Best Router bang for buck

**ICantSpellDawg** · 05-27-2011, 23:26

Mine crapped out, so I'm looking for a 4 ethernet port switch router, preferably with a USB port. Better WiFi capabilities than the linksys wireless - g 2.4ghz. Approx $50. Any suggestions?

**Xiahou** · 06-02-2011, 22:43

When my old Linksys finally gave out, I opted for the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH It has 4 gigabit wired ports and supports 802.11N over 2.4Ghz and a USB port that can be used for NAS, a DLNA media server, and as storage for its builtin bit torrent client.

It looks like they also have a dual band version that supports 5Ghz for about $25 more. The wireless also has support for multiple SSIDs and it sports a VPN server and client.

The interface wasn't the most straightforward, but I love all the features it offers and mine has been extremely reliable.

**Tellos Athenaios** · 06-03-2011, 16:30

Don't have the buffalo, but one thing in favour of it is the fact it uses dd-wrt. So you can actually use your router as a light weight server box for all sorts of stuff that normally requires much more expensive kit (when you factor in the router as well). Think printer/scanners, working with backups, HTTP proxy/cache, mail and what have you.

**Lemur** · 06-03-2011, 16:42

Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios

Don't have the buffalo, but one thing in favour of it is the fact it uses dd-wrt.

Seconded. I got mad love for dd-wrt. My current router is an old Asus that takes a flavor of that lovely German tweak, and I've been able to dial its antenna up until every inch of my house has good signal. Don't rightly know what I'll do when the FCC comes knocking, but in the meantime it's fantastic stuff.

**Crazed Rabbit** · 06-05-2011, 01:58

Originally Posted by Xiahou

It looks like they also have a dual band version that supports 5Ghz for about $25 more. The wireless also has support for multiple SSIDs and it sports a VPN server and client.

That's interesting; how straightforward is it to set up and get working?

CR

**Xiahou** · 06-05-2011, 03:12

Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

That's interesting; how straightforward is it to set up and get working?

CR

Hmm... it seems I may have been talking out of my rear on the VPN Client portion. I went to look for the setting and... couldn't find them.

Here's a screen grab of the VPN Server setup though. It looks pretty painless.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I think if you just clicked the "Enable" option and added a PPTP user for yourself that'd pretty much do it. The rest could be safely left at defaults. If I think of it, I'll try it sometime over the next week and see how it goes.