Hey there people! Just wondering if you guys had any suggestions on routers. The one I have now simply can't handle the number of clients it has. It's real problem is that unlike and older router I once had, I can't save individual machines and force them to have set IP addresses.

Here's what I need it to support, and the things I need it to do.

Wireless N (That is the latest, right?)
6 ethernet ports - or does it make more sense to get a switch?
Needs to support (wired)
3 PC's
3 Xbox 360s. (At the moment, if I use too many xbox's at once, I have to reboot and turn them on all one at a time so we can all play online.)
Needs to support (wireless)
3 Laptops
3 Mobile Phones
1 Wireless Printer

Mac address filtering (for if people aren't paying their rent)
Clients need to have their IP assigned by the end user via the router rather than generating a new one each log on.

That's about it, I believe. Oh, and it needs to be router and modem, but most that I see these days are.

Any suggestions? What do you guys use?

This thing looks pretty sweet http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=643 but I'd need to install a switch (if what I'm reading is right) in order to support 6 wired devices at the same time. What implications would this have on the connection? I'm gonna guess that it would divide the overal speed of one port?

Just read - has the tendency to reset under a heavy workload. Hmm seriously scarred it's score for me.

I don't know about the particular ability to support so many devices, but I once did a good bit of research a while back on the best router, and this was what I ended up with:

http://homestore.cisco.eu/store/ciscoeu ... .241269400

Many people say it's the best router available. An old workhorse. I've had NO trouble with it at all. No resets, easy to administer, stable, no speed issues. It's proven to be a really stable piece of kit and it's still going!

That's a good router, I believe, but you may want to keep a few things in mind.

1. 802.11n is the "latest", sorta, but comes in a few flavors... 2.6ghz, 5ghz, or both. You want both, also known as dual-band. This will support all previous standards... 802.11a (which runs at 5ghz), 802.11b and 802.11g (which both run at 2.6ghz). If you get a single band version, it'll probably run at 2.6ghz, which means no 802.11a support (not a big deal) and it'll be a lot slower, since 5ghz mode can pass data more quickly (that is a big deal).
2. 802.11n isn't really the latest any more. 802.11ac is now being sold, even though it's not technically finalized yet. This is significantly faster than 802.11n, but of course, virtually nothing supports it yet. It is, however, backwards compatible with previous versions.

Regarding adding switches... that won't affect the quality of the connection or anything, so don't worry about it. As for managing that many clients, and doing it granularly, I don't know what would be best for you. I don't know if that WRT54gl will provide all the management tools you're looking for. I know a full-on Cisco router will, but the one I have cost about $800 and it's not exactly easy to configure. Finding one with an intuitive web interface and the power you're wanting will be no easy task, I imagine.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by having a built-in modem. What functionality were you looking for? Unless you're connecting to an analog phone line, I don't think modem is literally what you meant.

You're on the money there Satis. It's just that before now, I've almost walked home with a router that doesn't connect to the net itself, it's more literally just a network switch, for making you own LAN, not connecting that LAN to the Web. That's all