Advice on Replacing Home Firewall/Router

I currently have a 2Wire OfficePortal 180sw....it's a few years old and has worked fine until recently. I'm experiencing some random connection drops on all computers attached to this router.

Although I can't say for sure that the router is the root cause, I can say that this thing is a few years old and I would really like to buy something new. I can't think of a more perfect excuse to spend $$ on gear than a "problem" that causes my wife to lose her internet connection.

As I read through reviews on Newegg, etc.., I'm not really left with a good idea about what to buy to replace this router. Alot of these things seem to have mixed reviews.

Can anyone here recommend a replacement for me? I need a firewall/router that works with a cable modem, has wired and wireless capabilities, and is in the range of $0 to $300. I currently have no need to VPN to any other place, but that could always change soon (some of the reviews indicated problems with VPN to employer networks).

Thanks,

MS

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

hypnotoad

Cisco ASA 5505 is a pretty neat device if you're looking for something fun to play with.

Ha! First ASA post! I win!!!!

Edit: oops no wireless on that...nevermind

Turgon

eMeS wrote:

I currently have a 2Wire OfficePortal 180sw....it's a few years old and has worked fine until recently. I'm experiencing some random connection drops on all computers attached to this router.

Although I can't say for sure that the router is the root cause, I can say that this thing is a few years old and I would really like to buy something new. I can't think of a more perfect excuse to spend $$ on gear than a "problem" that causes my wife to lose her internet connection.

As I read through reviews on Newegg, etc.., I'm not really left with a good idea about what to buy to replace this router. Alot of these things seem to have mixed reviews.

Can anyone here recommend a replacement for me? I need a firewall/router that works with a cable modem, has wired and wireless capabilities, and is in the range of $0 to $300. I currently have no need to VPN to any other place, but that could always change soon (some of the reviews indicated problems with VPN to employer networks).

Thanks,

MS

I use a Netgear wireless router which works fine for me although it's aDSL not Cable Modem.

blargoe

I just got an ASA 5505 a couple of weeks ago, it's pretty sweet. For the wireless, I'm still using the old linksys wireless router as an access point on my home lan for now.

I got it for under $400 on sale at newegg. I haven't had a lot of time to play around with it, but I'm going to mess with it both for self training and to familiarize with it so I can sell it to my customer.

eMeS

I checked on the 5505...I like it but I would prefer to have one box with both wired and wireless in the same unit.

Having it like this means that when I am out of town and the internet stops working, my wife will have fewer things that she can break. If you guys knew my wife you'd understand that this is an important requirement....

MS

blargoe

I'll probably wish I did the same thing once my wife gets wireless... she gets confused enough having the cable modem next to the router.

liven

I would have to say that the new Linksys wifi routers are pretty nice for home use.

they have 4 port switch built in, and a lot of wifi security features (mac filtering, wpa2 and other versions of wpa, no broadcasting of ssid).

They have firewalls built in and lots of other features. They are not that expensive either.

I have deployed them at several customer sites and at my parents home (that should give you an idea that your wife could handle rebooting it).

I am sure netgear has something comparable, but I have not purchased or installed any of their newer stuff. I do use netgear myself, but just for wifi. Routing and firewall and inet connectivity are other devices.

liven

I forgot to mention that the linksys works fine with cable or DSL. Chances are you have cat5 or cat6 coming out of your cable modem which will connect directly to your new router, which means that most manufactures gear will work (you probably already know this, so forgive me if you do).

But just in case you were wondering I have installed several different linksys with cable connections and they work perfectly.

undomiel

Having gone through several Linksys routers over here I have had nothing but troubles with them. They would drop wireless signal right and left, they'd have issues with bittorrent running on them, they would even lock-up sometimes and need a hard reboot. After I got several RMAs for the router I kicked it to storage and put in a Buffalo router. Works great, is friendly to alternative firmwares, and I haven't had a single issue with it. I can't comment on Buffalo's support since I haven't had to talk to them but Linksys' support is definitely based out of India just in case you have issues with accents. They are also very pedantic about going through every tiny step in the troubleshooting book whether it is related or not. So I didn't enjoy my experience with them very much. I've had no issues with their wireless cards though, they've worked great for me, I just shy away from Linksys routers now. So Buffalo would be my brand recommendation over here.