Whats a good modem router (for telecom) with a USB port?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Whats a good modem router (for telecom) with a USB port?

b0untypure1

1425 posts

Uber Geek

#98206 26-Feb-2012 20:14

Hi there,
just looking for a wireless N , modem router with USB port to add a printer to the network
I seen the netgear D3700 but the reviews are a bit mixed

thanks

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#588094 28-Feb-2012 23:46

Hmmm... I'm guessing by the lack of suggestions, one would have to be brave to recommend a Linksys WAG320N or Netgear DGND3700 and or etc.

Consider a Vigor 120 or TP-Link TD-8840T ADSL2 modem and then a separate router with a USB interface.

Just that any 'good' modem/router with USB printer functionality is not really cheap.

By buying a separate modem and router you can get the best in field and if one goes belly up you're just looking to replace one device 'type'.

That said, one could always check out the Telecom NZ TG852N as it "MAY" support a USB printer.
And it must be good cause Telecom NZ is supplying them...

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

b0untypure1

1425 posts

Uber Geek

#588098 29-Feb-2012 00:04

thanks man, your right, i decided to take the individual path.
i ended up with a separate modem, and bought a linksys E3200 router :) so if one part of it goes belly up, i havent lost $380 :P

haha the telecom guy said that on a 12 month contract I can get one of their high performance modem routers, then he showed me the thomson.... funniest thing all week. my parents have a thomson that disconnects every time I game online or watch youtube

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#588355 29-Feb-2012 14:44

Cool. The Linksys E3200 doesn't seem to have to many horror stories attached to it.

I have a Linksys E4200v1 running Tomato firmware and I've been very pleased with the 2.4GHz WiFi throughput and over all performance.
Best noted is ~120Mbps read/dowload on 2.4GHz when sitting right next to the router.
Best noted at 15m from the router was ~80Mbps read/download on 2.4GHz using 40Mhz with -62dBm signal strength via a few in house walls.
Noise floor on 2.4GHz is ~-84dBm

The Linksys E3200 may be quite a bit lower in throughput, but still quite usable.
It has been suggested on a E3200 a 20MHz channel may give you better throughtput than 40MHz (Using two channels) at distance.

I haven't really checked, but guessing if the mood takes you, you could install 'another' firmware on the E3200 as the chipset is Broadcom based. Not sure if Tomato firmware is available for the E3200 yet.

cyril7

9050 posts

Uber Geek

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Subscriber

#588363 29-Feb-2012 15:07

Hi, why not just get a print server, but be aware that the one linked below is a standard LPR type print server so will only work with straight forward printers (ie PCL or Postrcript or similar) rather than MFP printers, you can get ones that work as pure USB port server (also linked below) but USB port servers can be messy to use in an office evironment.

Also note I dont think any routers with USB ports support USB port serving only LPR mode.

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=375931 This is a LPR server

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=381865 This is a USB port server

Or why not just by a new printer with either Wireless or Wired LAN.

Cyril

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#588466 29-Feb-2012 18:11

Or one could embark on a moment of madness and buy a baby NAS which has a USB print server built in like QNAP or Synology.

Then you could use the USB on the router to house Optware software and install an OpenVPN and/or PPTP server on your router.

Or I could just shut up..