My Trusty DL-614 has died!!!

budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
edited March 2010 in Science & Tech
So time for a new Wireless Router. That sucker lasted forever and I am half tempted to buy another...

Couple of questions!

1. Any reason not to?

2.If not...then what? (lets keep the price under $30...make this interesting)

If you are going to go over...better have a darn good reason!...lol

FYI I got 3 laptops (2 Wireless), xbox360 (wired), & wii (wireless) connecting.

Looking to buy in the next 24 hrs....TIA

Comments

  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited December 2009
    Linksys WRT54GL (the L is important) then install Tomato Firmware on it, it's an amazing wireless router.

    Oh just noticed the $30 qualifier. This thing typically runs in the $60 range. However after using one for years now. I can't imagine using any other router at this point. It's fast, solid the traffic shaping using Tomato is incredibly robust. Plus the logs it keeps are killer. Also for running a crazy mixed wifi-enviroment between apple air-port express stations and other mixed devices the compatibility is almost unparalleled.
  • budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
    edited December 2009
    Sounds good...but grabbed a DL-624 that i keep in the car for work....same powersupply so figured give it a whirl...

    BAM...sucker lights up!

    So I guess it is a bad PS...WEIRD!! Who ever heard of that? It was plugged into my constant on my TRIPP-LITE....

    So ordering another PS cable so i can return the one to my car...lol

    Will remember the post though...figure the day is coming...think this baby is at least 10 8 yrs old...lol
  • lordbeanlordbean Ontario, Canada
    edited December 2009
    I have a DI-524 which has to be 5 or 6 years old. It's still my main router for my whole home LAN, and still going strong. D-Link products are remarkably durable.
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited December 2009
    Are you sure that it died and not the power cable? If you have another router by the same manufacturer, try switching out the cables (this has happened to me more than once).

    Edit: since I ignored previous responses while posting this, I will note after the fact that Bud had the same point as me.
  • budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
    edited December 2009
    yep...its the cable....thinkg u figured that out by the edit..lol...

    Having a hard time finding a cable though!
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited December 2009
    I'd say just get a universal power adapter, you know the kind that come with a bajillion connectors. But the good ones for those often run $20. So I'm not sure how much further you would be a head in the long run. Save $10 to keep 8-10 year old equipment running or pony up and get something new. I'd vote new personally.
  • budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
    edited December 2009
    kryyst wrote:
    I'd vote new personally.

    Me too...

    Found a guy w/ a bad router...he maybe sending me his cord...waiting to see...if not then going to be ordering a new router...grrr...new 614 is like 30...so may just go w/ the lyk...
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited December 2009
    If you decide to get a new router, I would suggest future proofing yourself and getting something with N wireless support. You may not have anything that needs it yet but it's always nice to have. Based on a bit of research I just did, I'd recommend looking for a BUFFALO WHR-G300N as you can install DD-WRT on it and Buffalo makes some really nice consumer hardware. I know it's a bit more than you wanted to spend from what I've seen but it's well worth it IMO. The ASUS RT-N16 would probably also be a good choice. DD-WRT can take pretty much any hardware capable of running it and turn it into a kickass router.
  • budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
    edited March 2010
    Krys...

    You had mention to buy the WRT54GL ....

    They have the WRT54GS-RM-PB-R for $30...worth it or no...still go for the GL?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    The GS has less memory than the GL which means you won't be able to install Tomato firmware most likely. Additionally, the reduced amount of memory means it will flake out and slow down more easily when large numbers of connections are open (i.e. - running bittorrent or anything else that requires a lot of individual tcp connections). I would seriously consider upping your budget a bit or you are likely to get a piece of hardware that will be flaky and unreliable.
  • budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
    edited March 2010
    yea..torrents are used quite a bit...so if that means need the GL then no worries there...
  • miragemirage
    edited March 2010
    WRT54GL is good but it is also a very old router now. I also recommend a newer 802.11n model like WHR-G300N. I have both WRT54G-TM (same as WRT54GL but with 2xRAM and 2xFlash) and WHR-G300N at home. All of them are running DD-WRT very reliably. But WHR-G300N is 802.11n and has 3-4X better network speed when paired with a 802.11n adapter.

    Right now, Amazon is selling Linksys WRT160N refurbished for only $34.99. Similar to WHR-G300N, that is an entry level (300 Mbps, 2.4GHz only, 40 MHz channel bonding) 802.11n router and runs DD-WRT as well. While WHR-G300N has Ralink chipset, Linksys WRT160N has Broadcom chipset. I bought several Linksys factory refurbished items from Newegg and all of them were in excellent condition.

    Another alternative is Trendnet TEW-652BRP which is only 34.99 at Newegg. It is an Atheros chipset router and has exactly the same board with Dlink DIR615-C1. You can even flash Dlink firmware on this one as well as DD-WRT. Read this huge thread if you want more information. I have 632BRP version of this router (the same thing) running DD-WRT but I am not using it since its performance is not as good as WHR-G300N.
  • budhisetiawanbudhisetiawan Mars Hill, NC Member
    edited March 2010
    now is the 300N a Linksys? it seems to be some buffalo?
  • miragemirage
    edited March 2010
    budhisetiawan wrote:
    now is the 300N a Linksys? it seems to be some buffalo?

    Yes, WHR-G300N is a Buffalo. I meant newer technology with newer model. If you want a Linksys, I would recommend WRT160N (with DD-WRT).
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    I'm a firm lover of the tomato firmware over dd-wrt. I just find that it runs better (stability and speed when allowing 4096+ peers). Most of that is because it uses a smaller footprint (last I checked) so that leaves more system power on the router to handle things.

    So the routers I recommend are:
    • Linksys WRT54G v1-v4, WRT54GS v1-v4, WRT54GL v1.x, WRTSL54GS (no USB support)
    • Buffalo WHR-G54S, WHR-HP-G54, WZR-G54, WBR2-G54, WBR-G54, WZR-HP-G54, WZR-RS-G54, WZR-RS-G54HP, WVR-G54-NF, WHR2-A54-G54, WHR3-AG54
    • Asus WL500G Premium (no USB support), WL500GE, WL520GU (no USB support)
    • Sparklan WX6615GT, Fuji RT390W, Microsoft MN-700
    Now. I haven't dabbled with DD-WRT for probably a couple of years so it's probably gotten better and there are a few specific features DD-WRT can provide that tomato can't (specially if you want to create a vpn appliance). However for normal use I've found tomato to just be better.

    However if you want to use some other router or need some other features then DD-WRT is possibly the way to go.
  • miragemirage
    edited March 2010
    I also used Tomato for a while. And, I agree that it is good. But DD-WRT is so much more fun with such a long and constantly expanding supported hardware list, more frequent updates, more features, kernel 2.6, and a big forum. Tomato is mostly ideal for a set and forget type scenario. I am more interested in testing/tweaking a new version every couple of weeks.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    I must say I love my WRT54GL running DD-WRT. I haven't had a problem with it ever. I Granted I have it set to auto restart once a week which was a holdover from my old GS which needed to be rebooted regularly due to memory issues. I digress though, the features in DD-WRT are amazing and I've not had stability issues with it provided the hardware has a fair amount of RAM. All the Buffalo routers do (and everything I've read suggests Buffalo is about the best off-the-shelf consumer platform for running DD-WRT).
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    mirage wrote:
    I also used Tomato for a while. And, I agree that it is good. But DD-WRT is so much more fun with such a long and constantly expanding supported hardware list, more frequent updates, more features, kernel 2.6, and a big forum. Tomato is mostly ideal for a set and forget type scenario. I am more interested in testing/tweaking a new version every couple of weeks.

    Yep all valid reasons. Personally for an appliance I prefer something that works and doesn't require me to futs around with.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    ardichoke wrote:
    I must say I love my WRT54GL running DD-WRT. I haven't had a problem with it ever. I Granted I have it set to auto restart once a week which was a holdover from my old GS which needed to be rebooted regularly due to memory issues. I digress though, the features in DD-WRT are amazing and I've not had stability issues with it provided the hardware has a fair amount of RAM. All the Buffalo routers do (and everything I've read suggests Buffalo is about the best off-the-shelf consumer platform for running DD-WRT).

    My GL running Tomato on a UPS hasn't been rebooted since the last firmware update. It just runs and runs and runs....
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    I don't have to reboot my GL with Tomato unless it's firmware upgrade time, and I only upgrade the firmware because I'm anal about that kind of thing.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    kryyst wrote:
    My GL running Tomato on a UPS hasn't been rebooted since the last firmware update. It just runs and runs and runs....

    Like I said, that whole auto-reboot thing was a holdover from my memory starved GS. I just imported the config when I got my GL and loaded up DD. I have no doubt I could disable this and it would run fine for ages, I just don't because what does it hurt if my router automatically reboots once a week while I'm not even at home anyway?
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    Nothing. But you can't truly test the stability unless you run it for a largely extended period of time.
  • miragemirage
    edited March 2010
    DD-WRT is as stable as Tomato if a stable version is chosen instead a random/latest version. You can find the latest recommended version here.
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