Do I have a D-Link or a Sagem?

[I_Hate_Sky_Awnsers]

You mean it can use 2.4 and 5 ghz at the same time giving you a wireless speed of 600mbps.

I'm joking i have a Macbook Pro which is slightly hampered wirelessly due to the fact that its made of metal.

[Scubbie]

I'm joking i have a Macbook Pro which is slightly hampered wirelessly due to the fact that its made of metal.

Hmmm... I see, only slightly by the metal casing? I guess the rest is down to it being a Mac.

[SilverJDM]

Due to work commitments & being indecisive I still haven't got round to buying a replacement router, I'm still not sure on the Belkin Play N600 HD due to the negative reviews... I'm thinking about the following router, does anybody have any thoughts regarding this router:

Billion BiPAC 7800N Dual WAN ADSL2+/Broadband Wireless-N Gigabit Firewall Modem Router

Thanks

[Scubbie]

The Billion BiPAC 7800N is a popular router with a compatible chipset for Sky's LLU equipment. It should perform nicely. Several members on this forum have previously gone for this model too.

Like the Belkin & Netgear routers previously mentioned is can connect to either Cable or ADSL.

It lacks the USB ports though, which for my personal needs is on my requirement list now.

What I am unsure with all three is whether you can connect to both cable & ADSL at the same time, or am I just being greedy now?

I've been keeping my eyes open for the Netgear router and it still isn't available and I'm unsure why.

[SilverJDM]

I thought you were going to say that it isn't dual band like the Belkin & I was ready with my response... which was 'I probably wouldn't use it'..

[Scubbie]

lol - true, but then having 5GHz WiFi isn't then end of the world. 2.4GHz is a popular standard and not everything will be able to access the new band yet.

Personally I would like a router that combined the features of the following all in one:

Draytek Vigor 2800VN
Netgear DGND3700
Belkin N600

Each offers 1Gbit LAN.

The Netgear offers a nice user interface & 2 USBs which can connect to external drivers, suitable for sharing to a DLNA system, as well as PCs.

The Draytek allows you to plug a 3G Dongle in, should you ADSL or Cable connection fail, or should you be somewhere which doesn't have either. It also allows you to direct traffic to either or all WAN ports in use, should you have two connected (that's ADSL, Cable & 3G).

Both the Belkin & Netgear allow for guest networks for the WiFi, the Draytek takes this a little further on the cabled LAN.

I guess the real question has to be: What is right for you?

I'm sure if you won a big win on the Lotto you would soon be looking at a whole new list of objectives.

[fuzzy logic]

If i was after a new router, the billion 7800n would certainly be on my short list, it's got my preferred broadcom chip (bcm6358), Billion do a nice UI, I gather you can raise (or lower) the noise margin in the UI, and it's got a wan port so if you switch to fibre, or sky were to ever bar non-sky routers, you could still use it as a router. Also a plus is it has been available for a while, so hopefully the major bugs will have been fixed, and if there were any reliability issues, they will have shown up by now.

The price would put me off though, as I'm a bit of a skinflint. As would the lack of dual band support, as I can pick up about 9 wireless networks on 2.4ghz.

Scubbie's Netgear does look interesting though, although I wouldn't buy one until it had been out for a while, in case it turned out to be as reliable as my dg834N! One thing I like about Netgear is they make it easy to produce modified firmware, so you're more likely to see third party firmwares for it.

[SilverJDM]

lol - true, but then having 5GHz WiFi isn't then end of the world. 2.4GHz is a popular standard and not everything will be able to access the new band yet.

Personally I would like a router that combined the features of the following all in one:

Draytek Vigor 2800VN
Netgear DGND3700
Belkin N600

Each offers 1Gbit LAN.

The Netgear offers a nice user interface & 2 USBs which can connect to external drivers, suitable for sharing to a DLNA system, as well as PCs.

The Draytek allows you to plug a 3G Dongle in, should you ADSL or Cable connection fail, or should you be somewhere which doesn't have either. It also allows you to direct traffic to either or all WAN ports in use, should you have two connected (that's ADSL, Cable & 3G).

Both the Belkin & Netgear allow for guest networks for the WiFi, the Draytek takes this a little further on the cabled LAN.

I guess the real question has to be: What is right for you?

I'm sure if you won a big win on the Lotto you would soon be looking at a whole new list of objectives.

Thanks for your input, I think I will go for the Billion as trying to tick all the boxes is as with most things in life is never going to happen.

If i was after a new router, the billion 7800n would certainly be on my short list, it's got my preferred broadcom chip (bcm6358), Billion do a nice UI, I gather you can raise (or lower) the noise margin in the UI, and it's got a wan port so if you switch to fibre, or sky were to ever bar non-sky routers, you could still use it as a router. Also a plus is it has been available for a while, so hopefully the major bugs will have been fixed, and if there were any reliability issues, they will have shown up by now.

The price would put me off though, as I'm a bit of a skinflint. As would the lack of dual band support, as I can pick up about 9 wireless networks on 2.4ghz.

Scubbie's Netgear does look interesting though, although I wouldn't buy one until it had been out for a while, in case it turned out to be as reliable as my dg834N! One thing I like about Netgear is they make it easy to produce modified firmware, so you're more likely to see third party firmwares for it.

Thanks also for your input, true it is a fair chunk of change but I'd rather buy it now than buy something cheaper & then end up buying it later anyway.. Also I need to get something now as I'm using a borrowed router, I like the look of the Netgear but can't wait much longer & from what I've read will cost even more than the Billion 7800N

Brgds

[Scubbie]

...I can pick up about 9 wireless networks on 2.4ghz.

Only 9! WOW! I'm jealous!

Using inSSIDer I can pick up about 36 locally.

[Scubbie]

Update for those who are interested:

The Netgear DGND3700 is finally in stock with various suppliers today.

It's still priced at over £150 with most firms. I'm looking to get myself a new Home Theatre System this month now, so I'll hopefully get the router next month now. It depends on a few other things though as well.