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Does a router affect your internet speed? Also, what to look for.

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DareMe55

Member
Joined
May 22, 2007
Well my router is years old and so is the firmware, and its falling apart. Literally, like the cover of the router is coming off. My questions are, does a good/bad router actually affect your internet connect? How fast/slow your downloads are? And what should I look for in buying a router? Im looking for a decent/great router to upgrade too. maybe 50-130$? I have a linksys now
 
Connect your modem directly to your PC and you will see if the router is affecting your speed or not.
 
Well my router is years old and so is the firmware, and its falling apart. Literally, like the cover of the router is coming off. My questions are, does a good/bad router actually affect your internet connect? How fast/slow your downloads are? And what should I look for in buying a router? Im looking for a decent/great router to upgrade too. maybe 50-130$? I have a linksys now

You didn't say how fast your Internet service is. There's an increasing spread in the available Internet speeds, and of course if you're on an entry-level "lite" service, most routers will be able to handle the speed without bottlenecking, but if you're on a very high end service, many consumer routers will not. That said, most people fall somewhere in the middle, and most modern routers can handle that just fine.

Another thing to consider is that, based on the lifetime of your last router, the next router may last a long time, and into the next couple of bumps in Internet speed in your area, perhaps.

See SmallNetBuilder for their router charts and reviews. Their reviews tend to focus on wireless issues, but also have some WAN-LAN and maximum connections measurements which are useful.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_chart
 
You didn't say how fast your Internet service is. There's an increasing spread in the available Internet speeds, and of course if you're on an entry-level "lite" service, most routers will be able to handle the speed without bottlenecking, but if you're on a very high end service, many consumer routers will not. That said, most people fall somewhere in the middle, and most modern routers can handle that just fine.

Another thing to consider is that, based on the lifetime of your last router, the next router may last a long time, and into the next couple of bumps in Internet speed in your area, perhaps.

See SmallNetBuilder for their router charts and reviews. Their reviews tend to focus on wireless issues, but also have some WAN-LAN and maximum connections measurements which are useful.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/component/option,com_chart



Sorry, I use

FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0
6 Mbps/512 Kbps
Maximum Downstream/Upstream
 
does a good/bad router actually affect your internet connect?
Only if my network traffic routes through it.

How fast/slow your downloads are?
Currently, I am transitioning Internet packages and I am getting about 1.5 Mbps downstream and about 512 Kbps upstream. I should soon have about seven times faster service.

And what should I look for in buying a router?
The quality, features, and prices of the potential router selections.

Im looking for a decent/great router to upgrade too. maybe 50-130$? I have a linksys now
The price range seems fine.

For home or few computer small business use, I would recommend the Cisco Linksys WRT320N. I have been using WRT320N Version 1.0 with firmware version 1.0.02 build 6 and have been quite satisfied by it.

The device is currently available at $99.99 USD at NewEgg.com. The price at NewEgg.com is expected to rise after today's (June 14, 2009) end:
 
Last edited:
FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0
6 Mbps/512 Kbps
Maximum Downstream/Upstream

This should be no challenge for even a 5 year old router design, e.g. the WRT54GL or variants. If you have more than one modern wired computer and tend to do some file large transfers among them, I'd recommend going to gigabit, which can be combined with a router purchase.

As mage_x said, you could test your speed, comparing the performance directly wired to the modem vs. through the router using speedtest.net for example to see if it's making a material difference. Odds are it isn't, and that your existing router is technically fine despite the cover. If it's an older Linksys WRT54G series for example, you might even try loading it with Tomato firmware to give it some new life, or to convert its role to a wireless bridge.

If you want to upgrade, the D-Link DIR-655 is a successful router, with a lineage going back to the popular DGL-4300, but with more modern internals and wireless. The DIR-825 is similar, but gives you more flexibility with simultaneous dual-band wireless if that might matter to you down the road. The choice between these two are really about your wireless needs. SmallNetBuilder is a good source for router information, and the rest of it depends on your specific network layout and interests.
 
It's also about onboard ethernet card.

Weird as it may sound, my onboard realtek ethernet nic can't compete with my Edimax USB (super cheap) wireless adapter in terms of ping/lag in games.

In WoW, ethernet gives me 200 ms & Slow response, and Wireless gives me 100ms & faster response. Maybe its my Airties router can't keep up with ethernet but dunno how to test the difference.
 
from what i have been told routs are the worst thing ever for gaming i do not know i dont use a router i never have but i know a few people that say even the most high dollar routers that claim there the best thing ever still have packet loss in games like in an fps game you may have to shoot a person 10 - 15 times when it should only take 5 bullets to kill them. i have this problem also but it is due to my pc being to old to run the games the game i use to play was warrock and this happend to me after 1 of there gigantic patches and the FPS i was getting went from around 25 to 10 and my pc just could not handle the new graphics and it was causing my entire system to lag inclding my internet little did i know that this was teaching me to be a better shooter because it caused me to start aiming for head shots 100% of the time(only takes 1 - 2 bullets to kill) instead of aiming at there chest and having to jump and flop and run zig and zag and all kinds of other crap that would cuase me to get killed from having to try and hit them with 10 or so bullets int he chest when it should only take 5 to 6 and BTW

DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO PLAY WARROCK IT IS NOw OVER LOADED WITH HACKERS OF THE WORST KIND IN EVERY MAP EVERY GAME EVERY MINUTE ON EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK lol and i aint just sayin that its true and if you have ever run into invisible people you know how bad that sucks well thats all that game is its owned and unplayable unless you are the kind of person to go and use keylogged/trojaned hacks that also steal your cd keys then it might be fun for you
 
hi can anyone tell if i connect my computer to the hub with a lead the speed checker says that my download speed is 19 m/s but when using wirless its 0.587 , is my hub broke???
 
"My questions are, does a good/bad router actually affect your internet connect? How fast/slow your downloads are? And what should I look for in buying a router? Im looking for a decent/great router to upgrade too."

From my experience, it absolutely makes a difference having a top of the line router. For me it was a pain sifting through all the information to find the best dual band router I could. Eventually I settled into a nice Asus and couldn't be happier.
 
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