ADSL Router for home use

[elsiegee40]

I'm looking for a new router for home use... preferably one that won't bankrupt me.

 

It needs wireless and the ability to quickly switch off the wireless capability (flip of the switch on the router would be perfect)

 

... it's long story involving teenagers, revision and iPod touches (and me being fed up of yanking the power cable out of the back of my router)

 

... does such a router exist?

Edited May 5, 2009 by elsiegee40

[FN-GM]

When you mean a flick of a switch do you mean a physical one? Or will one in a web interface do?

 

Z

[elsiegee40]

Would prefer physical switch if such a thing exists. I can get the web interface on my existing one, but it takes too long and OH won't do it that way!

[MatthewL]

I've got a Netgear DGN2000 and it has a switch you can press to turn wireless off, seems to be a good router.

[elsiegee40]

I've got a Netgear DGN2000 and it has a switch you can press to turn wireless off, seems to be a good router.

 

 

Thanks for that one MatthewL... I will see if I can hunt the price down a bit on what I've seen so far.

 

Unless anyone can recommend a cheaper one?

[powdarrmonkey]

I don't know of much that has a physical wireless switch (although, I've made my views on solving problems with technology known before )

 

I used to have a Draytek Zygor which was fantastic, but it was expensive and a while ago. Hitachi are selling a good one at the moment with VoIP capability on board, including hardware sockets, and it was cheap too. I've also had Netgears with no trouble at all, particularly the DG834G.

 

If price is a must, see if your school have an account with Insight. They do an employee purchase program that's equivalent to cost + 4%, so stuff like this can work out really cheaply. You still have to pay VAT on top, obviously, but they'll deliver it for nothing.

[Michael]

An alternative would be a power timer, with remote control. You don't even have to get out your seat. Am I being too lazy?

[elsiegee40]

An alternative would be a power timer, with remote control. You don't even have to get out your seat. Am I being too lazy?

 

 

Nice idea , but I only want to turn the wireless off... I want to be able to carry on using the wired LAN ports. I have to break the edugeek habit whenever the kids facebook fixes start interfering with homework!

[somabc]

I would recommend Draytek or Billion routers

 

Billion Products for SSL VPN, ADSL Modem/Router, Wireless ADSL Router, Powerline ADSL Router and Adapter, VoIP ADSL Modem/Router, Security Router, Broadband Router, SHDSL Bridge/Router, iBusiness Security, ISDN Product

DrayTek - ADSL Routers Firewalls UTM and Networking Products

 

If you are on a budget this looks promising

Edimax BR-6574n Wireless-N Gigabit Router **GREAT PRICE** - Ebuyer

Edited May 5, 2009 by somabc

[MatthewL]

Thanks for that one MatthewL... I will see if I can hunt the price down a bit on what I've seen so far.

 

Unless anyone can recommend a cheaper one?

 

I think I got it from eBuyer, another place to try would be Wireless Router, ADSL Router/Modem, Broadband/Cable Router, VoIP, NAS | Broadbandbuyer.co.uk, they do some good deals.

[Arthur]

The Asus WL-500GP v2 wireless router with the third-party Tomato firmware would get my vote.

 

You can do lots of fancy stuff with this modified firmware like like monitoring bandwidth usage, WOL, QoS, multiple wireless SSIDs and block websites using a variety of different methods. One of the best features if you have kids though is the advanced restrictions feature (demo video) where you can block Internet access on a per computer basis (so you can carry on using the Internet on your own computer). You can also block particular ports and protocols so you could stop them using Messenger between 3.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. on weekdays for example. Blocking flash games is as easy as checking a box too.

[unixman]

The Gadget Show tested ADSL routers this week. I can't remember what came top of their list, but I do know that the D-Link DKT810 came 10th out of 10, and I fully concur with their verdict. They are complete junk and should be avoided at all costs.

 

I have two of these to administer and I had nothing to do with purchasing them. When we first got them, we were having loads of grief getting them to work and I wanted to disable the firewall on them. There is no check box to do this. I queried D-Link support and they said if a I did a firmware upgrade, the disable firewall checkbox will appear. They also said "Actually you don't need to do that as the firewall doesn't do anything". Love it! So, I did the firmware upgrade and sure enough the disable firewall checkbox appeared. It didn't solve our problem, so I rolled back the firmware to the original and the checkbox remains! They have a nasty habit of forgetting your admin password so that you can't login and the only fix is to reset it completely and redo all your config.

 

I use an old Belkin F5D7630 which I found at a car boot for £10 with no power supply. I knocked him down to a fiver and spent £20 on a generic supply from Maplins - magic! My only complaint with it is that there is no diagnostics (eg ping, traceroute, etc) on the web front end. Check ebay if you want to buy one of these.