I have an interesting history with wireless routers and hubs. I always keep a spare around, since they seem to die at random. Some are dead on arrival, which often prompts me to buy two at the same time. The death seems to follow the same pattern — first, it drops wireless connections every few days, then every few hours, then all the time. Belkin, Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, Apple, I have a pile of hardware with broken radios.
I am now on my way to buy two more wireless routers. I’d pay extra to ensure that I’d get one that won’t die in 6-12 months, but that technology is apparently not for sale.
Do you do anything odd/extreme with them?
I’ve had the same one for well over two years. Minor hiccups here and there, but usually picks up after a couple days.
As far as I’m able to tell, if you want a reliable long lasting WiFi service point, you’re best bet is to buy a commercial grade wifi AP and put it behind a solid router.
You may have to go to someone like Trend Microsystems, Tiger Direct, Professional Advantage, etc. to pick up a good WiFi AP, but that’s where I would start. Start by looking at the base Cisco AP, then look around at other manufacture’s in the same price range.
Part of what you should be buying at those prices is longer term support and service for the device.
Why keep the AP separate from the Router? Because in a worst case situation, if the AP fails and you need to get it serviced, you can still use the router with a switch between you and it.
Try a used Cisco Aironet AP. They are not cheap ($300), but will last for a decade if you don’t try and do anything particularly fancy.
Get a cisco 800 with wifi you’ll never regret it.
A bit on the expensive side tho
I was going to taunt you by noting that I have had cheap D-Link and Netgear wireless routers for the last 4 years without either giving me serious difficulty- but then my connection was dropped!