Have an older Linksys WRT54G router that is over 10+ years old. It's time to replace it. I've been getting messages saying Wi-Fi network is not secure because it uses an older security standard.

I'd like to hear what routers you all suggest. My needs are simple, we have 3 computers, one hard wired, two tablets and a few cell phones using it - not at the same time. The current one works all the way into the external garage, I'm sure any of the new ones would have the same or better distance.

My price range is open, although if I don't need to spend high dollars then that would be great. We use Comcast, I'm not opposed to a Modem/ Router combo.

Thanks for any information.

I just bought a ASUS AC1900 WiFi Gaming Router (RT-AC68U).

It is not a cable Modem. My Cable modem is included as part of my service.

My old Belkin Wireless router would did not support the new 802.11 AC protocol and would not allow any wireless device to go over 50MB. I have Spectrum at 200MB and now I get 189MB over the WI FI.

The new router woks great and hopefully lasts a long time.

I could never get a WRT54G to last more than a year.

I’m sure others here will chime in but that’s the one I just upgraded to.

So my question is.....Comcast didn't give you a gateway with 4 hardwired ports and wifi? If so, what is the point in the router?

In other words, do you have either one of these?

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 06-10-2021).]

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: Have an older Linksys WRT54G router that is over 10+ years old.

Good GAWD man, that was old 15 years ago! I remember when that came out, my computer had a 333Mhz Celeron processor and 128MB of RAM

Highly recommend a used Apple Airport Extreme 802.11AC, they're like $40 on eBay and super stable. I have one I've used since 2014, and bought one for my parents, they only have to turn it off and back on again maybe once every 6 months, and it's usually because the modem froze.

quote Originally posted by mike-ohio: I just bought a ASUS AC1900 WiFi Gaming Router (RT-AC68U). It is not a cable Modem. My Cable modem is included as part of my service. My old Belkin Wireless router would did not support the new 802.11 AC protocol and would not allow any wireless device to go over 50MB. I have Spectrum at 200MB and now I get 189MB over the WI FI. The new router woks great and hopefully lasts a long time. I could never get a WRT54G to last more than a year. I’m sure others here will chime in but that’s the one I just upgraded to.

I use this one here in China because it supports asuswrt-merlin 3rd party software that allows my VPN to be integrated directly into the router. It’s a cool feature if you need a VPN for your selected devices.

https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: So my question is.....Comcast didn't give you a gateway with 4 hardwired ports and wifi? If so, what is the point in the router? In other words, do you have either one of these?

No, to both. Modem is SURFboard SB6121

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: No, to both. Modem is SURFboard SB6121

If the price was close to a new router, you could purchase the Arris SURFboard SVG2482AC which is the actual comcast router I posted in the picture. Arris manufactures them for Comcast. It will give you 4 ports, 2.4 and 5.8 wireless, and allows 2 digital phone lines.....but it's up to you if you want an all-in-one or a remote router.
https://www.amazon.com/ARRI...=electronics&sr=1-25

Be careful of the ISP supplied routers. Some have a hidden public wifi feature where other Comcast customers can use your router without your knowledge.

Just tossing this out there - if you have Cable, you may want to buy your own modem instead of renting one from the company. It's usually easy to do - you look up the model of the device, buy it online, then call your cable company and have them swap the MAC address in their system. Then ship them back their device, or drop it off at a local place. Takes about 2-3 hours total effort.

Lets say you pay 6 bucks a month for cable modem rental. the device costs 60 bucks. If you had cable for 10 years, its 60 bucks vs.720 bucks. I think mine cost like 54 bucks (Amazon had a coupon for it) . and I think the monthly rental price was more $.

Definitely worth it, imo.

xoxo

quote Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist: Just tossing this out there - if you have Cable, you may want to buy your own modem instead of renting one from the company. xoxo

Good points. I purchased my modem for those reasons.

Leaning on just going with a new router,

Hope resetting the various electronics using current router over to a new router will be fairly easy. The most important hookup will be the one hardwired computer, as it's user is an on-line teacher and I can not have it down long for a change over.

[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 06-11-2021).]

Linksys WRT54G is likely using WEP or WPA causing "not secure" error.
Check to see if has WPA2 and switch to that in the mean time. (Many old routers have this as part of upgrading the firmware.)
Upgrade the firmware often need Exact Version of X model. WRT54G has many versions. look at the label under them.

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: No, to both. Modem is SURFboard SB6121

Isn't the best and will slow down the internet.
4x4 modem gets "Download speeds up to 172 Mbps" per https://arris.secure.force....a0ha000000GNcscAAD&c

4x4 = DxU = # of download and upload channels. You want 8x4 or better to match the ISP data speeds.

So you need to upgrade the modem and the router.

AC____ only apples to Devices w/ 5Ghz AC. AC only works on 5GHz and have much shorter range vs 2.4GHz. Worse if has to go thru walls etc.
Otherwise best connection is slower WiFi G or R on 2.4 or 5 GHz bands depending on devices used.

Newer versions of routers/gateways say "better" then AC often only is "better" when have devices support new WiFi formats.

⚠️ Warnings:
● All Gateways including Private Own units are under ISP Control because of the Modem build in to them.
Because All Modems get "Firmware" and other control data by the ISP no matter what ISP "tech support" says.
● Netgear and others now Charge you for support. So Owning a modem etc may not save you money. Worse They only give X days to support just the Router/Gateway then charge for that too.
● Many uses "the cloud" as part of the firewall and other features that's a problem to many too. Like Many Cisco/Linksys had problems because required to login to the cloud to even setup a new unit.
● Yes, Comcast, and likely other, Gateways have Public HotSpots Turn On By Default. To turn that Off, you have to login to Comcast Web, My Account, Devices, to turn off there. You Can't control it in the Gateway interface.

Note:
If you have old iffy cable to home or in a building you will have problems w/ better modems.
DOCSIS 3 and 3.1 modems have much more rules to follow or will slow down or stop working at random times or at all.
Many old buildings have "RG59" cable, crap joints, iffy splitters or too many of them, etc. and all cause problems to the modems.
Your current modem likely have these problems but can "get away" w/ them because it a 4x4 and slow router hiding these problems.
"Login" to the modem at 192.168.100.1 then read https://pickmymodem.com/sig...-3-03-1-cable-modem/
(Nearly all modems including builtin for Gateways uses this address.)
Any problems in a building fix by Comcast will get charge hourly rates by Comcast.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

PS "4x4 Will slow down the internet" because most Comcast customers have Bundles w/ 200 Mbps or more download speeds.
Most will need 8x4. Some 16x__ to get "Gig" speeds.

quote Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist: Just tossing this out there - if you have Cable, you may want to buy your own modem instead of renting one from the company. It's usually easy to do - you look up the model of the device, buy it online, then call your cable company and have them swap the MAC address in their system. Then ship them back their device, or drop it off at a local place. Takes about 2-3 hours total effort.

Don't call Comcast to activate a modem.
Calling Comcast often causes problems and take way longer. Best use the auto activation...

Have your last bill to get customer # etc. and make sure you have password for main account.
Connect new modem and wait for boot connect to ISP.
Most sites fail to load anything or redirect to xfinity...
Connect to any Comcast site or directly to https://register.be.xfinity...channel=WALLEDGARDEN

Most times you login w/ main account is enough to Activate a modem.
follow directions and wait for a reboot or two.
Done in minutes.

All new modems should be on Comcast Modem list. https://www.xfinity.com/sup...pproved-cable-modems
Click to "Show more Devices" at bottom of the list.
Don't buy a modem not on that list. Comcast may not activate them even if was on the list before now.

Note: Motorola is Arris and been so for Years. Arris makes Comcast Brand gateways too along w/ a few others not sold to retail buyers.

If you have Comcast gateway know that Home Security and more require this to work.
If you only has Comcast "landline" phone service, few to none customer modems supports this like ARRIS TM822G costing way more money.

When done you have to return Comcast modems/gateways to Comcast in X days. Best if you have a Comcast Store near you and return to the store. Save the receipt they give you.
Own modems can keep... If new modem dies, can try to re activate the old one to get online in minutes.

quote Originally posted by theogre: Don't call Comcast to activate a modem. Calling Comcast often causes problems and take way longer. Best use the auto activation...

Thanks for all the great information. I learned quite a bit.

Wow....that 54G was a workhorse of a router but it's been left behind Wi-fi tech wise. I had one 10+ years ago, then gave it to my parents, and they retired it a couple of years ago. Might still be able to flash open source firmware like DD-WRT or Fresh Tomato on it and enhance it with some more modern capabilities. It was a very popular router in it's day....

How technical are you and what speeds are you paying for from your ISP? You want your hardware to support what you are paying for speed wise....

If you just want the modern equivalent of what you currently have:

https://www.amazon.com/Link...00ACM/dp/B01JOXW3YE/

But I'd second the recommendation of a Asus RT-AC68u. It's cheaper than the Linksys and is pretty popular among the open source tech crowd like the 54g used to be. I currently run one with flashed with Merlin enhanced firmware. https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/

That SB6121 is pretty long in the tooth as well, but if it's not limiting your speeds it probably has a couple of years left in it as long as your ISP doesn't drop support for it. I had a SB6121 with Comcast and currently run a SB6141 but have a SB6183 sitting on the shelf for when I decide to quit being lazy and update....swapping modems can sometimes be a hassle though.

[This message has been edited by kslish (edited 06-12-2021).]

quote Originally posted by kslish: swapping modems can sometimes be a hassle though.

Nope. Modems are very "dumb" and you can't to anything but activate them.
Only Gateways are a pain because have to setup WiFi etc.

I have swapped several modems/gateways in hours using auto activate system because Comcast hell desk is dumber then box of rocks and do nothing but read the scripts. I have several modems etc because get them cheap so if "lighting" etc fries one have spares. Direct lighting strike fries many to everything but any cable surges can kill a modem/gateway. That is easy when you have cable problems.

Notes:
When setup WiFi use same SSID and Passphrases as old router but w/ WPA2. All devices should auto connect that way.
If has a short or otherwise weak Passphrases, change that later.

Most new routers/gateways Turn Off "Remote Admin" functions. Find it and Make Sure is Off/Disabled.
That alone still stops many problems.

Some routers/gateways may have WPA3 but 90+% devices doesn't support this.
"they" say is "backward compatible" and can try using WPA3 on the router.
But I don't have anything new enough to try that. Only started selling "WPA3 Certified" devices in 2018-19. Win10 2004 is first Windows w/ that.