Draft-N Under a C-Note
You’re unlikely to find a draft-n router that costs less than the Link-sys Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Router (WRT160N). As with the Linksys RangePlus Wireless Router (WRT110), the four wired Eth­ernet ports are 10/100 only, and there’s no USB port for sharing a printer or storage device. But the WRT160N can use Linksys’s rela­tively new home network management software, and the through­put at 20 feet, 116 megabits per second, is a bit above the WRTllO’s. Performance falls precipitously with increasing distance, though.
Connecting the router to the Internet via DSL or cable caused the install wizard to hang. Once I’d killed the wizard the router ran correctly, but to access the network manager (which, confusingly, has almost the same name as the installer), I had to eject and rein­sert the install CD, then select the manager from the menu. Perhaps by the time you read this the installation routine will be fixed.
You’ll find the impressive Web-based manager every Link­sys router has, though not all the goodies pricier models offer. Advanced options—as in the WRT110—include VPN pass-through, DHCP, NAT, an SPI firewall, and QoS (though not via the new Wire­less Intelligent Stream Handling or StreamEngine technologies in higher-end routers like the SMCWGBR14-N Barricade N, and the Trendnet 300Mbps Wireless N Gigabit Router, among others).
The WRT160N will make most home users happy. There are better routers out there, but few for under S100.—OR