I'm moving into a new apartment June 4th and I've gotta pick up a new router. So what should I buy? Budget is whatever, but cheaper is better. What's the bang for your buck router right now?

I only need coverage across a small house... figure, 50x50 feet on the same floor is way more than enough.

It's just a one bedroom...

Try the d-link draft n routers, they are nice.

...

I have a Linksys WRT54GL here, with dd-wrt (v23) running on it, and I'm very pleased with it. I can change the output power to increase coverage which is nice, however at the normal levels it covers our 210m^2 house without any issues.

It's also been very reliable, haven't actually had to reset it for any reason yet, it's only ever been reset to single out a network problem in other equipment.

The wireless portion of it has never dropped a connection on me either.

Overall I'm very happy with it.

The nextdoor neighbor asked me to make a network between his three PCs in the house. He already bought this router (WRT-54G). What are the benefits of that other firmware, if any?

There are far more options, quite a few of them are advanced options not necessary for the home, but neat none the less. There are also some third party software options to install (other firewalls, etc).

I've been reading up on dd-wrt for a while and thinking that I may want a WRT54G but just checking as it is slight more expensive than other routers I know of that are working perfectly well...

I'm considering just using MAC filtering for security, seeing as only my laptop and desktop are using it...

I see. Thanks a lot. I guess I won't bother unless something goes wrong with his router, or I get too bored


Extreme Coder

That's a good plan. I occasionally use some of the extra features, but for most people they are far from necessary.

Being able to adjust the power output is a big deal, though, and that alone was enough to make me want to try dd-wrt.

So this one would work under Ubuntu?
Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router - Wal-Mart

I hope so, as this is the one I'm likely to be presented when the promised broadband comes.

I'd say... *drum roll* Yes!

Heh, good.
Fear/paranoia mainly why I asked. That particular model's box in store has "Optimized for XP" written all over it. Then, a friend that works in the electronics department had to add "Works under Vista" stickers to the lot just recently.

That's the cheapest model available here, so I have a 97% chance of getting it regardless. I'm also getting more and more fed up with Windows and very likely to completely ditch it very soon.

That router will work fine with Ubuntu (I have one, probably an earlier version, but every version will work fine with Linux computers).

MAC filtering is a very weak type of security, it takes a second to change the MAC to a working one. WPA, or better WPA2 are the only "secure" methods nowadays, if you really want security... (i use mac too, along with broadcast disabled)

to routers, i believe all work in ubuntu, its the wireless card that can make problems...