SOHO Router Equipment
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Anyone else notice the quality of SOHO or even low end pro routers/wireless routers has gone to hell? They all seemed to have bought into really cheap firmware for the routers, and poor wireless radios. I have been through Linksys, Netgear, and Belkin. It is all junk. I recently picked up a Buffalo WZR-600DHP and I love it. I had yet another Netgear router go bad and was dropping wireless users at random. Anything streaming media was being interrupted - etc. The Buffalo router seems to have fixed all the problems, and I have excellent signal. When I was looking for a replacement, I went through reviews on Amazon and Newegg (among others) and the major brands were all getting poor reviews. Even the latest Negear Pro gear was getting bad reviews for dropping wireless. I still like the Netgear switches for cost/performance in lower end applications / offices, but I am thinking Buffalo is poised to take the market away from all these guys. And they are pretty cheap for what you get. Anyone try out their NAS products yet?
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Buffalo NASes are pretty good although I have only limited experience with them. If your routers hardware is fine but the firmware sucks, flash it with dd-wrt. I swear by that. Take a $30 router and unlock capabilities of a $300 router. If you've already decommed 'em, why not try it on one?
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for all my small shops, i use Ubiquiti and Engenius exclusively.
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The Buffalo came with the DD-WRT installed. It is great. Any specific models on the Ubiquiti or Engenius?
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Depends on your needs. All of their business class offerings though. I have 15 or so ent200ext's out and NEVER get any call son them. Ubiquiti's Ceiling mount APs are epic as well. i've not had any bad luck with any of their products.
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@Hubtech Sounds like an endorsement to me.
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I have had a lot of luck with the Meraki equipment, but it is too expensive for the smaller offices, and the license fee each year is a no go in a lot of people's budgets. Plus dealing with Ingram Micro is a nightmare.
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@bsouder wait, am I gonna get locked out here too? for mentioning a product that oh man....i'll be quiet
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I do remember now Buffalo was doing that. On Newegg, a lot of the Netgears/Linksys routers even say "DD-WRT compatible" nowadays. It's just so much better than any manufacturer's firmware. Been using for 5-6 years now. I love it! It kicks the crap out of Tomato.
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Looks like Netgear does not like people using DD-WRT on their stuff. You have to downgrade to get it to load - the newer firmware is apparently checking for DD-WRT and blocking it now.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=172030&highlight=wnr2000
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@bsouder No point buying the brand new stuff. Get a refurbed one off Newegg, etc. They are typically half or less the price and work just fine. Flash with DD-WRT. Done.
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I have a WNR-2000 v3 sitting here that I was going to try to salvage.
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@bsouder Go for it!
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With the high WAN speeds available today I think "DIY" firewalls are going to be more and more popular.
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@steve dd-wrt is completely stable, free and, like I've said, gives you $300+ capabilities in a $30 router. People can complain about it if they want, and I have seen people say it has no place in the business realm, but I disagree. Enterprise, I agree. SMB, especially the S part, it's awesome!
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Look what is on the top page for the DD-WRT:
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@bsouder Amazing! That's just awesome! FINALLY! Someone recognizes those guys' hard work! My hat goes off to Buffalo.
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So the downgrade went well. The move to the DD-WRT went well.
WOW - What a difference! It even forces you to change from the weak default passwords immediately. (I had factiry reset the device before doing the firmware)
Now to configure and test ...
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@bsouder Yup. They don't joke around. First prompt is to change your password. root/admin is default last I knew but they tell you to change it. How much have you played with dd-wrt before?
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None at all - just what came with the Buffalo.
