Newegg has the TRENDnet Wireless N Home Router TEW-652BRP for $30 with free shipping. One of the lowest cost N routers currently. Also includes a 4-port 10/100 switch for your wired devices.
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This is a terrible router.. I purchased it on a $29 Fry's special and have had lots of problems with wireless clients connecting to it using WPA2. My IBM Thinkpad would connect anywhere between 1mbps and 12mbps and keep switching speeds, and wouldn't keep connections to RDP sessions reliably. My TiVo connected fine with its Wireless G USB TiVo device, but transfer rates were slow. My Samsung LCD TV LN55B650 connecting wirelessly via the Samsung USB device would never connect. My Dell D800 connected just fine.
I looked for DD-WRT firmware, but it isn't supported on this router. A link on the DD-WRT forums says to dump the firmware for DLink DIR-615 but expect some issues. Here's more on that: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=43228
I happened to find a Linksys Wireless G for $6.50 at the thrift store and am happily using that. This TrendNET is now sitting on a shelf. Buyer beware.
It's the same price at Amazon, so for those in California, go there to save a few bucks in sales tax.
#1 Similar experiences with me too. In particular, worked fine for about 3 months, then heating/rebooting issues. It's a lot of fun (not) to sit there and watch the wireless connection drop--with no network activity--from 300Mbps to 150Mpbs all the way down to 1Mbps. I'm back with my old DLink 11g and the same set of machines maintain 54Mbps connection steadily, even with high traffic times.
I have setup a few of these without any problems. There is a firmware update on the TrendNet site. Past deals, these go for around $25. Considering it only has 2 x 2dBi antennas, wireless range is pretty good. TrendNet does sell a dual 7dBi antenna replacement that works with this router.
I do find that higher-end N routers give you better wireless speed. Currently using a TrendNet TEW-631BRP ($50 at the time) that has been solid for a year now. Compared to the TEW-652BRP, overall wireless speed and range is much better.
#4 Bought in February...installed 1.10B08 (the latest firmware) and ran well. Decided to move over to the modded DIR-615 firmware (much nicer interface) and it ran well. But around the 6 month point heat issues seemed to start up...doesn't make sense to buy a fan or mod it physically (install heatsink), with a $30 investment. But I suspect you're right...hard to find a sub-$50 11n router that's stable.
i have a similar model trendnet router. it works fairly well overall, but i wish that i spent a few more bucks and went with a better brand.
i doubt i will be buying trendnet again...
#5, you may find heat issues with more expensive routers too.
The typical solution isn't to put a fan in or heatsinks, just unscrew the case and drill a couple dozen (depending on their size) additional vent holes into it, particularly over the hottest areas and then the furthest areas away from those holes that aren't obstructed by something else. Not only does this often help with stability, it prolongs the lifespan quite a bit by reducing capacitor failure rates dramatically.