Looks as though my five-year-old Netgear wireless router is getting flaky. For Netflix streaming (via Roku) it often skips, jumps or stops. If I reboot the modem and router, it seems to fix it, but it is happening more often.
A few times I lose my connection to the Internet (using Cox cable), and have to reboot too.
Looking through routers on Amazon, I can’t find a single one which does not have a host of 3,2 and 1- star ratings, no matter how many rave about it. Usually either faulty software, too-simple software, or the device either slows down or dies in a matter of weeks.
This sort of thing seems to be the same throughout the price spectrum, and the expensive ones are as bad as the under-$100 ones. This is kind of ridiculous, and worse than any other product of have bought over the years.
I finally went with the Netgear WNDR 3400 because it seemed to have a lesser amount of hate mail than some others (okay, I just gave up an picked one). Since China has taken over most of our manufactured goods, it seems nearly impossible to find small electronics and small appliances that don’t have a host of poor performance reviews. I dread having to purchase a new item, because it takes forever to do the research necessary to insure I don’t get burned. Luckily, Amazon has a no-questions return/refund policy, as many of the complaints are that the items are DOA. It’s most frustrating. I long for the days when you could just grab a toaster off the shelf and it would, you know, brown a piece of bread.
No recommendations on specific routers, but I would suggest getting one that is simultaneous dual band 2.4ghz and 5 ghz. These routers generally retain connection during common electromagnetic interference such as microwaves and cordless phones(if your laptop also supports dual band of course). Unfortunately, they’re generally on the more expensive side.
So far it has worked, the reviews are about 80% 5 star, 10% 4 star and 6% 1 star.
However, FWIW, I have 2 laptops, an ipod touch and a wii. The router works great for the newer laptop, the ipod touch and the wii. But the older laptop (it is 5 years old) cannot connect to it. But I have had problems with that older laptop connecting to other wifi systems. But it worked fine at my parents house on their wifi.
Also how do you know the router is the problem and not the modem?
I think this is the one I have. It’s fine, setup is straightforward and once I set it up (about a year ago), I haven’t had to worry about it. My only regret is that I wish I had gotten one with a USB port so I could attach an external networked drive. My old Linksys crapped out one day, and I didn’t really spend much time thinking about what I should replace it with- I went to Best Buy, this one was on sale, so I bought it.
I also have a wireless Netgear router about 5 years old. Recently, it started losing connection every few hours, and I would have to cycle power to re-connect.
I was checking out new routers and was ready to go buy one when I decided to check Netgear’s website, and I found out that I did not have the newest firmware. I had never updated my firmware, and the last release was 4 years ago.
After updating my firmware, my router has not lost connection at all!
So if you’re happy with the router otherwise, try updating the firmware…you might save some money.
This is commonly a problem if you use WPA2 encryption and the network card in an older laptop doesn’t support it. It can sometimes help to update the card driver and software to its latest version.
I dunno if it’s where I live, or the power available, but I went through half a dozen routers (linksys, smc, netgear, etc.) before buying and sticking with Apple networking products. They’re built like tanks and last forever. My current 1TB Time Capsule is going on…3 years now?