5.

I didn't try that, and I've already boxed it up to take it back to the store. Probably going to pick up a Netgear router, but may wait because the CPU utilization on my old router seems to have dropped immmensely. Not sure what happened there; the only thing that's different is that I rearranged the devices while adding the new router, and I may be getting better airflow.

Are you running the latest DD-WRT (without the exploit)?

Are you running a bit torrent client (or anything like it)? I know that on older versions of DD-WRT (pre-v24), torrents could dramatically slow the WERT54G down.

For a router, I would say any you can pick-up that support DD-WRT.

[stevech]

For within-LAN traffic, esp. streaming video, I use a low cost gig-E switch so there's no question that the router is not in the loop. I think some router firmware, perhaps Tomato/DD-WRT, in some QoS modes (e.g., port or MAC selective), do packet forwarding in the CPU firmware rather than let the built-in switch hardware do so. I may be wrong on this.

[reeven]

asus wl-500gp v2.
Best routers in the last years are Asus and D-link.

[davephan]

Will the Tomato firmware allow me to block all ports to and from my SageTV computer except for those needed for the electronic program guide updates?

My Linksys BEFSR81 allows me to block the Internet completely, but not lock it down to just the ports needed for the EPG updates. I could use a software firewall program, but I would rather block everything except for the EPG updates with the router.

Dave

[Protoman]

I have and highly recommend a D-Link DGL-4300. I know they have a newer DGL-4500 with Wireless N, but I have not used that one yet. The DGL-4300 is my go to router and I have been using it for years now. I have tried to replace it several times but the replacement router just was not stable enough or exhibited some issue so I would have to go back to my DGL-4300.