The Best Skype Router

Curiously there is no officially recommended Skype router. There is a Skype cell phone, Skype wireless phone and lots of Skype headphones, but no router with a Skype badge of certification. It's odd because the adequacy of the router is Skype's weakest link. Skype will work with just about any router, but there are good and bad routers and their performance will determine whether a Skype user has an excellent or bad experience. In particular it's essential to use a router that can handle bandwidth intensive applications.


Cisco-Linksys E3000 High-Performance Wireless-N Router	D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N QoS 4-Port Gigabit Switch Simultaneous Dual Band Draft 802.11n Router	Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router

The D-Link DIR-825 N is an excellent solution for media intensive applications requiring lots of bandwidth. Transmission speed - 54Mbps. We don't know of any wireless router that has comparable signal strength and range. Well that was true until the Cisco-Linksys E3000 was released - Wow!!!

We made the move to "N" mode WiFi routers two years ago. While 802.11n is still a provisional standard it is solid. (The D-Link DIR-825 N uses the latest Draft 2.0 version of 802.11n). Companies including D-LINK, Belkin and Apple have been manufacturing "N" mode products for years. They work well and deliver a greatly improved Skype phone service. The improvements are presumably a consequence of "N" mode routers being substantially faster than the older 802.11 a/b/g routers.

We look forward to the day when routers have Skype pre-installed on them. It will then be possible to Skype without turning on a computer. Unfortunately the forums tell us that's not going to happen any time soon.

Skype's best kept secret - Skype Voicemail. Almost as good as Online phone numbers.