Who Makes Your Favorite Networking Gear?
Displaying poll results.16238 total votes.
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 8063 votes
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 40 comments
Buffalo shipping with open source DD-WRT firmware (Score:5, Informative)
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Another +1 for Buffalo. I'm using the supplied version of DD-WRT. Very stable wireless, doesn't drop connections like the previous Linksys routers it replaced did.
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I'm very supportive of Buffalo for shipping with DD-WRT - that's an awesome start.
Got one of the N150's with the hopes of using it as a vpn server at the office. Tried both OpenVPN and PPTP, and both keep dropping requiring a router reboot. Tried both the firmware it shipped with, and upgraded firmware from Buffalo.
It's got some very impressive specs (loads of flash, for example). Maybe I got a flaky unit, or maybe moving to the real DD-WRT would fix it, but I'm not very thrilled with it. My linksys e2000 h
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I have two G300NH's running plain DD-WRT with that reset script in place. I keep checking the logs but as far as I can tell it's never needed to run.
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What did you say? I wasn't paying attention, I was too busy putting my PIN Number into an ATM Machine.
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I'm not saying that its not a good device, because I've never used one, but if you are a "n00b" how do you know it has "great security"?
Netgear (Score:5, Informative)
While consumer-level gear isn't nearly as feature-filled as some of the high end stuff, most of them at least know who their customers are.
Netgear's WNDR-3700 is an awesome bit of hardware that (shockingly) lists the CPU, RAM, and flash storage available in the device on the outside of the package, and make no effort to prevent users from re-flashing the device. It comes with an OpenWRT derivative by default, but can be trivially flashed with a full-featured OpenWRT build that is extremely slick and makes the device even better.
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Thanks for the tip - I've been considering getting a new router and your comment gave me a good starting point for digging around. Got a WNDR-3700 on the way!
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Netgear deserves the trash can. Not the product themselves as hardware, but the technical support.
So-called professional product are not professional at all as far as the feature they claim to support. Try configure the FXV538 or the manageable switches!
Home products are more expensive than average for no reason.
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Is there a nice pre-packaged OpenWRT build for it already set up somehwere?
Last time I messed with OpenWRT it was a real pain in the ass. Picking all these plugins, most of which were undocumented, etc etc.
Got some good links on this ?
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I have a generally favorable impression of Netgear too, mostly because they still sell entry-level switches with an all metal chassis... Sure the guts might be super cheap but the fact that it feels nice and heavy and doesn't get spun off my desk as soon as a few slightly kinked network cords get plugged in go a long way toward making me feel good about what i'm buying.
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Poorly designed marketing trawl (Score:2)
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I was thinking the same thing. Some geeks roll their own transceivers, which is why I was a little saddened not to see a "me" option for the DIY crowd.
"News for consumers, stuff that hardly matters."
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We certainly needed a "Cowboy Neal routes my packets" option. I would have voted for that.
Cisco (Score:2)
Linksys has always been a good solution for my SOHO needs. My short forays into D-Link and Netgear were both disappointments. I'm now running a couple of WRT54GL with Tomato on them. This is my favorite network yet. I may be missing out on fancy 'N' speeds, but my network works and works right every time day in and day out. I'll do with 'only' 54Mbps for that.
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I may be missing out on fancy 'N' speeds, but my network works and works right every time day in and day out. I'll do with 'only' 54Mbps for that.
For most people, wireless speed is over-rated. Unless you're dragging big files between hosts on your home network (99% of people aren't) 11Mbps "B" is quite up to the task.
Hard to convince people, though.
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Most people don't have that sort of speed though. Around here the best you can get is ~8mbps, assuming that you're getting what you paid for. And that's if you're willing to deal with Comcrap, the rest of us have at most 5mbps available many are still stuck with a 1.5mbps connection because that's all that Qwest felt like providing.
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More and more people are streaming video over wireless, and B is in no way up to the task.
Then there is latency differences, and multiple machines using the same connection point, and so on.
If you are a house with ONE device, and you don't stream anything besides lo-res youtube, then fine.
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Yeah can't imagine some old person wanting to save the 250 pictures they took of their grandkids on their 16 megapixel Nikon Coolpix from their laptop to their desktop in less than... well... let's just put the time limit at "Before they die". The 500KBps a typical 802.11b network can do is not going to cut it. And before you ask, yes they are gone from the camera. You have no idea how hard it is to teach an old person at once to actually recognize that the pictures have use when moved off of the camera,
Firmware Replacement FTW (Score:2)
I'm rockin the Tomato on my ASUS wl-520 b/g router. After years of d-link, netgear, etc. routers the ASUS w/ Tomato is stable in ways I was beginning to give up on ever finding in cheap consumer gear. If the ASUS ever dies or needs to be upgraded, support for an open router firmware is the first thing I'll look for.
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When I flashed my WRT54Gv4 from HyperWRT to Tomato [polarcloud.com], it removed my speedtest.net WAN bottleneck from 20Mbps to 25Mbps (the speed of my FiOS link). So Tomato saved me a hardware upgrade, and adds a really slick bandwidth/usage reporting interface too.
Whatever works. (Score:2)
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Juniper (Score:2)
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Damned finest command I have ever seen on network gear. All hail Juniper.
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Came here to say this. Commit confirmed is the best.
Also, all the poll options suck, consumer grade routers are crap.
Love my SRX100. :-P
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Actually, it's strange that Cisco was. Based on the other choices (all consumer products), it should have been Linksys, not Cisco. There is no enterprise representation in the choices, no Juniper, HP, Avaya, F5, Extreme, etc.
Really, Rosewill?
Mother Nature! (Score:2)
I use carrier pigeons you insensitive clod!
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I use carrier pigeons you insensitive clod!
Do you use the original RFC 1149 [ietf.org] or the later RFC 2549 [ietf.org] or RFC 6214 [ietf.org] in your Avian Carrier IP system? Or did you roll your own?
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I don't have any brand loyalties (Score:2)
so I buy whatever's best at the time. My router at the moment is a Linksys WRT54GL, which I bought because one could flash 3rd-party firmware onto it. The cable modem's a Motorola, because it had good ratings & supports DOCSIS 3, therefore IPv6.
For a time my computers used 3Com NICs, but that went away when 64-bit Windows came in, since there are no drivers. Now they use Realtek, simply because that's what the motherboards have & they're good enough; I'd buy Intel kit for add-on NICs and wireless
Where's Cabletron you insensitive clod?? (Score:2)
Cabletron token-ring 16mbps!
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Token ring! proof that the good old days, sucked.
however in 2003 1000Mb token-ring standard had been approved.
If corporation want to eliminate people watching video or playing games on the internet, they should use token ring. Ring Latency is a bitch.
Missing option: Other (Score:2)
Seriously.
Who makes my favorite networking gear? (Score:2)
The Victorians.
Holy Marketing Research, Batman! (Score:2)
Sheesh...our /. overlords ain't even pretending any more, are they?
b&
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"Marketing research" would be a poll like:
What is your favorite feature of your networking gear?
a) Fast throughput
b) Low Latency
c) Ability to handle data in multiples of "station wagon full of tapes"
d) Easy to remember default password settings
What no Belkin option? (Score:2)
Kidding!! You would have to beat me senseless with a Belkin router to get me to use one..
Up until about 2 months ago I was still running a couple bridged WRT54G's running DDWRT..
Then the crappy Cable co provided DLink 614 cable modem took a dump.
I said screw it and bought a Netgar WNDR3400 and a Moto DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem.
Nice setup with a much stronger signal than the WRT54G's could muster.
The 54G's didn't get to retire though.. Now they serve as client bridges for my BlueRay and Laser printer.
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Aww crap there it is. Belkin right at the top of the list . My mind couldn't even acknowledge it's presence..
Juniper? Dell? (Score:2)
Juniper or Dell. Dell make some great (and affordable) stackable managed switches.
Apple? (Score:2, Informative)
No really the airport basestation line have been real work horses for me. They have had a usb port for a long time and are easy to configure to share a USB printer and or a hard drive. Bunches of small businesses and residential customers on them and still on them because they last more than three years... hear me Cisco? three years is an unacceptable lifetime even for consumer equipment.
Buffalo (Score:2)
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Yes I have to say I'm a big fan of HP ProCurve. Cisco-grade quality without Cisco-grade prices IMO.
Never Sonicwall, not again. (Score:2)
Unintuitive interface, useless support, bad and ambiguous documentation. I'd rather run a Cisco ASA, the Cisco may be a lot more complex, but it's a hell of a lot easier to figure out. For a small business, I'd recommend a Fortigate (Fortinet)
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Sonic OS v5 isn't that bad. Check out their GUI demo website.
Seen it but I'm pretty unimpressed after using FortiOS 3 and FortiOS 4 is a heck of a lot better then that. If I have one complaint about Fortinet/Fortigates is that they keep changing bits of the UI between versions, FortiOS 4 MR1 was a major overhaul (it was a good one though), MR3 changed the location of a few things.
It's the Sonicwall service that really grated me the wrong way though, with FortiNet a tech stay up to 11 PM (US time) so he could help me with a client's Foritigate at 11 AM (Australia t
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Yeah I've only heard bad stuff about SonicWall, often rated in the same league as Watchguard, which I can confirm from experience, is shit.
Brocade / Foundry (Score:2)
Not enough options (Score:2)
HP!!
-m
Four, not on the poll (Score:2)
Inexpensive, basic use: TP-Link
Inexpensive, advanced use: EnGenius/Senao
Reliable switches: HP
Reliable routers: Juniper
HP Procurve for teh win (Score:2)
I'd vote HP Procurve if it was an option, my budget doesn't stretch to Cisco.
Who votes D-Link? Home users and people who find features confusing?
There are plenty of missing options on this one.
Joke? (Score:2)
This poll is so boring I can't even tell which is the joke option.
Gandalf (Score:2)
Apple, actually. (Score:2, Interesting)
Apple's AirPort line is top notch as far as consumer-friendly interfaces and cost-value ratio. Sure, they aren't the most flexible solutions out there if you're a professional or willing to tinker with unsupported firmware for a few hours, but for 99% of consumers, Apple got it exactly right.
Draytek (Score:2)
If you can't afford Cisco, it's Draytek all the way!
Always puzzles me why they don't get more love.
The missing option is not another brand (Score:3)
Apple Airport Extreme (Score:3)
Yeah, I went there.
(after owning routers by Linksys, D-Link and Belkin... never again)
What happened to SneakerNet? (Score:3)
SneakerNet of cases of DVDs is still often the fastest network around.
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I was wondering why there wasn't a "Damned if I remember" option (or "none of the above", or even a "Cowboy Neil does my networking").
I wanted to choose Nike.
[I didn't. I've not had Nike shoes since I was 2 years old. But I've not heard of the brand of my shoes, so I doubt you have.]
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Adidas-Net FTW! That works almost always.
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I look for routers that I can reflash to OpenWRT, Tomato and other variants. I could give a rat's fuck about the brain damaged version of Linux they come with.
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Same here. Buffalo G300NHs are my current favorite for home equipment.
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It all depends on what your needs are.
If you want to go advanced networking with VLAN:s and stuff like that then Cisco or maybe HP are the alternatives, but considering that HP is moving to be a services only company then I think that Cisco is the way to go. As for those of you who swear to Extreme - no thank you.
Another alternative would be Juniper, but they are a small player in the top level pond.
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It all depends on what your needs are.
If you want to go advanced networking with VLAN:s and stuff like that then Cisco or maybe HP are the alternatives, but considering that HP is moving to be a services only company then I think that Cisco is the way to go. As for those of you who swear to Extreme - no thank you.
Another alternative would be Juniper, but they are a small player in the top level pond.
From what I understand, HP wants to stay in the enterprise networking market.
They just snapped up 3COM not that long ago to compete directly with Cisco on their Nexus series switches. They tried to offload their ProCurve unit many years ago, but then decided to hang on to it.
You can't beat a lifetime warranty on a switch.
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Sarcastic voting? That's the kind of thinking that got Bush elected twice...
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I don't think I've seen too many brands that are actually reliable anymore. They all seem to need resets every now and then and have other stupid quirks.
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Yeah, it's crap, but at least it's cheap crap.
And at least the old D-Link crap I have actually has pretty good performance according to the benchmarks.
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If you have a DIR-615 variant that's compatible put DD-WRT on it. It'll be rock-solid reliable after that.
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Coulda put DD-WRT on it, that fixed an old DIR-615 I had right up (got it free for doing some work). It gave some trouble before that but not enough that I wanted to smash it. In my teen years I had a CD drive I wanted to smash.
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Cisco's good, but expensive, at least for the features I want. While I could never build a router with a mid-range to high-range Cisco unit's speed, I can build one with those abilities for a fraction of the cost. At the end of the day, my operation doesn't require the raw speed of hardware routing and ACL capabilities, so I'm afraid Cisco isn't a consideration.
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Never forget that latency matters(1)
(1) Geekoid
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Sometimes mailing a hard drive is the fastest way to transfer data.
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Sometimes mailing a hard drive is the fastest way to transfer data.
And sometimes it's the fastest way to lose the data.
Hope you had a backup! oh wait, that *was* the backup? oh...
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I think that was Andrew S. Tanenbaum, and not Dennis Ritchie.
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Yeah, it's a bit weird that there were no real high-performance options. My current favourite Chelsio (known ultra low latency 10G Ethernet cards) didn't make the list, either.
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Yeah, crazy how they keep updating their stuff to 20Gbps and now 40Gbps. Hoping I can afford some of the older stuff for home use sometime.
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AC is right. We use Cisco, which I voted for. I wish for the chance to use Juniper.
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Too bad I can't mod "+1 Fuck Yes." Juniper rocks.
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I've heard only good things about Juniper's equipment.
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Well I'm not astroturfing ;)
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Some of the Fritz!Box [www.avm.de] models would AFAIK meet those requirements.
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On the consumer side, Linksys is Cisco.
Never really trusted Trendnet myself. Have to admit we didn't have any problems with the handful of Trendnet NICs we deployed recently though.
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Yeah I would have voted Juniper over the rest of these options on reputation alone.
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Yeah I'm surprised Cisco scored so highly. Didn't see Dell, HP, or Juniper on the list, some of the better options for enterprise stuff. Or Buffalo which is probably the best for home stuff.
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They're MS in terms of customer lock-in via proprietary technologies and quality
So what you're saying is they make a high quality product, but since they are the market leader, they are an easy target for people who like to complain about anything they don't understand.
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Still working on finding a network card I can use to setup openbsd for wireless as well..
I'd go with something that uses a Ralink chip. They keep their specs open, and the driver support is usually pretty good on OpenBSD (I actually think they officially recommend using these).
However, keep an eye on the card manufacturer. My last ral card liked to halt my system and drop me into ddb. The semi-random nature of the trace lead me to believe that it was faulty hardware (specifically when receiving) and not actually a problem in the kernel/driver.
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Linksys bought linksys? Wow, the networking landscape is forever altered...