Our office has about 12 people all connected to the internet via a cable modem. We have burnt out 3 cable/dsl routers so far, probably because of the amount of traffic we are pushing in/out, which is a lot. Can anyone please suggest a source for a cost effective router/firewall that is more suited to a higher volume of data. Wireless access is not a priority, 100-BaseTX is fine.

Thanks.

I use Netgear MR814 its on 24/7 donwloading or uploading with a cable modem (5000 down / 800 up)
Had no problems so far.

What types (brand & model) routers have you gone through and what other type of networking equipment is on your network? It's hard to recommend something without knowing the layout of the network, but I'm thinking it looks something like this:
Cable Modem---->Router---->Switch--->Patch Panel--->Computers
I might recommend:
Cable Modem--->16 Port Router--->Patch Panel--->Computers

Now the question is which router? Take a look at Netgear &/or Linksys. Your looking at a cost of $250-$400. All depends on the features you need & want.

Question: Is the area where the router sits well ventilated and cooled? Maybe the routers are overheating.

The routers have been 4-port Linksys and D-link. They aren't getting noticeably hot to the touch, although the server room (closet!) is probably warmer than it should be.Yup!
We don't need anything beyond what's provided by a standard home router. BTW I really don't think much of Netgear kit.

Well, if your buring through them, then you do, or there might be another reason why the routers are dying. Is the equipment plugged into a battery backup / surge protector?

I mean, we don't need any more facilities then those provided by a home router, although the hardware seems to need beefed up.

What happens is that a routers will start to occasionally lock up, and the frequency of lock ups will increase until we have to replace it. Wierd!

Have you upgraded to the latest firmware on your routers?

It could simply be a bug that has since been fixed.

sounds like a heat problem.

routers dont "burn up" from heavy bandwidth use. Home routers may crash and need to be rebooted, but they wont burn up from heavy use. Perhaps you should look at your power etc.