Need help buying a Wireless Router!!

Out of those the WRT54G2 is the only model I have used and I would recommend it. It, like the WRT54GL, can be flashed with open source DD-Wrt firmware. If you plan on using DD-Wrt down the road the WRT54GL can handle more fully featured versions since it has double the flash memory.

I would strongly recommend against buying a more expensive model for USB as these devices almost universally suffer from terrible USB file performance. Instead, consider plugging the printer and hard drive into an always-on machine.

DD-wrt is great. It has a lot of features that factory firmware does not have. Flashing a belkin is horrible. It took me 3 hours and many many tries to flash it. Stick with Linksys or Buffalo if you want to flash your router.

If you are a Mac guy, I highly recommend the airport express and the time capsule. If you aren't a mac guy, YMMV, as I haven't tried to set one up on a PC. I have used the Linksys WRT54G? I think? It was a pain for me to set up, but worked relatively well once set up. The apple stuff is way easier for me, and the wireless reception is far superior in my set-up.

I've had a few routers, including netgear and linksys, but my favorite has been my D-Link router. It's been the most reliable for me, with the Linksys being the worst (though it seems many people have great experiences with them).

Just my opinion. I would go for the d-link.

Based on that chart, it is not as wide as you said - but there still is a significant difference in download throughput performance between the D-Link Xtreme N DIR-655 and both of the Linksys G routers. The newer hardware revisions of the D-Link can sustain over 250 Mbps WAN-to-LAN throughput, versus around 72 Mbps for the Linksys WRT54G2 and 53 Mbps for the WRT54GL (though the WRT54GL is admittedly an older design). This speed matters only if you are using the wired connection directly between two computers with no Internet connection at all whatsoever. Many of the N routers have routing speeds in excess of 100 Mbps but do not have Gigabit Ethernet capability (the wired connection on such routers is limited to 100 Mbps).

If you are using the wireless connection, then of course the actual throughput will usually be much slower than wired (among the exceptions are those N routers whose wireless routing performance exceeds the capability of their 10/100 Ethernet ports).

And of course, if a modem for Internet connection to an ISP is connected to the router's WAN port, the maximum throughput between the Internet and your computer will be limited by the Internet connection.

And not all routers do superbly in all areas. Sometimes, a given router with outstanding wired performance will deliver mediocre or poor wireless performance compared to others of the same wired and wireless throughput rating.

And based on total simultaneous throughput results, the D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N router delivers nearly six times the performance of the Linksys WRT54G2 G router at roughly double the price. To me, the DIR-655 is the better value of the two, especially since it includes Gigabit Ethernet (all G routers to date have only 10/100 Ethernet). By contrast, if your computer has only a 10/100 Ethernet port, then your wired throughput speed will be limited by the 10/100 port even if your router has Gigabit capability.

The WRT54GL can have the antennas swapped, while I don't think you can with the G2. Wireless N is useful for file sharing on your network and streaming video across it and the like. If you just want to access the internet, it's greater range may still be of use to you. Do all of your computers have wireless N cards?

Many consumer N routers operate only on the 2.4GHz band. All of the N routers that I've seen which have a 5GHz operation also have a 2.4GHz mode (and thus are "dual-band" N routers). The 5GHz mode is used when less interference is desired (but at the expense of a shorter usable range), while the 2.4GHz band has a longer effective range (but may increase the risk of interference from or with other wireless devices).

The 3rd party firmwares are potentially much more stable than stock. I hear the G2 is a pretty good in stock form though. I have a 54GS that needs to be hard reset once or twice year. I've also seen a router that simply wouldn't handle any torrent traffic. In comparison, I had a GL with DD-WRT wirelessly bridging a signal from almost 100 yards away (with high gain antennas and the Tx power increased). It never hiccuped under a heavy load in an attic in Texas in the summer. One other thing you ought to be aware of is that the N devices tend to lose some of their speed when you connect a G device as well. All of them should be fine for just sharing internet in a 2k square ft. house, both speed and range wise. I would get N if you want to do any kind of file sharing or media streaming (particularly HD video) on your network though.