Wireless Router Review

Comparing reviews of wireless routers

Wireless router technology has advanced quite a bit in recent months, but a lot of review sources haven't kept up. For example, ConsumerReports.org hasn't tested wireless routers since 2007, and its report is filled with old models and outmoded technology.

Computer magazines and websites do a better job. The best ones test routers in home-like lab setups and/or real homes. SmallNetBuilder.com, a website dedicated to small networks, conducts superb comparison tests on the latest wireless routers -- but its reviews can get very technical. PCMag.com also tests a lot of popular routers, and its write-ups are easier to digest.

Second-tier review sources conduct solid tests, but on fewer routers. They include major computer magazines (PC World, Laptop Magazine, Macworld) and tech sites (CNET and Government Computer News). For the final judgment, owner reviews at Amazon.com and Newegg.com are vital. Owners aren't experts, but some of these routers get hundreds of reviews -- and if dozens of people say a router has lousy range or won't hold a connection, you'll probably want to skip that router.

The big news in wireless routers is that after six years, the 802.11n Wireless-N standard has been finalized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Nothing has changed about the technology -- if you own a Draft 802.11n router, it's the same as the final standard -- but experts say older technologies like Wireless-G will fade away now. See our section on wireless router basics for more.

Watch out for so-called N150 or "N Lite" routers: Experts say these confusingly-named budget routers make you think you're getting 802.11n technology when you're not.

"Do not buy...; these are a marketing experiment aimed at luring unsuspecting shoppers who think they are buying something that will make their G devices work faster and/or go farther (they will do neither)," says Tim Higgins at SmallNetBuilder.com. "They are pitched as cheaper alternatives to real N routers, but in the end they aren't a good deal."

These routers are not 802.11n-certified. They support only 150 megabits per second maximum data link (less in real life) -- half that of a real Wireless-N router. In The New York Times, Yardena Arar warns against the Belkin N150 (*Est. $40) and the Linksys WRT110 (*Est. $50). Higgins includes those on his "Do Not Buy" list, along with the Netgear WNR1000 (*Est. $60), D-Link DIR-600 (*Est. $40) and Linksys WRT120N (*Est. $60). That last one is "particularly bad, since it is named 'Wireless-N Home Router' with no mention in its marketing material of its 150 Mbps maximum 'speed," Higgins says.