lynksys vs soho is it worth it

WASSSUP · Post by **WASSSUP** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 10:45 pm

i have a lynksys router. i have had no real complaints about it, except when i first got it, i could only run two computers on any online shootem up type game or our pings would go 900 or so with 3 or more computers. when average is 140 and good is 70. then lately i am having even more issues, when we have two computers run, they will be fine then ping spike like it is fun.

i heard the soho router increases the actual block of broadband each computer gets, making the overall pings lower and when you hook up more then 3 computers on cable modem you will ping fine for online gaming. i cant even run two computers now with the lynksys.

at&t tells me that this is because i am sucking up too much bandwith. SO....if i get a soho router will it fix anything, or just mild down them down but not resolve anything??

basically i know for a fact that people have 4 computers running in the same games we play and they all have cable modem and ping fine. i dont know what routers they have, but i am just sick of having two machines play at a time, when there are 4.

BlackSword · Post by **BlackSword** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 9:17 am

I started out with a linksys one port that was hooked into a 3com switch. From all the posts, that seemed to be a better solution than the 4port linksys. Mainly because the 3com switch is better than the switch side of the Linky.

Online gaming one Computer was fine, Two computers would have infrequent lag spikes with small ping hit. Three computers would result in more lag spikes and around 30ms to 40ms ping hit.

Currently I have a Nexland Pro400 (only because they were out of stock on the ISB-SOHO so they sent me the Pro400 for no upcharge) now with 3 PCs gaming I have no hit on PING or Lag spikes. The ISB-SOHO has the same ENGINE as the Pro400 so for gaming they should be the same. Nexlands website states that the ISB-SOHO is optimized for gaming so possibly the ISB-SOHO could be better than my Pro400 for gaming but doubt there is much if any difference. Since they have the same Engine the only difference would be in the firmware.

I believe the Nexland ISB-SOHO is a good product for the price. I am not saying it is the only good product out there.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 9:35 am

I can definitely attest to the fact that going with a more robust router will improve online gaming for multiple users. Way back I had a Linky at home...with just one player, it pinged OK, add a second player, first players ping went up like 20 (original ping to my UT server which I co-hosted at my ISP was between 15 - 30)...add a 3rd player....pings went up another 40 or so....4th player....well, became like dial up. Granted my broadband was part of it, but not until I hit 5 players as you'll see below.

I then got a NetGear RT314....and adding the second player...third player...the additional lag across the board became much less....like adding 5 - 10 or so..up til about 4 players.

Due to compatibility problems with Rune (ran a RUNE server at ny home), I ditched the Netgear and spend the $$$ for a Netopia R910. Adding a second, even third player adding NOTHING to my ping....that router had ballz. 4th - 5th player started to fill my broadband connection...but still, having a 2nd and 3rd player not adding lag was sweet.

Haven't tried my Nexland ISB SOHO with multiple players, but I suspect it's somewhere between better than the Netgear (which I know it's much faster), almost as good as the Netopia.

WASSSUP · Post by **WASSSUP** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 11:27 am

was this on cable modem or dsl?? i am just wondering. what was the price of the netopia router???

BlackSword · Post by **BlackSword** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 1:18 pm

I am DSL. Currently my upload CAP is 128kbps. Obviously if you hit your upload cap then no matter what router you have you are going to experience LAG in gaming, the same holds true for download but typically you don't hit your download CAP during gaming.

In the next couple of months my ISP will be offering a better plan and my upload cap will be 648kbps. Once that is in place I plan on finding out how many RIGs I can have on without impacting ping. Since the router is capable of sustained 8mbps I doubt it will have any problems. Again the limit will be the Upload CAP.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 2:25 pm

Originally posted by WASSSUP
was this on cable modem or dsl?? i am just wondering. what was the price of the netopia router???

I have PPPoA DSL at home. Netopia R910 cost me about 300 bucks two years ago. Nexland ISB SOHO is about 160...and much easier to configure.

Ghosthunter · Post by **Ghosthunter** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:27 pm

Yeah but the Netopia is only 10 MB, vs the Nexland ISB Soho, is 100 MB, and is using Full Duplex(which really is 200 MB, so your machines on your LAN will be much faster in theory.

So for gaming and file transfer on the LAN, I would go with ISB Soho

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Fri Jun 07, 2002 8:29 am

Agree that "in theory", the built in 10/100 switch in routers such as the ISB SOHO will do faster LAN transfers. But the hub in the Netopia is a high quality 10 base hub...which I've done NetCPS benchmarks and seen it perform quite well compared to "cheap" 10/100 switches like found in Linksys, etc....it won't beat them, but it doesn't do too badly either.

Another point...most people don't transfer hundreds of megs a day across their LAN...for the average person, that one file transfer a month across the LAN taking a whopping 30 seconds longer cuz it's on a 10 base hub...not really a show stopper for me. And for those concerned about LAN transfer speeds, do what most people do...have a high quality switch which you uplink the router to like most business/corporate environments. I had mine uplinked from a nice 3 COM SSII.

For me, having a top notch router which gave the best possible performance for my online gaming and server hosting way overruled the fact that the LAN side of the router was 10 base, which I easily overcame by having the router uplinked to a switch.

WASSSUP · Post by **WASSSUP** » Mon Jun 24, 2002 12:04 am

i was wondering about the netopia routers.

i see netopia 7100's on ebay for 50 bucks

and a few 9100's for around 90.

are either of those good??

for what i am looking for.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Mon Jun 24, 2002 10:46 am

They're nice, they have some serious nut! But unless you plan on spending a day or more trying to learn how to configure them, and you're serious into network.....I'd suggest staying with the Nexland ISB SOHO that a few of us suggested...because it's designed for the home user..with an easy to use web admin...much like the Linksys has. The Netopia's...most done through the old telnet, or hyperterminal over serial cable....meant for the IT professional....kinda like a Cisco router. The average home user would get frustrated trying to configure it.