My venerable Netgear DG834G wifi router / adsl modem has suddenly decided to cease functioning.
(Luckily I spotted that was the problem before a BT Engineer came to the house and charged me £240!)

So I’m in the market for a new one.

Needs to work with older ADSL1 lines, have good range, preferably dual-band, gigabit ethernet, WPA-PSK, preferably no frivolous “driver/monitor” software. Compatible with PS2, Wii, iPhones and iPads.

Any thoughts from the hive?

Wow.. never thought I’d struggle for IT advice on here 😀

For the record I am looking myself.

The Netgear N600 is the obvious replacement:

But PC Pro and other reviews warn that it is a bit sucky on ADSL1 lines, which is a shame.

The Belkin N600 is a contender, but it doesn’t have gigabit ethernet.

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/wireless-routers/1285564/netgear-n600-wireless-dual-band-gigabit-adsl2-modem-router

I have and use a lot of the Netgear stuff, expensive but they work well.

So I dont think you will go wrong with Netgear hardware.

The best I’ve used is the Billion 7800n. Not cheap but if you’re a tinkerer, or have high attenuation on the line this one can be tuned to get the max out of it. Netgear routers have always been flaky in my experience, though hacked firmware like DGteam’s can improve it (an 834n).

I like Vigor routers. I don’t have one right now. I miss it 🙁

So I dont think you will go wrong with Netgear hardware.

Yeah, the hardware is good but not so sure about their software.

They STILL haven’t produced working 64-bit drivers for my WG311 wireless card.

And for that router the PC Pro review says “..the router does not work reliably with older ADSL 1 type connections. Despite a recent firmware update from Netgear, it still doesn’t…We can’t recommend it for anyone on an older ADSL 1 connection, which is disappointing”

🙁

Billion BIPAC 7800n.

It was also recommended in this thread, and was bought by the OP.

I’ve had mine for two and a bit years, and it’s been fantastic, rock solid.

whats wrong with your current router?

Firmware upgrade might well kick it in to gear again – i’m a bit of a DD-WRT evangelist 😀

whats wrong with your current router?

Completely failing to Sync on the ADSL line. Doesn’t even try when I start it. If I force it to try and connect then the logs just repeatedly report “Initialize LCP.”, “LCP is allowed to come up”

Tried a full factory reset etc but I suspect it is probably hardware.

It has been absolutely rock solid for about a decade, but it is so old now that even the plastic is getting brittle so I’m not surprised it has died.

Maybe you’d get more replies if you opened up the question to include normal people rather than just self confessed IT Geeks?

Pfffft.. what do normal people know about ADSL routers? 😀

I was actually hoping to hook Cougar 😉

Do Apple not make one?

TBH,

It’s been so long since I last bought a home router that I’ve no idea what’s on the market these days. Amusingly, the last one I bought was a DG834 as well, I think.

Many home DSL connections come with ISP-provided routers these days, so there’s less of a need to buy a third party one; some providers actually lock you in to their device and don’t let you change – Sky do this, but it’s easily bypassed.

I’d be half tempted to suggest changing providers and getting a router bundled, if that’s an option.

Billion BIPAC 7800n

Strongly recommended.

Expensive – bought in frustration after continuous problems with a Netgear router. Good wireless strength

I’m going to buy a Billion Bipac 7800N

Where’s best to get one from :-)??

Do Apple not make one?

😀 I wouldn’t touch it if they did. Router is something I want to be able to configure to my own needs, not Apples.

I’d be half tempted to suggest changing providers and getting a router bundled, if that’s an option.

I’m with Zen at the moment. No bundled router, not tied to any particular hardware.
Expensive (£25pm) but rock solid connection, practically zero downtime and good support (they’ve called me every day since I reported I was having issues – they won’t close the ticket till they know I have a new modem and it is all sorted).

Besides I want to buy a router tonight and get it sorted – I’ve got a new iPad sat at home that is basically just a shiny table mat until I get wifi again 😀

TP-Link TD-W8960N works for me (35 quid)

Lots of positive reviews on Amazon.

Billion BIPAC 7800n

Hmmm.. that seems to be making a lot of friends, but the reviews (aside from Amazon) seem a bit so so.

What’s good about it? (apart from the retro 80’s PC beige styling)

I were with Zen for a while. I jumped ship when I could get a better DSL package plus satellite TV for £2/month more than I was paying just for ADSL with Zen. I was sad to see them go though, they were an excellent company to deal with.

Getting iPhone in the house was the final nail for the Netgear router -wireless strength was too variable room to room.

I’m with Zen at the moment. No bundled router, not tied to any particular hardware.

Same here – excellent customer service as has been mentioned already.

TP-Link TD-W8960N works for me (35 quid)

Been using one of these for a year. Have had to reboot it virtually every day for the last few weeks. Unsure what’s going wrong but at least it’s back up n running within a minute or so.

Draytek Vigors – the industry standard.

Trust me, these things are rock solid.

(apart from the retro 80’s PC beige styling)

I suspect that is part of the reason ours has been reliable – lots of cooling slots in the case.

The old Netgear router used to get very hot – the case appeared designed for style rather than function. We had to turn it off between uses – it would get too hot and the ethernet connections would start dropping out.

As above, signal strength on the Netgear was frustrating as well. didn’t really matter with the laptop, because it only got used in a few locations. Desire to use the iPhone all around the house required more reliable wireless. I know it depends on house size, wall construction etc, so YMMV, but in our house the BiPAC give much more consisten and reliable wireless coverage.

Neil_Bolton – Member

Draytek Vigors – the industry standard.

Trust me, these things are rock solid.

Good hardware, but crap firmware often fixing one bug introducing 3 new ones. Memory leaks, firewall rules deactivating, VPN dropping. PITA.

Hmm interesting rkk01 ta.

Desire to use the iPhone all around the house required more reliable wireless…YMMV

I think you might have a bigger house than me! 😳

My old Netgear covered the house, garden and even outside in the car – and it was only 802.11g, not any of yer fancy dual-band “n” cleverness. 😀

Graham,

If you want the same device again, 99% sure I have an unused DG834G at home. If you hold off buying until just after 6pm, I can confirm then.

I think you might have a bigger house than me!

It’s not 2 up 2 down, but it’s no mansion… Standard modern 3.5 bed, flimsy walled construction.

I should probably add, overheating and ethernet port drop out seemed to be a common fault on the Netgear DGN2000. Didn’t come up on reviews / searches when we purchased, but by the time we were having probs, the net had many similar reports.

this issue may well have been fixed on the newer model(s)

What’s good about it?

Well, one of the things I like is that you can tweak the SNR (procedure detailed about 2/3rds of the way down the page). Doing so doubled my speed from 3 to 6 whatever’s. Broadband provided by Zen.

Markie – Thanks for posting that. Time for a firmware update, and a fiddle with the settings, methinks 😉

If you want the same device again, 99% sure I have an unused DG834G at home. If you hold off buying until just after 6pm, I can confirm then.

Ooooh nice one! YGM.

All this new router tech sounds terribly exciting, but it is all £100+ and won’t make any odds to the connection speed on my old ADSL Max line.

For the record though, that Billion 7800n also gets some cracking reviews here: http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/Reviews.asp?ProductID=8074

834g netgear – solid and reliable.

BT home hub is actually pretty good, you can by it separately for about £30
If not then Cisco / Linksys or Draytek

I’ve had ADSL filters die on me – can you swap that out to test?

Have you got other stuff plugged into the phone line – we have one Bonko phone that stops the Draytek from syncing?

You haven’t been “upgraded” to adsl2 on the quiet or has your provider maybe changed the line settings? Assuming you can get this info.

Thanks BaronVonP7, but tried all that.

Plugged the router straight into the BT Master Socket, tried two different filters and two RJ11 cables.

Tried my router on a neighbours line and it fails. tried hers on mine and it syncs and authorises with the bt_test_user@startup_domain account.

Zen and BT made no mention of line changes.

So I’m pretty sure it’s just the hardware.

Sounds like I’m going to get another DG834 from LabWormy so I’ll know for definite then 😀