802.11n router with USB 2.0

[Snyder]

Well, I decided to pass my trusty WRT54GL on to my sister, so I'm looking for a replacement.

The features I'm looking for (in order of importance)

a) USB 2.0 connection which is able to be used for Mass Storage and _especially_ for unattended downloading of stuff (via HTTP/FTP). Bittorrent would be a nice bonus, but not mandatory. Other P2P I don't care about.
b) 802.11n wireless (well, my mbp has it - and you have to go with the times...)
c) Possibility for alternative OS (OpenWRT et al.)
d) Gigabit Ethernet.

I know only of the Asus WL-500W to have feature a) out of the box - although the linux-based/busybox-including boxes should be able to do something with wget, don't they?
The Belkin N+ and the SMC Barricade WGBR14 have a nice hardware feature set, but I'm doubtful of the software...

Any other suggestions?

EDIT: Of course - transmission/reception quality shouldn't be below average (at least not too far...)

 

[INKster]

I'd definitively recommend the Asus WL-500W.
Of all the ones i've tried, that had consistently the best speed and signal reliability.

Be aware that the USB 2.0 mass storage option in it only supports FAT32 and Ext2 file systems (important for large capacity hard drives with big files, etc).
There is a free software application somewhere that enables seamless read/write to Ext2 volumes directly within Windows.
Google it.

 

[Snyder]

Thanks, the WL500W is already on top of my list. I would have bought it already, but I have conflicting information about its WiFi quality (and it doesn't have Gb LAN, but you can't have everything for that price... ).
May I ask which WLAN chipset you use it with, and in what kind of scenario (distance, obstacles between router and client)?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Ouch dunno what I'd do without my Gb LAN. I'm still relatively impressed by my Dlink DGL4300. Far better than the Linksys and Netgear routers I've had. But I've heard speed for P2P is rather spotty depending on which Dlink router you get. Not sure if they even sell this model anymore.

I've also been incredibly impressed by the speed and stability of Buffalo routers that i've used in Japan. They've been able to handle 100 Mb FTTH really well. If I had to replace my Dlink right now, I'd probably replace it with a Buffalo.

However, I don't know if any of them support USB 2.0 mass storage devices. Not something I look for. Likewise with the unattended downloading since I use my file server for those duties.

Someday I'm going to look into setting my file server up as my router also, but don't have the time to research good firewalls and routing software.

Regards,
SB

 

[BRiT]

The defacto for firewall/routing is m0n0wall or pfSense.