stock firmware crashes on me every few days after the 6-mo mark. if you're just looking to plug-and-play, i'd look for a more stable model. I can't comment on tomato/dd-wrt on this unit.
djtitati said: stock firmware crashes on me every few days after the 6-mo mark. if you're just looking to plug-and-play, i'd look for a more stable model. I can't comment on tomato/dd-wrt on this unit.
I completely agree with the stock firmware being garbage. I would highly suggest to anyone purchasing this router to give DD-WRT or tomato a try. I have installed DD-WRT on a few of these and it makes all the difference.
If you guys plan on buying this, I suggest only flashing it with Tomato. I have had mine for over a year and only recall having to reboot it once. I tried DD-WRT at first (because I was more accustomed to the interface), but it quickly locked up on me when i tried navigating through the back-end and connections were not stable. Once I switched to Tomato, it was smooth sailing; and Tomato has a really easy-to-use interface.
I have one running in my room as a bridge for my printer, desktop, and HTPC (via LAN). The other is in my living room bridged for TV (Panasonic 55" IPS deal from Amazon), HTPC, and Squeezebox. Debating on getting another one as a backup, but with 802.11AC emerging, I'm going to hold off.
The $140 question: do I get a Asus Black Knight or get one of these and flash it? Just a regular sized house currently using the slow Verizon issued router.
VicVinegar said: The $140 question: do I get a Asus Black Knight or get one of these and flash it? Just a regular sized house currently using the slow Verizon issued router.
With tomato, this becomes a super good router. However the N600 Belkin via MacMall for same price and Shoprunner free shipping gives you 2 bands and is a much better deal (using tomato).
Correct, there are three models that all look the same with the "N300" name but have different specs. The Belkin Share Max N300 is the one that I look for on sale (gigabit, ddwrt compatible, 2 x USB ports, and wireless N). The N600 series supports dual simultaneous wireless N.
chedv said: Edit: Also no gigabit support and 1 USB port.Lack of gigabit support, compared to last year's F7D7301 offer, makes this a far less appealing deal. (1 USB port on the F7D7302 vs. 2 USB ports on the F7D7301 is less appealing if you actually use your router's USB ports).
Still, if anyone needs an inexpsenive Ethernet to Wifi bridge, this deal is a great way to go! Just be sure to load DD-WRT or Tomato onto it. Have been running DD-WRT KONG on my F7D7301 for over 9 months w/o a hiccup (updating it to the latest KONG versions as they've been getting released).
fatwaltag said: VicVinegar said: The $140 question: do I get a Asus Black Knight or get one of these and flash it? Just a regular sized house currently using the slow Verizon issued router.
With tomato, this becomes a super good router. However the N600 Belkin via MacMall for same price and Shoprunner free shipping gives you 2 bands and is a much better deal (using tomato).
Hope this helps. d
Which router specifically on MacMall? Can you provide a direct link? Also are you sure its TomatoUSB compatible?
graymen2 said: fatwaltag said: VicVinegar said: The $140 question: do I get a Asus Black Knight or get one of these and flash it? Just a regular sized house currently using the slow Verizon issued router.
With tomato, this becomes a super good router. However the N600 Belkin via MacMall for same price and Shoprunner free shipping gives you 2 bands and is a much better deal (using tomato).
Hope this helps. d
Which router specifically on MacMall? Can you provide a direct link? Also are you sure its TomatoUSB compatible?
And yes, I have both models and both flashed with Tomato. And they will run dd-wrt as well. Hub is 10/100/1000 on these. I don't remember the tomato/dd-wrt rev's I used. These also work well as relays and/or access points with the above firmwares.
ps- Something is screwed up on the vendor sites. First, MacMall shows an N300+, not N600 as I previously stated. I saw it somewhere else listed as N600- Secondly, the N300+ I have has 10/100/1000, but the MacMall has it listed as only 10/100. I suspect the listing is screwed up- check Belkin's site which has a table of these things.
fatwaltag said: VicVinegar said: The $140 question: do I get a Asus Black Knight or get one of these and flash it? Just a regular sized house currently using the slow Verizon issued router.
With tomato, this becomes a super good router. However the N600 Belkin via MacMall for same price and Shoprunner free shipping gives you 2 bands and is a much better deal (using tomato).
Hope this helps. d
Appreciate it. I'd like to upgrade our wireless, but was thinking the Black Knight is probably overkill for our laptops, iPad, and one Apple TV. Other stuff I have wired.
With tomato, this becomes a super good router. However the N600 Belkin via MacMall for same price and Shoprunner free shipping gives you 2 bands and is a much better deal (using tomato).
Hope this helps. d
Which router specifically on MacMall? Can you provide a direct link? Also are you sure its TomatoUSB compatible?
And yes, I have both models and both flashed with Tomato. And they will run dd-wrt as well. Hub is 10/100/1000 on these. I don't remember the tomato/dd-wrt rev's I used. These also work well as relays and/or access points with the above firmwares.
That is the same N300 router as in the OP and $5 more. This looks like it may be the N600 you are talking about, but it is $70 not $16.
The Belkin N300 and N600's I have are plenty fast (with Tomato- I've not tried the native firmware b/c of warnings). I have them running in CA and FL- totally reliable and good range. In CA I have an aluminum parabolic cylinder reflector behind it to add gain and privacy. Recently I put in an Obi202 to have free phone and not have to diddle with QOS on the router. I use the Obi's router and have the N600 behind it on the local net working as a wireless access point. I also have 1000baseT running around the house... it is fast enough to use my server disks as primaries, which facilitates backups and the like.
The only caveat about buying a wireless router now is that it seems as if the new faster standard will be common in about a year... so I'm a bit reluctant to buy stuff that will relatively creaky that soon.
One more thing- the only major difference I see between the N300 and N600 is that the N600 is dual band (5GHz as well as 2.4- e.g. 2 radios). Other stuff seems to be about the same, including the cases.
With tomato, this becomes a super good router. However the N600 Belkin via MacMall for same price and Shoprunner free shipping gives you 2 bands and is a much better deal (using tomato).
Hope this helps. d
Which router specifically on MacMall? Can you provide a direct link? Also are you sure its TomatoUSB compatible?
And yes, I have both models and both flashed with Tomato. And they will run dd-wrt as well. Hub is 10/100/1000 on these. I don't remember the tomato/dd-wrt rev's I used. These also work well as relays and/or access points with the above firmwares.
That is the same N300 router as in the OP and $5 more. This looks like it may be the N600 you are talking about, but it is $70 not $16.
Not quite. I thought the MacMall was an N600 based on a SD posting- but it appears to be an N300 as you say. The last time I bought one was about 6 mos ago... I paid around $20FS for the N300 and about $30FS for the N600 mentioned in my other post. The $20 with ship is about the same as the best prices I've seen elsewhere for the N300's. But $20 for the N600 would be a SD. The MacMall price N600 you are looking at is a different model in a different case- I guess they want to confuse people. The FD series we are talking about appears along with the N300 in a table on the Belkin site. That one (same case, dual band, 300N speed) 10/100/1000 hub, usb port, has been around $25-$30 shipped on various deals, and runs Tomato and dd-wrt just fine.
fatwaltag said: Here you go.. (google or sd)... N600 link
That's the exact same model in OP, but a little mode expensive - Manufacturer Part #: F7D7302.
However, thanks for pointing out that the N600, specifically model F7D8301 and F7D8302, supports TomatoUSB.
For the record here are the model numbers and features (all TomatoUSB/DD-WRT supported):
Belkin Share N300 (F7D7302) - 1 USB, No Gigabit (The one in this thread) Belkin Share Max N300 (F7D7301) - 2 USB, Gigabit (The killer deal in the previous thread) Belkin Play N600 (F7D8302) - Dual Band, 1 USB, No Gigabit Belkin Play N600 HD (F7D8301) - Dual Band, 2 USB, Gigabit
can someone provide the link for tomato? the one i found said nothing about supporting the Belkin(and this router). whats the official site? from google, there r so many tomatoes out there...
bulletban said: can someone provide the link for tomato? the one i found said nothing about supporting the Belkin(and this router). whats the official site? from google, there r so many tomatoes out there...
I have one of these that I'm using as in bridge mode (DD-WRT) for the XBox and it works great. My Apple Airport just started to flake out so I just ordered this as my main router. Thanks OP.
Got mine today and flashed it with dd-wrt.v24-18946_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_f7d7302.bin. So far I'm really impressed with the responsiveness. My Apple Time capsule must have been getting flaky or something but this router is much much more responsive. As an added bonus I can configure it and check stats.... Anyone wanna buy a used 1GB Time Capsule?
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