Easy question about M1530 wireless N card and router.

I am moving to Tuscaloosa to attend the University of AL August 1, and let me say I hope my XPS gets here before I move. I order it on July 3.


My XPS came with the wireless N card, and I was wondering if you guys would recommend me getting an N router or the regular G. My place is 1300 sq. feet but I am not necessarily going to be using internet throughout my whole apartment. I am also going to running an ethernet cable to my XPS desktop.

So, based on what I have told you, which one will be the easiest/ most economical solution for me?


Thanks for the input guys!

 

Linksys N router, wrt600n or the new wrt610n

your n card has to use the 5Ghz band to achieve 300mbps.

 

You might as well get the wireless N router to take advantage of the wireless N card.

 

i was in a similar situation.

decided that 300 was a better number than 54 =P

i ended up gettin the Linksys WRT350n

 

And I will be able to hard wire my XPS desktop to the N router?


Sorry for the stupid questions, but I have never screwed with a wireless router.

 

If you get one of those enhanced G ones that go at like 108+ Mbps you might be set. Also look at what you'll be using it for--

For web browsing and anything that requires less than about 10 MB/s (mega bytes, not mega bits-- you'll get upwards of 15 with good signal) you can stick with G.

For moving files across a network and streaming HD videos, get N. You can also use better wireless security with N while maintaining fast transfer speeds. N has ridiculous range and if you have it unsecured people will surely be leeching off of it from who-knows-where.

Edit: Yes, most routers come with a few Fast/Gigabit Ethernet connections on the back (Fast = 100Mbps, Gigabit = 1000Mbps).

 

Yeah you will. For example these have gigabit ethernet ports.

TRENDnet TEW-633GR

LINKSYS WRT600N

 

That's true. If I'm paying for this internet by myself then I want to be the only one using it. If I knew someone else was on my internet it would bug the **** out of me....

 

Meh...you could get a gigabit router but the network card in the m1530 has gigabit support disabled (even though it's a gigabit card). Screw Dell for that one.

 

If your going to be on the school's network, I can almost guarantee you will not be taking advantage of any gigabit high speed network. Gigabit is only useful for transferring large files or many small mp3 sized files within a local network (think roommates).
If it was me, i would get an old wrt54 router and flash it with hyperwrt or tomato just so you can screw with your roomates' privleges.