Time to Upgrade that Router!

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/04/belkin-n750db/' target='_blank'>http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/04/belkin-n750db/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Belkin has announced that its N750DB router would be available in the next couple of weeks. The Belkin N750DB is the brand&rsquo;s top of the line router and has features such as multiple antennas, multiple wireless bands, USD ports, wireless printing, network attached storage functionality.. and more."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1304022747.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>If there ever was a product line that needed designed obsolescence, it would be the router.&nbsp; While they are pretty common-place now, very few things tend to go wrong with them.&nbsp; My current router is going on 8 years old and it still performs quite admirably.&nbsp; With the networking space changing very little over the years, I would expect most people's routers to be of a similar age.&nbsp;</p><p>So how do you convince people to upgrade to the latest and greatest?&nbsp; Make your router offer everything under the sun.&nbsp; NAS capabilities, wireless printing, etc.&nbsp; The only thing Belkin is missing with their N750DB is that funky LCD display they tried for a while.&nbsp; I guess there is such a thing as having too many features.</p>

[ptyork]

I'm still waiting on the router with built-in powerline/homeplug and totally brainless network expansion. Plug in a "main" router at your PC or in your media closet. Plug in "extension" units wherever you need fast connection speeds (like behind your media cabinets so you can stream full HD). Each extension unit is both an ethernet bridge AND a network extender, and it automatically (or almost automatically) connects to the main router just by plugging them in.

Maybe it's just me, but I've got a big house that's impossible to cover with decent performance using just one router. Especially if you include the back yard area. And no matter what I tried, I couldn't get reliable video streaming from one end to the other using just wireless. I'm doing the above using a couple of MOCA enabled wireless routers (Verizon FIOS standard bought from eBay), but it's definitely not something that most folks would want to try. Plus, it's just 802.11g. I'm ready to step it up a notch. This just seems like a natural combo.

[Bob Christensen]

I see nothing in the specs about supporting IPv6. I realize that we will still have IPv4 around for awhile, but why would one be interested in a new router that didn't support IPv6? Haven't we basically already run out of IP addresses for the current version?

Maybe someone can help me understand this issue if I'm wrong.

The router that's got my attention is the Netgear WNDR4000.

WNDR4000 (http://netgear.com/home/products/wirelessrouters/high-performance/WNDR4000.aspx)