Best routers

[sicctv 0]

Hello,

 

can someone please give me some good pointers on buying routers for remote viewing. some of my clients did not have routers so i had to go out and buy one for them. i wanted to know for next time what is the best brand for inexpensive routers that will get the job done, and if so which ones will work best for cctv remote viewing. i know they all basically do the same thing but theres gotta be a recommended type/brand for cctv.

 

thanks alot

[Soundy 1]

There's no specific brand or model that's inherently "better suited" to CCTV systems. There are some features you can look for that may be useful, such as:

 

Port-range forwarding. Most can forward one port per entry, but if you need to forward two, three, or more ports to the same destination, you might want one that will let you specify a series or range of ports in a single entry. Functionally, there's no difference, it's just convenience in setting it up.

 

UPnP support. If your DVR supports UPnP for its port forwarding, a router that supports it as well will allow the DVR to configure the port forwarding on the router itself.

 

Customizable DDNS support. Most routers have DDNS client support, but most of those only have one or two DDNS services pre-configured (like dyndns.com) and if you're not using one of those services, it doesn't do you any good. Many better models let you specify any DDNS service you want (provided you have the proper URL information), or have a wider range of supported providers.

 

QoS (Quality of Service) support. With computers, cameras and/or DVRs that support this, it allows you to allocate bandwidth to specific devices or specific types of data, which could be useful to ensure your video gets the bandwidth it needs if someone is using the router/internet connection for other data-intensive transfers... or to ensure that your video data doesn't interfere with other types of data by throttling it back when others want more bandwidth.

 

VPN Server. This will let you tunnel into your router from outside, and set up a VPN between your remote system and the network the DVR is on. This is a rare feature on most stock routers unless you get small-business models.

 

If you're a little more technical, look for routers that support flashing with DD-WRT, a very powerful third-party firmware. That will give you all of the above features, and many more. Check www.dd-wrt.com for a list of supported brands and models. I have two D-Link DIR-615s I've flashed with DD-WRT (among others, like a couple older Linksys units); they're a nice, solid, small-form-factor 802.11n router that can be found relatively cheap. With multiple units, you can set up a wireless bridge, and with multiple units that use the same chipset, you can set up a WDS bridge or MESH network.

[andy25i 0]

A router has nothing to do with closed circuit TV. CCTV outputs video at an intermediate frequency and would need to be hooked up to a monitor or recorder with RCA type video inputs.If you want to surveillance your house on the net you need the hardware and software for your PC. This is entirely different than CCTV.

[tomcctv 187]

A router has nothing to do with closed circuit TV. CCTV outputs video at an intermediate frequency and would need to be hooked up to a monitor or recorder with RCA type video inputs.If you want to surveillance your house on the net you need the hardware and software for your PC. This is entirely different than CCTV.

 

 

 

andy. i think CCTV has changed alot since you was last involved.

[SecurityGeeks 0]

A router has nothing to do with closed circuit TV. CCTV outputs video at an intermediate frequency and would need to be hooked up to a monitor or recorder with RCA type video inputs.If you want to surveillance your house on the net you need the hardware and software for your PC. This is entirely different than CCTV.

 

 

 

andy. i think CCTV has changed alot since you was last involved.

 

 

LOL Man that made me laugh!

[shockwave199 0]

There's no specific brand or model that's inherently "better suited" to CCTV systems. There are some features you can look for that may be useful, such as:

 

Port-range forwarding. Most can forward one port per entry, but if you need to forward two, three, or more ports to the same destination, you might want one that will let you specify a series or range of ports in a single entry. Functionally, there's no difference, it's just convenience in setting it up.

 

UPnP support. If your DVR supports UPnP for its port forwarding, a router that supports it as well will allow the DVR to configure the port forwarding on the router itself.

 

Customizable DDNS support. Most routers have DDNS client support, but most of those only have one or two DDNS services pre-configured (like dyndns.com) and if you're not using one of those services, it doesn't do you any good. Many better models let you specify any DDNS service you want (provided you have the proper URL information), or have a wider range of supported providers.

 

QoS (Quality of Service) support. With computers, cameras and/or DVRs that support this, it allows you to allocate bandwidth to specific devices or specific types of data, which could be useful to ensure your video gets the bandwidth it needs if someone is using the router/internet connection for other data-intensive transfers... or to ensure that your video data doesn't interfere with other types of data by throttling it back when others want more bandwidth.

 

VPN Server. This will let you tunnel into your router from outside, and set up a VPN between your remote system and the network the DVR is on. This is a rare feature on most stock routers unless you get small-business models.

 

If you're a little more technical, look for routers that support flashing with DD-WRT, a very powerful third-party firmware. That will give you all of the above features, and many more. Check http://www.dd-wrt.com for a list of supported brands and models. I have two D-Link DIR-615s I've flashed with DD-WRT (among others, like a couple older Linksys units); they're a nice, solid, small-form-factor 802.11n router that can be found relatively cheap. With multiple units, you can set up a wireless bridge, and with multiple units that use the same chipset, you can set up a WDS bridge or MESH network.

This is an excellent list. I would add one more- self healing. That's a soft reboot you can schedule daily from within the router. I would figure in most residential situations, aside from desktops and cctv dvr's being hooked up directly to the router, wireless is involed as well. Self healing goes a long way to helping the wireless side of the puzzle. And perhaps- the dvr too maybe. My dvr supports a soft reboot schedule too but it being wired in, I don't see the need.

 

QOS- something I have been very keen on understanding. My home network is doing fine and everyone on it, from wireless to my cctv system is happy. So I don't like to fix what ain't broke. But QOS does interest me. In my router, it's set to automatic and anything manual to change gets confusing so I opt not to mess with a happy network. But I'll wager it could be a VERY good option to have and adjust, if you know what the heck you're doing.

 

I always default to this dude, who is so good with his series. This is the QOS part of it-

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNPGfcxHqMA&feature=player_embedded

 

Btw- My idea of a good router is one that lasts longer than 2-3 years before the self destruction starts. I've yet to find that from netgear or linksis. My belkin has only been in line for 8 months or so- too early to tell.

 

Dan

[Soundy 1]

This is an excellent list. I would add one more- self healing. That's a soft reboot you can schedule daily from within the router. I would figure in most residential situations, aside from desktops and cctv dvr's being hooked up directly to the router, wireless is involed as well. Self healing goes a long way to helping the wireless side of the puzzle. And perhaps- the dvr too maybe. My dvr supports a soft reboot schedule too but it being wired in, I don't see the need.

 

I haven't yet come across a router that will do it own scheduled reboots *natively*. This IS a feature of DD-WRT (and probably other third-party firmwares), as are keep-alive and health-check functions (ie. will force a reboot if it can't ping a specified destination).

 

QOS- something I have been very keen on understanding. My home network is doing fine and everyone on it, from wireless to my cctv system is happy. So I don't like to fix what ain't broke. But QOS does interest me. In my router, it's set to automatic and anything manual to change gets confusing so I opt not to mess with a happy network. But I'll wager it could be a VERY good option to have and adjust, if you know what the heck you're doing.

 

QoS *usually* applies only to the WAN routing, so in most cases it would only be useful if you were connecting from outside and wanted to limit the bandwidth used.

[shockwave199 0]

I haven't yet come across a router that will do it own scheduled reboots *natively*. This IS a feature of DD-WRT (and probably other third-party firmwares), as are keep-alive and health-check functions (ie. will force a reboot if it can't ping a specified destination).

It could be unique to belkins native software, but this belkin is anything but unique. Typical off the shelf plug & play. In fact it's a Play F7D4302. Along the way I would just hit the reboot button the front if there was a stall. Then I found the self heal down in the maintainence section. Fantastic for keeping things fresh and snappy.

 

From the info-

 

"Self-Healing" App Keeps Your Network Up and Running

The Play also includes Belkin's "Self-Healing" Application, which analyzes your network and provides automatic detection and resolution of any problems. These routine maintenance scans help to ensure that you're always working on the clearest possible wireless channel. And if the network does require your attention, a notification will appear on-screen--no more guessing what the blinking lights under your desk mean.

 

Interestingly enough, 80 reviews at amazon puts this router at a low 2 stars. So far so good for me though.

 

Dan

[Soundy 1]

You know, Belkin always seems to get a bad rap, but I've used several of them, and they've always been solid and worked really well for me. They might be one of the most under-rated names in the biz right now.

 

And several of them support DD-WRT From the sounds of it, this "self-healing" probably doesn't do anything too fancy - just checks for down or slow connections to pre-defined devices and reboots to attempt to cure problems, would be my guess... still, something that's not common in home routers.

 

[SecurityGeeks 0]

 

Btw- My idea of a good router is one that lasts longer than 2-3 years before the self destruction starts. I've yet to find that from netgear or linksis. My belkin has only been in line for 8 months or so- too early to tell.

 

Dan

 

I am going 7 years now with my linksys wrt54g using 4 devices.... never a problem for me.

[shockwave199 0]

That's great- you got a good one. I haven't been so lucky with any of them. We'll see with this one.

 

Dan

[rory 0]

Been about 4 or 5 years now with my Linksys WRT54G

This was the ones before they stopped making them with antennas.

 

BTW you could write an app or script that would open a webpage, login, and reboot the router.

[fa chris 0]

I had two dlinks I had nothing but trouble with. I finally bought a linksys and it's been running rock solid for 8 years. Eight years is an eternity in the manufacturing industry though, I can't use it to speak for the current generation of linksys routers. I was a big fan of the stackable blue bricks, don't really like the new designs.

[SecurityGeeks 0]

Been about 4 or 5 years now with my Linksys WRT54G

This was the ones before they stopped making them with antennas.

 

BTW you could write an app or script that would open a webpage, login, and reboot the router.

 

 

same here... i love my antennas!

[Birdman Adam 0]

They don't sell them with antennas any more?? Thats odd!

 

I've had my WRT54GS for like forever, its has been a great performer!

[rory 0]

Yeah gotta spend more on the business routers now for the antennas, at least with Linksys

 

It was bad enough that the antennas used to be removable then they came fixed, now none.

[Go3Team 0]

I'll tell ya what I did.

 

I got annoyed at the consumer grade routers, and that they did not have a lot of features. I tried DD-WRT and even that was not (powerful) enough to do what I wanted it to do. I had a Mini ITX computer that I had built to keep in the truck way back when I was a truck driver. I performed a fresh install of Ubuntu Server on it, complete with all of the programs needed to make a router out of it. There is a guide floating around somewhere that I followed to do this. I installed webmin on it, that way I can open, close, and forward ports with ease. Pretty much no limit for forwarding, etc. I also use it as my webserver with a few domains hosted on it. I added Wifi by taking the DHCP duties done by the previous router and just made it an access point. If you aren't that Linux knowledgeable, this isn't a route to consider, but hopefully it will help someone.

 

Some may consider it a bit expensive but for a rock solid router (my uptime as of now is up 129 days, 15:00 hours) it's hard to beat.

[fa chris 0]

Well if we're going that route, might as well just put pfsense firewall on a machine. http://www.pfsense.org/

 

It'll act like a router, switch, etc. as well as a firewall. Imagine dd-wrt on crack and steroids that's been bitten by a radioactive spider.

[hardwired 0]

Yeah gotta spend more on the business routers now for the antennas, at least with Linksys

 

It was bad enough that the antennas used to be removable then they came fixed, now none.

Newegg still has plenty of the old school Linksys WRT54GL routers in stock, I just ordered two yesterday.

[hardwired 0]

Well if we're going that route, might as well just put pfsense firewall on a machine. http://www.pfsense.org/

 

It'll act like a router, switch, etc. as well as a firewall. Imagine dd-wrt on crack and steroids that's been bitten by a radioactive spider.

I've been testing out ClearOS http://www.clearfoundation.com/Software/overview.html for our office firewall/router, looks even better than pfSense, and a little easier to manage, too.

[Birdman Adam 0]

Smoothwall is great for easy and free firewall solution...

[shockwave199 0]

Yeah gotta spend more on the business routers now for the antennas, at least with Linksys

 

It was bad enough that the antennas used to be removable then they came fixed, now none.

Newegg still has plenty of the old school Linksys WRT54GL routers in stock, I just ordered two yesterday.

My old school wrt54gl sucked big time. No more linksys for me- especially that one. But, YMMV.

 

Dan

[thewireguys 3]

http://routerboard.com/RB750

[Sawbones 0]

Smoothwall is highly recommended... been using it for years.

 

I also like Untangle.

[random_user 0]

For a PC powered router, I use Mikrotik RouterOS. Most applications do not require this sort of advanced router. Many Buffalo routers (like the WHR-HP-G300N) are powered by DDWRT from the box, and rock solid. My uptimes are only hindered by power outages that last longer than the UPS...