I have a really stable wireless network at home. I'm currently using a couple of routers, a Motorola WR850G v2 and a Linksys WRT54G v2. Both routers use the same components inside and both are running DD-WRT 2.3 SP3 beta (15-JAN-2006). These routers are extremely stable and I haven’t got the need of recycling them for the last 3 weeks, my last reboot was needed because to upgrade their firmware.

Even though it may seem a good idea to use all products from the same line, this is not always the case.

For example one of my routers is a Linksys WRT54G v2. At the time I bough this router I decided to get a wifi card for my laptop and I got a matching (I though) Linksys WPC54G v.2.

It turned out that this was a poor decision. The router has Broadcom chipset and is very capable, on the other hand cardbus card from linksys (WPC54G v.2) has TI 1130 wifi chipset and this is a so-so implementation. By the way, Linksys has not updated its drivers for ages and I doubt they will ever release Vista drivers for it.

On the other hand, a few days ago someone gave me a used Motorola wireles G card V2 and it is an excellent performer. This Motorola card has a Broadcom chipset.

Also at one point in time I bought a Linksys PCI WMP54G v4 adapter and it has Ralink RT2500 wifi chipsets. This card is very capable, but I use Ralink drivers instead of Linksys, because this option gives me the features and flexibility that I need.

I would say the following low costs routers are great options if you do not mind installing third party firmware:

Linksys WRT54G v2-v4 (not in production anymore)
Linksys WRT54GS v1-v4 (not in production anymore)
Linksys WRT54GL (any version)
Buffalo WHR-G54S
Buffalo WHR-HP-G54
Motorola WR850G v2 (for detachable antena)
Motorola WR850G v3 (fix antena)

All these routers are properly supported With DD-WRT. Motorola WR850G v2/v3 will need at least DD-WRT 2.3 SP3 beta (15-JAN-2006).

For the listed WRT54G/GS routers, you can also try the latest Thibor HyperWRT firmware. It has the same interface as Linksys stock firmware, but it is much more powerful.

Please avoid like the plague Linksys WRT54G/GS v5-v7. These are crippled routers will half the memory of the previous versions. Even if you decide to buy Linksys get a new WRT54GL as this firmware has been developed for a longer time and it will be more stable in the long run.

It is my perception that USB wireless cards will have problems in several instances. If you could get updated drivers for your card then it is OK, but for example there are no updated drivers for a Linksys WUSB54G v2 that I have, so I cannot use WPA2 security with this card.