Buffalo's WZR-HP-G300NH is our pick for best value wireless router this month

Buffalo was among the first to produce dual-band 802.11n routers, but it hasn't refreshed its top-end models for some time, instead concentrating on single-band 2.4GHz models.

It seems an odd approach until you look at the performance results: the WZR-HP-G300NH - an unassuming 2.4GHz single-band router on paper - blows away much of the competition.

Not only was it the fastest in our close-range test, achieving transmit and receive rates of 123Mbits/sec and 109Mbits/sec respectively, but it also came a creditable fourth in our long-range tests, with speeds of 46Mbits/sec from router to laptop and 65Mbits/sec when sending files back to the router.

It's second only to the Belkin Double N+ in overall performance, and backs this up with a fantastic array of features. Four Gigabit Ethernet ports ensure quick wired and wireless speeds.

A USB port allows the use of external hard disks and flash drives as network attached storage, with not only media server facilities but also BitTorrent.

Meanwhile, for business users there's a hardware PPTP VPN server built in, which offers clients secure access to office network resources over the internet.

There are a couple of weak areas. The administrative pages are messy, and if you live in an area with much 2.4GHz interference, you'll miss the flexibility of a 5GHz option.

But for $124 you could buy one, couple it with a DrayTek Vigor 120 Modem ADSL setup (see right), and still have change from $200. An excellent buy.

• 
  Billion's BiPAC7300N wireless router is good value for under $150
• 
  D-Link's DSL-2740B, an impressively fast router for under $130
• 
  Linksys by Cisco WRT610N excels in dual bands with long range
• - Labs Winner -
  DrayTek's Vigor 2110n a great value wireless router that's now on our A-List
• 
  TP-LInk's TL-WR1043ND wireless router suffers from poor range, low price and no dual band
• 
  Belkin's Double N+ wireless router excels with great performance and quick speeds
• 
  D-Link's DIR-855 wireless router suffers from poor range and sky high prices
• 
  Linksys by Cisco WAG320N lacks critical dual band function
• 
  Belkin's N+ ADSL router lacks whistles and bells, but gets job done
• 
  Netgear's WNDR3700 wireless router has the speed, but lacks the range
• 
  Netgear's DGND3300 ADSL router is let down by poor performance