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WISPs Choose Wireless CPE Routers

WISPs are always looking for the least expensive equipment, but veterans warn that if you buy the ultra cheap stuff, you'll give yourself a customer support headache. Your APs can help too, if they're premium equipment.

[November 13, 2006]

On the ISP-Wireless list in October, TJ asked:

"What is everyone else using for customer routers? We have been using the Linksys WRT54GC (includes 802.11g wireless) and they have been working pretty well... I'm just wondering if there is something more affordable? I buy them for $44 per router."

[MB replied] "We never had good luck with the GC's, wonder what we did different? We mostly complained about the range. We went to the GL's and never looked back. I think we pay about $55 for them from Sprint North Supply."

[NW replied] "For wireless routers, we picked up a ton of the WGR614s for around $16 to $20. You can get the MR814 for about the same price right now. They seem to be fine. I'd recommend firmware upgrades. We picked up mostly refurbished ones. They've been in the field for over a year now. Had a few go bad, not more than half a dozen though. I think the Netgear RP614 was the wired version we were getting, too. They were around $12 each in bulk and refurbished."

ST had tried many different options:

D-Link WBR-1310 for $39 at Best Buy. We used to get the D-Link DI-624 for the same price, or less with rebates. For wired routers, we used D-Links although we don't seem to get much call for wired routers any more.

We tried:

• Netgear: never seemed to last through storms, probably had a 10-20 percent failure rate, either fried or factory reset.
  
  
• Linksys: We have had nothing but bad luck with linksys routers for the past 2 years. Firmware upgrading doesn't seem to help either.
  
  
• Trendnet: worked but more expensive than the D-Links.

[RK complained] "What I've noticed is that most off-the-shelf, consumer units just aren't solid. I am pretty sure it's because they don't have enough ram. When connections get flakey lots of packets get stuck in the transmit queue. Such things seem to usually crop up when the users do such things as BitTorrent."

[NW agreed] "I've used a Linksys, 2 cheap Netgears, and I'm currently using a new Netgear here at my home and haven't really seen any problems. I do a ton of downloading and stress testing—BitTorrent, usenet, etc, all on a 6 Mbps link.

[ST agreed] "Yup, but since 90 percent of my customers are residential I don't really have other realistic options. The D-Link has been the best for us in terms of hardware reliability as well as maintenance. If they do go haywire a power cycle usually fixes them. It is not very often that they factory reset. Everything else we have used resulted in more support calls and truck rolls."

[GV taunted] "We use the canopy built in Nat feature ... nice huh !<ducking>"

[NW replied] "The DemarcTechs that we're using have many features like that too, including transmit/receive rates, firewall, and NAT. Very nice. We just used the routers where we had bridges (Tranzeos) for CPEs."

—End