Why are routers so poorly made?

Post Reply New Topic

I've had two routers now and both are fine, except for the fact that with heavy use you have to perform a hard reset anywhere from once to ten times daily. Talking with other owners of routers this is apparently a common issue. Why are routers so poorly made? There's no way people would put up with this if it was the computer that required a hard reset so many times. The issue is so prevalent South Park made a reference to it in one episode:

http://gizmodo.com/381088/how-to-fix-th ... south-park

I have the same issue with the wireless card in my ToughBook. A ToughBook is a $100 computer in a $3000 box. They put in the cheapest wireless card Intel makes for civilian consumers.

I've never had to do a hard reset from heavy use?

What brand of routers are you using? Some are much better than others. I've had no problem with Linksys.

I've had trouble with routers in the past. Currently Telus has provided a 2WIRE unit that seems great. *fingers crossed*

I've had problems with routers in the past, but my current linksys has lasted a few years now

I'd just use a network switch

I use a Cisco Systems Linksys WRT54GS broadband router connected to my housemates
cable modem and the only problems I had were with the modem, until he replaced it with
another one. He was doing hard restarts at least once a week, now it has been about 3 or 4
months since the last hang-up.

What about the open source routers? Anyone use those?

Mine runs Linux, but it isn't OpenWRT AFAIK. It runs flawlessly and any problems are usually with the telco.

EDIT: It's a NetComm NB5PLUS4W.

Sounds like a need to keep it cool. Is the router in a spot with good airflow ? And not too hot if it gets over heated it will lock up. A good router might need a reset each 30 days.

I have. Wireless G stalls and overheats easily. The power connector is so cheaply made it causes a spark when inserting the jack. Then again it is not so much a design failure are a britta kettle, or Sinclair C5.

It is worth not only going for a slighly more expensive router that is better build, but aslo getting recomendations, rewiews.

It is true that keeping it cool is the best option, however nowadays standalone hardware like routers are expected to fair better against heat fatigue and the consumer demands it. It tends to be the slightly more expensive ones that are more robust. The cheapest one are like most cheap electronics, just good enough to get it out of the shop.

I have the same router from telus, I have been to lazy to see if I can network my laptop and desktop though it, I have a linksys WRT54G wireless router using a linux based firmware called Tarifa, so far I haven't had any issues running this firmware. I would avoid NetGear routers since they over heat and need to be reset or power cycled almost daily, and Dlink the routers are ok its their wifi cards I have a problem with, the only time I get a blue screen in XP its with one a dlink card.

Go with Linksys. Most routers like broadcom are noy very good because of faulty assembly.

Broadcom has other problems too.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/146768/b ... _says.html