Looking to NAS... need a new router. Who can advise?

[tRidiot]

Been doing some reading... going to upgrade in stages. Some this month, some next, some the month after.

For now, just going to buy a 4T drive to back up my internal dual 2Ts, as I think one of them may be dying... performance has dropped off a good bit lately. Probably an HSGT 4T Deskstar NAS 7200 SATA III, then add more when I get my NAS 4-bay - looking at the QNAP, Netgear and Synology options, but I've got some time. That'll be next month's purchase.


For this month, I really need to get a new/better router that will maximize my future NAS options. I was looking into the ASUS RT-N66U, but read that it doesn't support exFAT formatting of your external NAS drives, that you need to do FAT32 (stupid with a 4GB file limit) if you plan on utilizing Windows or have to format with Linux using Ex3 or something. Still doing research, but I'm kind of shocked that ANY router would limit you to utilizing Linux or choosing FAT32, which is... what, like 15 years old? lol 4GB filesize limits are not going to work for me.

I need to have external detachable antennas so I can replace them to increase the gain and range, I want to be able to use DD-WRT as well. I want full gigabit throughput on all ports, and I'll probably be attaching a gigabit switch as well, as I have a good number of home devices that connect directly, and I'll probably add more. That's not a big deal, though, obviously. I'm currently using an older WRT-54g that won't handle high throughput very well... if I do much downloading, it gets overwhelmed and won't allow other connections through. It needs to be rebooted a lot if that happens. I upgraded my connection speed to 50MBit, but if I use it to it's max, all other connections get dropped, including my own surfing. This is unacceptable.


So what are some good sub-$200 routers that will meet my needs?

1. Detachable external antennas
2. b/g/n
3. NAS file format flexibility
4. High throughput with gigabit capability

Oh. And not Apple.

Asus seems to be enjoying great success the last couple years in the router market, and I've not been impressed with Linksys since the Cisco merger. Netgear I used to despise, though they appear to have improved a little bit the last few years, according to online sources, they're still just moderate-to-mediocre. So who is using a large NAS on a Windows-based system for home media serving and what router are you using?

 

[SoonerP226]

I like the Netgear equipment I've had (and still have). Belkin owns Linksys now, so you might consider them again.

If you want to run DD-WRT, I'd start with their compatibility list. Personally, I'd keep the NAS box separate; if I were in the market, I'd be looking at an IOSafe unit running on Synology technology. They make some damn near indestructible storage equipment that I wouldn't worry about bolting to the floor.

Edit: make that "I'd bolt it to the floor and not worry about it."

 

[jrusling]

I have that router and a separate NAS. I really need to look at what coax I need and a good antenna. I really need to extend my distance as well. I may have to go with a long range repeater, but I am going to have to do some learning before I buy anything.

 

[NightShade]

A router and seperate NAS may be a better option in the long run. The more your router has to handle the lower the throughput will be for file transfers to the NAS drives. Also some of the NAS solutions built into the routers require a piece of software be run on the client and only one computer can use the drive at a time so be on the lookout for that. SoonerP226 is correct on the running of dd-wrt though, start looking at their support list and then the router you would like to use, I also believe that they had a big hand in building the ASUS firmware if my memory is correct so a lot of the features should already be baked in. You may also find that the NAS features can be hit or miss if you use dd-wrt which is another reason for a separate solution. I have a little older dlink router and the USB port doesn't work so well with ddwrt on it and it required a software installation on the computer wanting to use the USB port anyway.

http://www.freenas.org/ is a decent project that you can drop on an older computer. Just make sure that the computer will support the number of drives you want, has a gigabit port and a small drive for the install or a flash drive to run it from.

 

[tRidiot]

Definitely going with a separate NAS. Not even considering a router/NAS combo because I'm looking at doing a 4-drive array within a couple of months, likely around 16T total. Just trying to make sure the router will support what I need... not sure how to determine that. I happened to read a review on the Asus one above that mentioned the inability to use exFAT which kinda surprised me. I hadn't considered that as a possibility. Not like it's that often I'll need to reformat, but it is kind of a hassle to have to install Linux partition just to do that. I would rather be able to manage all formatting and RAID control and config through the router so I can keep things wired the same all the time.

 

[LightningCrash]

I've been using Sophos UTM as a router and just have the old wireless router as an AP.

You could do an all-in-one PC-based NAS/Router/Tools combo with VMWare ESXi, but I don't know how much you like to monkey with tech at home.
If the idea sounds interesting to you I could go into a little more detail.