Budget Wireless Routers

New Linksys router delivers high performance at a low price

Experts say budget routers are a minefield: Manufacturers cut costs by slipping in inferior technology and then slapping an N onto the name, so you're fooled into thinking you're getting true Wireless-N.

But the new Linksys WRT400N (*Est. $115) really is solid technology at a budget price, reviews say. It's got the two things experts say you should look for -- Wireless-N and simultaneous dual-band, two-radio capability -- just like the very best routers on the market, only the Linksys WRT400N costs about $50 less.

The Linksys WRT400N cuts costs by omitting the Gigabit Ethernet switch you'll find on top routers. It substitutes 10/100 Fast Ethernet, an older technology that's theoretically a lot slower than GbE. In fact, the Linksys WRT400N achieves "decent" speeds in a test at CNET, and actually beats the top-of-the-line, GbE-equipped Linksys WRT610N (*Est. $165) in a speed test at SmallNetBuilder.com -- "Which goes to show that just because a router has a gigabit switch, it isn't necessarily faster," tester Tim Higgins concludes.

The Linksys WRT400N also lacks a USB port, so you won't be able to share an external hard drive on your network. Otherwise, it looks exactly like the flagship Linksys WRT610N, with a compact, rounded case that critics say will look good if it has to sit in your living room. This new model has accumulated only about 35 reviews combined at Amazon.com and Newegg.com, but so far owners generally like it.

D-Link's attempt at the same product -- a budget-priced, simultaneous dual-band, dual-radio Wireless N router -- lags behind the Linksys version in reviews. The D-Link DIR-825 (*Est. $125) earns Editors' Choice awards at both PCMag.com and Laptop Magazine, although it loses a speed test at SmallNetBuilder.com to the Linksys WRT610N (which is in turn beaten by the Linksys WRT400N). But the real problem is its customer reviews: owner after owner at Amazon.com complains that the D-Link DIR-825 constantly drops their Internet connection.

Single-band Wireless-N routers cost less, but performance drops

The best budget router, the Linksys WRT400N, can operate on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands simultaneously. This makes for less interference from cordless phones, baby monitors, microwave ovens and your neighbors' networks -- and that means fewer dropped connections.

But that's new and unusual in the budget category. Most inexpensive routers still operate on the 2.4 GHz band only. You'll still find plenty of reviews recommending these single-band routers, but owners aren't as happy with their performance.

For example, the Buffalo Nfiniti WZR-HP-G300NH (*Est. $100) earns praise at SmallNetBuilder.com for its unusually strong transmitting power, which makes it perform well in weak-signal spots in a house. It includes GbE and USB external hard drive sharing, but owners repeatedly complain of bugs, dropped connections and unhelpful tech support.

We found similar complaints for the D-Link DIR-655 (*Est. $95), an older single-band router that was once the critics' favorite. It has traditionally enjoyed solid ratings from hundreds of owners, but recently some are reporting that they upgraded the firmware and it caused all kinds of bugs and unstable connections. The cheaper D-Link DIR-615 (*Est. $45) is the least expensive Wireless-N router you can buy, with one less antenna than the D-Link DIR-655 and no GbE -- "but you'll hardly notice," Laptop Magazine says. Owners disagree, with plenty giving it the lowest ratings at Newegg.com, a site that attracts tech-savvy customers.

The Belkin N1 Vision (*Est. $115) costs as much as the top-rated Linksys WRT400N, even though the Belkin is only a single-band router. It adds a showy feature -- a screen that displays your broadband speed, whether someone's piggybacking on your network, etc. -- but several owners report performance problems. The Belkin N+ (*Est. $75) likewise earns some nods in professional reviews, but it gets too many bad owner reviews to be a top pick.

Wireless-G: Some owners stick with the older technology

Manufacturers have discontinued most 802.11g wireless router models and replaced them with Wireless-N routers, which reviews say are much faster, but nowhere near as fast as first claimed. However, you'll still find plenty of Wireless-G models for sale, and consumers have two very good reasons for considering them.

First, although Wireless-N routers have come down in price, a really good Wireless-N router still costs about twice as much as a really good Wireless-G router. Second, if you have old computers and equipment that are compatible with Wireless-G only, a Wireless-N router -- although technically backwards-compatible -- won't speed up your network and may actually cause problems. In that case, "if your G router has given up the ghost and you need to get a new wireless router, I'd shop for another G router vs. messing around with N," writes SmallNetBuilder.com's Tim Higgins in his summer 2009 buying guide.

The venerable Linksys WRT54G-series router is revered by owners at Amazon.com and Newegg.com, where hundreds of reviews describe it as "stable" and "solid." The series has been on the market for years, and owners say the latest version, the Linksys WRT54GL (*Est. $55) works fine right out of the box. It includes a four-port Fast Ethernet switch and up-to-date encryption and firewall protection.

But owners really love it because it's the "most hackable of routers," as Eric Griffith of PCMag.com puts it. Unlike most routers, the Linksys WRT54GL is based on Linux -- so Linksys had to open source the model's firmware by law. As soon as developers got their hands on the code, they came up with all kinds of replacement firmware that you can download to make the Linksys WRT54GL perform better and do all kinds of extra things -- advanced QoS (quality of service), access restrictions, bandwidth usage monitoring, etc. When shopping for this router, be sure the model name has an L at the end - Linksys also offers a non-hackable version, the Linksys WRT54G (*Est. $55).

Linksys supports only its official firmware, so if you change it and run into problems, "you'll be on your own," Wi-FiPlanet.com points out. "On the other hand, if adding enterprise features to a $60 router sounds worth the minimal risk, you don't need any special hacker skills to get there."