Background: I’ve been working repairing and upgrading computers for 15 years, and I work online about 12 or more hours per day from my home office. We have a 16 mbit connection to the web, and there are 3 computers, 3 laptops, one netbook, an entertainment PC, an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and various portable devices connected to the Internet. The router is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment in the entire house, since the Internet is in constant use.

I have used Linksys routers for years. It’s probably force of habit since I worked in corporate IT for 10 years, and that’s always what was used at work, and it’s what you see in all the big box stores. In addition – the company is owned by Cisco – a known industry networking leader.

Years ago I had a Linksys Wireless B router. It worked great, but was too slow. I bought a Microsoft wireless G router online in some clearance sale for $25, and we used that for almost 5 years with no issues. Microsoft no longer makes routers. About a year ago it got to the point where we were having to reset the MS router multiple times per day – so I broke down and bought the Linksys WRT54G wireless G router. It lasted about one year before it died. By “died”, I mean – all the lights won’t even come on anymore.

I usually exclusively buy all my electronics and gadgets online. I haven’t bought anything like that in a big box store like Wal-Mart, Staples, Best But, etc. – in years. My wife and I were out and about shopping when my son called and said the router died. He’s going to school for networking, so when he said it was “dead”, I knew it was. The way we use the Internet – I knew that I had to buy a new router while I was out, or there would be no web access when I returned home.

Grudgingly, I went to Staples because I live in a small town, and I knew they would have the most routers on hand. Since the Linksys WRT54G died after just one year, I knew I didn’t want another Linksys. I also knew that NetGear is usually the bottom of the barrel, so the thought was “let’s try Belkin!”. I bought the best router they have, the Play Max dual band Wireless N router – and as you read in my last review, it was the worst wireless N router money can buy. It was horrible, every page online took 3-5 seconds to load, some never loaded – the router had to be reset all the time, it was complete and utter garbage. My son actually read online at the Belkin web site in their FAQ’s that they recommend rebooting the router every 4 hours for “optimal usage” – WTF is that? When the company making the router says you have to reboot it 6 times a day for best use – you KNOW it’s crap!

How to Pick the best Wireless N Router

If you’re not very technical (or even if you are), I’m going to give you some things you should be looking for when buying a router.

DOES THE ROUTER HAVE…

- are the antennas internal or external? (external are of course better)
- how many antennas does the router have?
- what is the speed of the processor?
- how much memory does it have?
- how much flash memory does it have?
- does it have external connectivity for USB storage and printers?

You may not have thought about it this way – but a router is a miniature computer. It has a CPU, and it has memory. Now – think about this for a second – that means that the more CPU power it has, and the more memory it has, the faster it’s going to work. So you’re not only looking for the wireless N router with the best features, you’re looking for the one with the most POWER.

Comparing Wireless N Routers

Belkin Play Max
- antennas: internal
- CPU: info not found anywhere
- Memory: tech sites list as 64MB
- Flash Memory: tech sites list it as 8MB
- external support: print and USB storage

Linksys WRT320N
- antennas: internal
- CPU: BCM4717A 354MHz
- Memory: 32MB
- Flash Memory: 8MB
- external support: NO

*Note: regardless of pricepoint, antenna, and external support – nearly all Linksys wireless N routers seem to have 32MB memory, 8MB flash, and smaller CPI

NetGear RangeMax
- antennas: internal
- CPU: 680 MHz 32-bit processor
- Memory: 64MB
- Flash Memory: 8MB
- external support: print and USB storage

D-Link Xtreme
- antennas: 3 external
- CPU: 275 Mhz
- Memory: 16MB
- Flash Memory: 4MB
- external support: print and USB storage

Asus RT-N16
- antennas: 3 external
- CPU: Broadcom BCM4718 533MHZ
- Memory: 128MB
- Flash Memory: 32MB
- external support: print and USB storage

My Choice for Best Wireless N Router

If you go buy specs above from the list above, it’s very plain that as far as CPU and memory horsepower, the D-Link is the bottom of the barrel. The next worst would be Linksys. The NetGear has the most powerful processor, but only by a hare (533Mhz vs. 680 Mhz). The Asus has double the memory, and 4 times as much the flash memory. Also – the Asus has 3 external antennas

For those of you who have never heard of the ASUS company (AsusTek), they are primarily known for making motherboards for computers. Those of us that have been building computers for years know that name well, because ASUS has not only always meant quality – but they have long since been the “Cadillac” of motherboard makers. Most “tech guys” know the ASUS name from parts we buy online – again, not a name you would normally see in the “big box” stores.

We purchased the Asus RT-N16 Wireless N router based on the specs above, but also because of the 4-5 star reviews on nearly every site we could find a review on. We paid about $90US, and had it shipped overnight via Amazon Prime.

This is a pic of the router:

When I received the router – I took it out of the box and connected it to my cable modem, and my main computer via hardwire. I brought up the management interface at http://192.168.1.1/. The first thing you need to do is turn off your router while you plugin everything in (remove the battery if it has battery backup – like the comcast routers with VOIP phones). Then turn the cable modem on first, 30 seconds later turn on the router, and then bring up the management interface. I believe the only tweak we really made, was to turn the firewall off. We used WPA2-Personal with a network key, and seconds later – we were up and running!

The difference between our Linksys wireless G, the Belkin Playmax, and the Asus RT-N16 was astounding. With the extra memory and flash (and bigger processer) – web pages load like lightning! After you type a URL and hit enter, just say “BAM!” as fast as you can, and the web page is already loaded.

Now you may think that it’s just this fast from my hard wired computer, but loading YouTube videos and flash-laden pages from a 7 year old 1.0 Ghz Pentium III with 512MB Ram and 40GB hard drive, with a USB Wireless N adapter is just about as fast as the hard wired computer. It’s fast as hell!

This is the fastest router I’ve owned, setup was effortless, and it has the most external antennas and largest horsepower of any wireless N router I could find. I know that wireless N has a broader range, but when I had the Belkin Play Max installed (upstairs), my devices downstairs were connecting to the network with only 1 or 2 bars (out of 5, even though it was wireless N). My ASUS RT-N16 has had consistent 5 bar connections with EVERY device in my home since I installed it from day 1. That’s the best wifi connection hotspot I’ve ever had installed anywhere (and I’ve setup dozens of routers for family, friends, and clients). From now on – Asus is the only wireless router I will buy.

If you like the specs and want to try the ASUS RT-N16, you can buy it on Amazon here:

You can also find it new or used on eBay:

ASUS RT-N16 Wireless N Router/Printer Server
	USD / 105.00 (11 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-02 05:54:04

ASUS RT-N16 Wireless Router N /w Printer Server/P2P/BT
	USD 125.99 (3 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-05 03:51:02

Asus RT-N16 Gigabit Wireless Router w/ USB Storage &
	USD 91.51 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-06 00:20:55

ASUS (RT-N16) Wireless Router
	USD 75.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-04 20:48:14

Originally submitted at Staples

Dual-Band N technology gives you the fastest, most reliable speeds for video, music and gaming Dual-plane antennas and MIMO technology provides the best coverage for demanding home usage MIMO technology provides maximum coverage for demanding home usage Security settings are preset to get you up an…

Belkin Play Max Wireless-N Router

Worst Router EVER MADE!!

Pros: none

Cons: GArbage, Unreliable, Slow

Best Uses: none

Describe Yourself: High bandwidth user

Primary use: Business

The Belkin Play Max router is the worst router ever made. I have been repairing and fixing computers for 15 years, so my experience level is advanced – and I’ve owned a half dozen routers and setup hundreds of networks. I purchased this router to try and get away from my linksys for once, since my last router died after only a year.

The setup is awful on this router, as it has an internal firewall that is “on” by default (slowing all traffic). You would think that this wireless N router is wireless b with that thing on (even through a wired connection it’s slow). When you unplug it for 15 seconds or more, it seems to forget it’s WPA password, and WPS is on by default also.

Even once I got this router setup the way that I wanted, it’s slower than all bejeezus. It’s constantly dropping packets, browsers connected directly via hardwire say “resolving host” and take 5 seconds to bring up things like google and eBay.

This router is the worst piece of garbage I’ve ever owned, and the 3 days I used it (before returning it) were the worst Internet usage days of my life since dialup. Goodbye Belkin router – I will never buy your products again…

(legalese)

I found out that my pussy cat could now tweet in this article: Sony Makes cat lifeblogging device. WTF, a collar for that cat that can tweet 11 things? It has an acceleration sensor that can tell you when the cat is running, walking, eating, sleeping. Are our lives actually that disinteresting that we are self-absorbed into this nonsense? What’s next an underwear tweeter that says my 4 year olds peeing, or one that tweets my grandmother has fallen and can’t get up?

I’d like one that tweets me when I’m wasting too much time please!

Enter the FreeAgent Theater + HD Media player! You can get this thing for under $200 (sometimes under $100 if you don’t need the 500GB storage). What this little box does is allow you to move all your music, pictures, and movies from your computer (laptop or desktop) to your TV. No more having to store crap on your xBox 360 or Playstation 3. The media player has a dock for a 250GB or 500GB external hard drive. You also get a separate docking station to connect the drive to your computer. If you have a Windows or Mac based PC the included software will automatically copy your media to the drive. If you run Linux – you have to copy your own s**t to the drive. In either event, plug the drive back into the bay on the media player and voila! You have your content from your PC to the TV!

The media player will to 1080i and Dolby 5.1 playback. You get a remote in the box, and there’s a front USB jack if you want to plugin in a USB stick, digital camera, or camcorder. Connect to your PC with a composite cable or HDMI if you prefer (or S-video and audio jacks). It does play in NTSC and PAL – and it doesn’t say so on the Amazon page, but if you reference the Seagate web site you’ll see that it does play MPC, AAC, WAV, OGG, WMA (window media), JPG’s, subtitles, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (which means AVI (windows), VOB, ISO), and MPEG-4 (which means both DivX and Xvid).

So download movie clips, trailers, rip DVD’s, record streaming video – move it all to the external drive, and watch them all on your PC without ever having to burn another damn DVD or CD! That’s why we bought it (lol)!

check out the FreeAgent Theater price at Amazon:

cheeck out the FreeAgent Theater price on eBay, I’ve seen it for as little as $50-$100, and many of them have the external drive included!

Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player STCEA101-RK
	USD 39.00 (0 Bid) End time: 2010-07-31 00:00:02

Brand New Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player
	USD 42.54 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-03 08:16:36

Seagate Retail FreeAgent Theater
	USD 40.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-01 00:26:23

Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD1080
	USD 20.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-01 00:03:47

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

First, let’s talk about what a Solid State hard Drive is. You get the definitive answer from Wikipedia of course. Let me give you some details from that Wikipedia entry:

A Solid State Drive, or SSD, has no moving parts. Think of it as a huge flash drive. Because it has no moving parts, it eliminates the seek time and latency of a traditional spinning disk hard drive – and it’s faster. So because you’ve eliminated electro-mechanical delay, you’ve also eliminated electro-mechanical failures. It’s not to say an SSD wont go out, but at least you know it can’t go out due to moving part failure.

A Solid State Drive is comprised of either Flash RAM or SDRAM. SDRAM SSD’s are “fast access”, and data access is less than 0.01ms (250 times faster than the fastest hard drive in 2004). SDRAM SSD’s have an internal battery, and if the power goes out, whatever is in memory (RAM) can be copied to disk. There’s a distinct advantage over a spinning disk. Flash memory is slower than SDRAM, but because it’s more durable and rugged – it’s more widely used in SSD’s. Flash based SSD’s do not have a battery and use non-volatile memory.

SSD Pro’s:

• Faster startup and boot time
• Faster I/O (data access, see time)
• Longer lifetime (10 years of normal use)
• No moving parts
• Easy to ‘wipe’ clean
• Lower weight and size

SSD Con’s:

• Price ($8/GB compared to 0.25 cents/GB for spinning disk)
• Data possibly harder to recover with drive failuer vs. spinning disk
• Possibly affected by magnetic fields / static charges
• Slower random write speeds

Now, let’s give you a better perspective by sampling some information about SSD’s from across the net. Popular Mechanics calls the Solid State Drive the 3rd most Brilliant Gadget of 2007. They also mention the use of the term “solid state disk” as an oxymoronic term.

Tom’s Hardware reviewed the Solid State Drive 4 years ago, and one of the things that I noted was the fact that they said their test unit literally didn’t get hot at all and was virtually silent. In addition to being smaller than a traditional hard drive, it’s power consumption was way less than a spinning disk, and nearly nothing at all when not in use. These are definite distinct advantages that didn’t seem to come up in the Wikipedia article. I’ve had many computers in the past that had 3-4 hard drives installed, and they not only sounded like an airplane hangar – some of the drives would get very, very hot. SSD drives would definitely completely change that picture. They also mentioned that the drive could be used in nearly any environment, which I didn’t think about. Spinning disk would not work as well (or at all) in extreme heat or cold, but an SSD should. In this article you can view the performance graphs taken during testing showing how much faster and better performing the SSD was compared to 20-odd spinning disk hard drives.

So let’s recap what we’ve learned here…

• SSD Solid State Hard Drives boot faster than spinning disk drives
• SSD’s weigh less, don’t get hot, and use less energy than traditional HDD
• The SSD cost much more, but prices are coming down
• You see how well an SSD can function in a mobile situation – like a laptop or portable
• Solid State Drive’s are worse than traditional HDD is sustained data transfer – which means it’s not well suited for saving, moving, copying lots of large files or functioning in a constantly data intensive situation, like a database server
• SSD’s should last longer and be way less succeptible to failure than traditional HDD

If you’re considering getting a Solid State Drive:

• Can you justify the price vs. the benefit
• Are you better off waiting for prices to come down?
• Do you do data intensive work that is better suited to a traditional HDD?

Last – I’m going to provide you with some links so you can get current pricing on SDD Solid State Drive’s.

There are several Solid State Drive’s listed on Amazon:

Here are the most recent eBay auctions for solid state drives:

Intel X25-M Solid-State Drive 160GB New in Box
	USD 250.00 (28 Bids) End time: 2010-07-30 07:27:24

32 GB Solid State Drive Imation 2.5" Sata II M-Class
	USD 50.00 (4 Bids) End time: 2010-07-30 18:51:37

NIB 512GB Kingston SSD Solid State Drive HD 512 GB
	USD 810.00 (2 Bids) End time: 2010-07-30 19:21:18

RiData solid state drive 16 GB mini PCIe (eee PC OK)
	USD 40.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-07-30 21:04:54

Do you own an SSD? Have an opinion about Solid State Drives?

Original Review

Last year in 2007 I remember when the Amazon Kindle was launched, and I thought “that’s kinda cool”. But it’s yet “another device” that does something you can already do on your mobile phone AND computer AND laptop! So, my first impression (back then) was that it was “cool” but not completely necessary. Now, let’s talk about what makes it viable as a gadget and why it’s becoming more popular.

The Amazon Kindle is an “eReader”. It’s meant for you to take it with you and read things, from novels and books, to newspapers and blogs. Battery life is long and it only needs a charge about every other day, and the screen is what they call “ePaper”. It’s not like your cellphone, laptop, or monitor screen – it has no glare (and it’s not backlit). It’s easy to read in any light, just like a book or newspaper.

Kindle has an “EVDO” connection just like the high speed connections of cell phones. This means that it’s “wireless”. The Kindle is different than other eReaders because it can get new content, download new books, or get fresh newspaper or blog content from RSS feeds “on the go” wherever you are. Don’t be fooled – you have to buy the books, but the “e” version is much cheaper. A latest New York Times best seller might be $26.99, but on Kindle it’s probably $9.99. Newspaper subscriptions cost money too, but with Kindle you can download the first few chapters of a book or read two weeks for free on a newspaper subscription before you pay anything. At least you can test drive before you pay. Magazines are available too like Time and Forbes.

You can’t exactly surf the web with Kindle, but one feature that is available is the ability to look anything up on Wikipedia. The included of the New Oxford American Dictionary could be very handy as well. It also has an annotation feature and bookmarking – so you can keep notes or keep track of where you were. One of the more controversial features are the RSS feeds. You can subscribe to any one of hundreds of RSS feeds (which are freely available on the web) for about $2 per month. Many people feel these should be completely free, as they are on the web. What they fail to realize is that kindle has no wireless charges at all – once you buy the unit there are no monthly fees. Your subscription fees basically cover the EVDO wireless access charges.

I didn’t even mention that it has an SD memory card slot, and that you can email documents to your Kindle for review, like pictures, PDF files, and Word docs. Now – it’s a tool you can use to review documents for school or work.

Here’s an Amazon Kindle review from a tech evangelist that has used many other eBook readers before he got the Kindle, this was his first review 12 hours after he got it.

Another Kindle video review:

I think that the Kindle could be one of the few gadgets you could give as a gift to people that are so “geeky” if you know what I mean. It’s easy to use, and Amazon has done a good job of taking away all the technological barriers away. It doesn’t have to be charged that often, and it never has to be connected to a computer or anything to work – it’s completely independent. This could actually be a really cool gift for Mom or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa. If you’re an avid reader or on the go a lot – the Kindle may be for you. There’s two ways to get one, and they are of course “new or used” Amazon Kindle’s. There are some for sale on eBay – check out these auctions.

US $169.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 19:22:18 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $41.79 End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 19:26:20 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $41.79 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $131.06 (25 Bids) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 19:34:10 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 20:06:43 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $6.99 End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 20:07:21 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $6.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $109.25 (13 Bids) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 20:22:30 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 20:29:40 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $0.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Thursday Jul-29-2010 20:34:36 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

In addition, you can buy one new directly from Amazon itself here:

I’ve waited for this day for a looong time. I literally just found this deal. What you’re looking at above in the pic is what I just bought on Buy.com, it’s a small computer in a box – a network storage server (NAS server). Literally, this is a mini computer with 512MB ram, a 1.6Ghz Celeron processor, and 250watt power supply. That’s not why I bought it though. This has 4 USB ports, a 100mbit Lan jack, and slots for both older ATA style drives, and newer Sata and eSata drives. Do you have any idea what this means?

I can plug this into my Wireless Linksys router in one of the 4 ports, and instantly every computer in my house can access this thing, my Ubuntu machines, Mac, PSP, Wii, PS3, our Xbox 360, even our Window XP, Vista, and Windows 7 machines (yes we have this much crap in our house). So, in this new Intel NAS Server I’m going to install my old 120GB ATA drive (from a machine that burned up), my new 750GB Hitatchi drive I just bought off woot.com, and then I’m going to plugin via USB my new 1.5 TB Seagate drive and 320GB myBook. Once I do this, every computer in the house will be able to access all these drives via the network!!!

Oh I forgot to mention the best part, this Intel NAS server only cost me $135 (and had FREE shipping)! Best find of the holiday season! Click here if you want one too.

The advantages of keep your current number do not need to be expressed, as most people have experienced the pain of getting an all new number, but if you get a new ‘Google number’ then you get several advantages that I personally took advantage of. First off you can set up call forwarding so that your Google number will ring to your cell, home or business phone number. Second you get FREE SMS (text) messaging, with all of them saved online (you can delete them if you so choose). Third you get several calling feature which either you pay extra for on your cell phone plan, or no not get at all. These features include blocking calls, record calls, conference calls and screening callers.

Now this may sound too good to be true, but I guarantee you it is NOT. All of your calls to anywhere in the United States are completely free. International calls will cost you but google does give you 10 cents free to make a international call. I can’t comment on the call quality of international calls as I don’t know many people out of the friendly confines of Michigan, but from the reviews I have read online the call quality is the same as it is from domestic calls, excellent.

Google rarely drops the ball and this is not one of those times. The call quality itself is enough to make you switch from your current VoIP provider, but add the fact that Google voice is nearly completely free and offers free text messaging make joining Google voice a literal no brain.

Can you get Dual Band Wireless N, both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz at the same time from one router? Is a dual band router twice as fast? Let’s find out!

Just about everyone who has multiple computers in their home have a wireless router. Most of those people bought theirs on a recommendation from [insert big box store here]. For most people these routers do their job and don’t give there “operator” any problems until it clunks out and you buy a new one. Well why not get educated on the new guy in the router game, IEEE 802.11n-2009, also known by its common name, “Wireless N”. The best way to take advantage of this technology are dual band routers as two is always better than one, right?

First off, if you go by CNET reviews (and I always do), no dual band wireless N router currently has above a 3 out of 5 rating, which if you’re not familiar with their system is only ‘good’. Okay, now that is out of the way, I rarely go with new technology or recommend it to others until it is completely fool-proof. I think that it just may be getting there now. Here are my recommendations of the best Dual-Band Wireless N routers.

Airport Extreme Review

Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n ($175, although you could get it cheaper) – Don’t call me crazy until you have read all the features this little Apple that could offers. It has all the features of comparable features of routers of this type, but offer the ease that apple offers with all their products. If you run a mixed mac and pc network this router is perfect, if you however run all windows machines then you can find something a little cheaper with all the same features (it just may not be as fast). Believe it or not, you can use this Apple product as a router – even if you have no Apple computers in your house (it works just fine with Windows). This is a “true dual band” wireless N router, meaning it won’t make you choose between 2.5 and 5 GHz – you can actually use both. It will support printers and network storage, but it’s pick about USB external hard drives. It only supports 50 clients, which is more than enough for most households, just be forewarned there is a limit. Bottom line, I think most Windows users (advanced ones) will want more features).

Apple AirPort Extreme MB053LL/A Wireless Router
	USD 160.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-04 19:48:59

Apple AirPort Extreme MB053LL/A Wireless Router
	USD 31.00 (10 Bids) End time: 2010-07-31 20:29:21

Apple AirPort Extreme b/g Wireless Router Base Station
	USD / 129.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-04 00:35:51

Apple AirPort Extreme Base Router MA073LL/A Model 1034
	USD 10.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2010-08-03 19:58:24

Linksys WRT400N Review

Linksys WRT400N ($120-149.99 just look around) – In our home we have almost exclusively used Linksys routers since we got our first high speed internet connection many years ago. They have always been easy to use and maintain and have that weird little purple-blue look to them. Well the WRT400N sports a new design but works as well as you would a expect a Linksys should. This router has true dual band support, but no Gigabit or USB support. The 5 GHz speed is a bit lacking.

Linksys WRT610N Review

Linksys WRT610N ($160.99-199.99 again look around) – This one is the next model up from the previous Linksys. The routers only major complaint is that the warranty is too short. Sounds like a good problem to have, meaning at least the complaints were performance related. The router offers a single mode, mix mode and simultaneous mode for sending the signal out. It support both 2.5 GHz and 5.0 GHz at the same time. You can attach storage devices to it, and on this one the mixed-mode throughput could be better. Other than that, it may be the best of the bunch, especially if you have external storage you want to make wireless.

I know most of these routers are more expensive than most routers you will find at Wal-Mart but as they say, you gotta pay for quality. One final note if your computer, laptop or wireless capable device is only wireless G compliant you have a few choices. First you could just stick with what you have as your new wireless N router does accept all incoming signals. Next you could buy wireless n adapters which are usb enabled, work as they should and are relatively expensive. The final choice is yours, the consumer.