Router recommendations please

As far as I can work out it is a Superhub 2 I have. It was installed about 8 months ago.

I identified the unit as a Superhub 2 from the Virgin website.

The sticky at the top of this forum page indicates that I should only use it as a cable modem rather than a wifi router and switch. Does this advice only apply to the Superhub version 1?

I have no problems yet as I am buying the kit to set up the network for when the streamer arrives.

I could always just use the superhub and plug everything into this and wait and see if a problem develops I suppose, but I was wanting to have a robust network from the start if possible.

OK Scooot, I checked with Virgin media and I actually have a Superhub 1 as you thought!

So, my choice is either to get a Superhub 2, or a suitable wifi router and switch to plug into the Superhub 1 operating as a cable modem only?

Which would you suggest? 

Thanks for your help Scooot.

However, I am back with my original question - given that there are far better routers out there than the Virgin Superhub 2, what are they? Is the Netgear N900 suitable, or can I get a better one for less or the same money?

I bought an Asus NT-56U to replace my troublesome SHB last year, and have been very happy with it.

I have it hooked up wired to my NDX, but am happy with the wireless performance as well. Personally, I wanted a router that does simultaneous dual band, which this does just fine.

Unlike some brands I have had in the past, such as Netgear, I have been pleased by the fact that the Asus's firmware has been updated several times to fix bugs etc.

It has other functions like usb ports, but I don't really use them tbh.

I think this model has been replaced now, but in terms of its compatibility with Naim gear, all I can say is it works fine for me (in conjunction with a Sunology NAS)

regards

Nick

Take a look at the "Billion" range of dual wan routers. I've used a 7800n for the past couple of years with absolutely no problems and can highly recommend them.

Thanks Stampie and Phil S. I will look into them.

At the risk of a thread highjack would one of these routers just replace in my case the BT HH?

I assume the Open reach modem will stay?

How does that affect your support from BT? 

TIA

As I suspected, I'll assume BT has the same sort of system.

I think that it's a good idea to figure out what is going wrong before moving away from the cable modem provided by the broadband supplier - especially if the in's and out's of these networking protocols are not really familiar to you.  Oftentimes it is just a setting, or poor wi fi performance, both of which can be remedied without getting rid of 'their' cable modem.

Well, the NDS and Unitiserve landed yesterday. I decided to just chill and see if it worked ok with the Virgin Superhub mark I.

Amazingly, everything was deboxed, connected and switched on within 20 minutes, doing internet radio and everything. Didn't even have to reboot anything.

All I had to do was "make with the positive waves" as Donald Sutherland said in Kelly Heros.

That's great; the uServe and NDS really do communicate with each other well, and your post is a testament to the fact that 'this new-fangled streaming stuff' isn't as mystical as it seems from reading the forum. 

There ARE some things you can do to ensure success with your own rips in your Downloads folder (if you have the 2tb uServe) -- some naming conventions, etc.  I've posted about them a few times and a search should find them (stuff about naming files and folders).  If not, let me know.

Hi Bart - if you could point me to the threads about naming conventions that would be very useful. Using the search for "Bart" and "naming conventions" just gives me a load of stuff about bartok, Cecilia Bartoli and Bartletts HiFi!

Here is some of what I've written.  The essence is that for best results, use only letters and numbers in folder and file names, and try not to use spaces in the names of folders on a nas that you want to use as shares or stores or backups!

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NOTE:  Non-standard characters can also cause the uServe to choke on scanning music folders and indexing them.  I had a couple of cd's (ripped by someone else, not me) that would NOT add to the music library.  It turned out that there were hidden characters in the folder names which, once deleted, let everything go smoothly.  The uServe seems to index music folders and file names with spaces and some non alpha-numeric characters just fine ( square brackets [ and ] are OK, but the > 'greater than' sign is not!).  If you ever have a problem, look at folder and file names.

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Reading more, I do see that Tim's a uServe owner.  In the 2 years I've had mine, yes I've had some hiccups, but in retrospect, none were the fault of the unit.  I had:

-- invisible and/or non-standard characters in folder names and track names that prevented indexing

-- non-standard characters (notably, spaces) in backup folder names that prevented access

A couple of things.

I would not want bt or virgin poking around on my network, and they don't. There expertise if it can be called that ends at the modem really. In essence if there is internet up to the door anything beyond it becomes a dark art for them at the other end.

And I have used the excellent range of asus routers over recent years including the N56u and RTn66u.

These are very reliable, very configurable and very fast devices. Purchase with confidence.