haldir Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Like many technological items, there are many wireless routers & brands out there but which is the most reliable?? I've looked at Belkin, Linksys, & Netgear. Out of those 3 Belkin is the one I've looked at the most & if not for my local Walmart being out of stock last night I'd have one right now, ha ha. Anyways, what I'm wanting to do is this: Connect my computer (Win XP now, will be Vista or 7 later), a Wii system, a netbook & eventually a ather XP computer. My computer & where the router will be upstairs, the other 2 items will be downstairs & of course the netbook will be everywhere. I want Wireless N for my router. Now I see dual band & single band, how much interference will be there if I go with just single band? I'm looking to spend about 60 to 100 (cheaper being on the scale). The ones I've been eyeballing are these Netgear - RangeMax WNR1000 Wireless Router Netgear - RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router (this one is a bit out of the price range but I'd make an exception) Cisco Linksys Wireless N Router, WRT120N Cisco Linksys WRT320N Wireless N Dual Band Gig Router Belkin Wireless-N Broadband Router This is the one I've been looking the most & would have been the one I bought last night. Thanks for any help on this one. RM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof65 Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Personally, I've used Linksys, Belkin, D-Link and Asus routers. Hardware wise they're all decent, but the firmware in all of them is pitiful compared to the open source DD-WRT firmware. If you can flash your own firmware, or know someone who can, I'd go with any router that can take the DD-WRT firmware - I reflashed both my Belkin and my Asus with it - I have my Linksys sitting by to be flashed when I get a chance. Info here: htttp://www.dd-wrt.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I've been using a Linksys wireless N router for several years now. I've got one laptop (vista) hardwired to it, three other computers (1x vista and 2x linux), a Wii, and occasionally two cellphones. I've not had any problems with the router that I can trace specifically to it. Usually I've got to constantly reset Comcast's modem. Now if I could get the vista and linux boxes to talk to each other and share files between them I'd be set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dargrin Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I have a Netgear but I wish I didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Sundseth Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 I've been using a Linksys wireless N router for several years now. I've got one laptop (vista) hardwired to it, three other computers (1x vista and 2x linux), a Wii, and occasionally two cellphones. I've not had any problems with the router that I can trace specifically to it. Usually I've got to constantly reset Comcast's modem. Now if I could get the vista and linux boxes to talk to each other and share files between them I'd be set. FWIW, I spent about 3 hours with a friend who is a telecom engineer working on my Netgear router recently. It turned out that by default the router was publishing the MAC address of the computer I set it up with to my ISP (Comcast) rather than publishing its own MAC address. When we changed this default (and hard reset both the router and the cable box), log-on speed increased dramatically, cable-box reboots dropped to effectively zero, download timeouts stopped, and I could access my network-enabled printer. I had previously had a Linksys router that exhibited the same behaviors, but I could never figure out how to fix it.) So, if you've accepted the default setup for Linksys, you might want to see if Linksys has the same setting default. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof65 Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 Usually I've got to constantly reset Comcast's modem. I went through a period of doing that every couple of days - they insisted nothing was wrong, swapped it out 3-4 times, then one day the issue just went away. Comcast still claims it must of been something on my network. I have a Netgear but I wish I didn't. It may be the firmware, rather than the hardware and you might be able to do something about that. Take a look and see if your model is supported by DD-WRT: http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database I didn't much care for my Belkin until it got reflashed with the DD-WRT firmware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 A friend hooked me up with a second-hand Belkin, which has given me hardly any trouble at all. The first few days we had it set up (routing for our Motorola modem that ATT.net provided), I had to reset almost daily. After about a week, the need to reset almost completely went away. I think I've had to do it four times in the past 9 months since the initial first week of service...and two of those times were following power outages. As for range, I have all four bars all through my house..which is amazing since my cell phone experiences a few "dead zones" in certain parts of my house. FWIW Linksys must be pretty good range-wise too...because IF my ATT net goes out, I can boondock off the unprotected Linksys router down the street. :D As for setting up a wireless local network..I need to do that too. Any recommendations for a site where a somewhat-informed compu-novice might find useful help and suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof65 Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 As for setting up a wireless local network..I need to do that too. Any recommendations for a site where a somewhat-informed compu-novice might find useful help and suggestions? A trip to the local bookstore or library should net you some books or magazines on the subject, like the Dummies or Complete Idiot's guides. The information is out there on the net, but there is so much available that it can be hard to find truly useful info in one place, especially if you're not asking the right question. The books or magazine articles have the basics covered, which leads you to do more informed searches online when you run into the inevitable problem that seems to be unique to your situation. I feel like I'm being an advocate for the DD-WRT firmware here, but one of the major advantages of it is not only does it have just about any feature you'd want, the interface is the same no matter who makes the hardware you install it on. I used to recommend only Linksys routers and such to my friends/family, simply because that is what I had and could help them with, now I'm the same way with the DD-WRT, although it's a bit more upfront work because I have to help them re-flash their firmware. That may change, however - Buffalo will be shipping routers with the DD-WRT firmware preinstalled later this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orcsoul Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 http://www.practicallynetworked.com/ is a great resource for networking howtos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethohman Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 I have a D-Link wireless N router. Been working with 0 issues for 1.5 years. Quick log-on. Never had to reset after a power outage / cable modem outage. Connects to the Wii in the basement just fine. Highly recommended from me, and doesn't require any 3rd party memory firm-ware upgrade, that immediately voids any warranty that a new piece of equipment comes with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorderl Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 +1 for the DD-WRT firmware I use it with 2 of my Linksys routers, one is set as an extender, which i could not normally do with the standard Linksys firmware, but because of the DD-WRT firmware i'm able to. The best part is that you can get some of the older wireless routers very cheap on ebay and apply the DD-WRT firmware, and like magic you'll have a GREAT router I would recommend checking DD-WRT site on which model routers to look for also, in the past i've seen routers on ebay with the DD-WRT firmware installed but they cost more, in the event your not confortable doing it yourself. But i'd say it not very difficult once you've read the steps and following them completely good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Thanks Orcsoul for the link suggestion. I even found an article on getting my XP-Pro machine to network with the new Windows 7 one. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy of Windows 7 For Dummies so at least one person in this household will know how to use all those other new bright-n-shiny Microsoft thingamabobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haldir Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into the dd-wrt site, sounds like something that might work for me. So I went to Waldoworld again tonight & now I know why that router was OofS, they made room for the new Belkin routers (the surf, play, etc etc)---oh boy!!! Most reviews I've seen say they are pretty much junk right now. So looks like I'll either order online or buy one, next time I'm over in Boise. Funny, Ontario's business slogan is "Shop local!", kinda hard to do when nothing is in stock locally!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haldir Posted April 29, 2010 Author Share Posted April 29, 2010 Well I ordered a router today D-Link DIR-615 Wireless N Router - 300Mbps, 802.11n, 4-Ports with shipping it came out around 58 bucks. I got a 40 dollar check/rebate in the mail so made it out to 18 dollars, happy with that!! Bad thing is gotta wait till the 5th next month to go wireless with the netbook. Since I just got it, I need to do somethings with it (any updates, get my stuff on there, epically gaming books, as this will be my "gamebook" for RCON, etc etc). Other then I'm happy with my choice. I'll look into that firmware update thingee in the near future thou. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethohman Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 FWIW, that is the D-link I have and I really like it, as previsouly stated. I would try it out for a while before doing anything to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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