Help with new router purchase

Hi, I'm planning on going to buy a new router today and need some advice. I've read Nick's sticky and it is very good but still leaves me in a gray area. So I thought I'd ask for a more discrete opinion.

My first router was a Linksys wireless-b router which I had for over 2 years. It worked great but I wanted to upgrade. In the past couple of weeks, I received a free dlink di524 with my new laptop and set that up and I think it's horrible! Far too many signal drops! "Easy" setup wasn't easy at all although their service helped me through....took 4 hours and 3 people to figure out the problems.....so it wasn't me!!!

So after setting up 3 wireless routers (the other was my gf's Linksys-b router), I think I have passed the "beginner stage" and can pry set up more advanced routers. With that in mind, I need some help with what I should buy (most likely at compusa, cc, bb, or j&R).

Most basically, I need a router that can increase performance on both wireless b and g laptops (there are 3 g's and 1 b). From the reviews I have read, all I see is performance increases on wirelss-g devices, but no real mention of wireless-b. As I live in NYC, I have a lot of brick to go through to get from one end of the apt to the other, so I would say the distance range I'm looking for with great performance and speed is between 100 and 150 ft. Also, lack of signal drops is important. Price range is less than 130.00 (but hope to find one that is much cheaper!)

I get very much confused with all this MIMO and enhanced G and SRX technology sometimes and just want to know which will work best in a mixed b/g envt AND and will improve range and performance for both! Any help asap would be much appreciated. I am going to buy this afternoon/evening....

 

Try looking at netgear, they are pretty high quality for reasonable price.

 

this should do well:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833122016

 

I ended up not buying a router yesterday in hopes of doing a little more research. I am thinking about the Linksys WRT54GX2, Netgear WPN824, and DI-634M. Again reliability is an issue as well as range. Anyone want to indulge as to which one I should lean towards?

Other questions:

Is the Linksys SRX their version of MIMO?

And does anyone see a significant increase in reliability and range with the new MIMO routers?

Basically, should I spend the extra money and get one of these MIMO routers?

And finally, I do not plan on buying the matching wireless cards, do these models require the matching card to increase performance or will I see an increase performance on our existing wireless cards? remember, there are 3 g's and one b laptop in my apt.

 

Some useful posts here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=44184&highlight=router

 

Go with the Netgear. I think its the best out of the ones you listed

 

Personally I prefer the linksys one

 

Linksys is more advanced, and is very hard to setup compared to Netgear

 

Thanks Nick and grid. I have set up Linksys routers before and yes they can be tedious, but nothing I can't handle. The Netgear worries me becuase I feel I need to buy a Netgear card to get results. Also, I don't know if it will increase range and performance in the 11b laptop. It does look nice (not sure about the big blue light on the top tho...)

Nick, What are your thoughts of the new MIMO technology?

I have officially eliminated the Dlink. I might try buying the Linksys, see how it goes, and if not satisfied, exchange it for the Netgear.....

Thanks again guys!

 

I would get the Linksys then. They are better routers, but of course, not user friendly at all.

If you want a powerful router, i would go with a Linksys SRX router.

Mimo is basically just a stronger signal, which is the same thing as Linksys's SRX

 

I have the WRT54GX2 by Linksys and consider it an outstanding router. I originally started off with a WRT54GS and it didn't have the range to reach one of the rooms in our house over the garage so I ended up using it as a bridge in the garage and going with the SRX200 which has incredible range. I can walk out of my home and across the dirt road in front of my house which is over 100' and still have a very good signal. Keep in mind that the SRX is in the basement with concrete walls all around. I think part of the issue with the original GS was that there is aluminum backed insulation in the garage and there isn't a router made that can penetrate that. As far as setting these systems up, if you can handle this without Linksys support, you're a better person than my buddy and I and my buddy is incredibly educated in this field. I went with the SRX200 after I had read that there were frequent drops with the SRX400 and with my 200, I haven't had a drop in over two months. Just my two cents!
Good Luck,
Ed

 

Thanks Ed! Im sure somewhere in the process I will have to call Linksys to set up the router. I guess that's the least of my worries overall. As long as it performs as expected, then I will be very happy, no matter how hard the set up.

BTW, I went to Bestbuy and both the Linksys and Netgear were on sale for $99.99! So I didn't think that was bad at all!

I'll follow up with my review of this router when everything is up and running. If anyone has any suggestions as to set up, etc, please don't hesitate to post!

 

Make sure you disable the SSID broadcast, and enable MAC filtering when going through the settings.

 

Alright, I have it all set up and everything. It didn't have a wireless connection (the light on the router was off) until I upgraded the firmware which was annoying. It works good when the router is connected. However, intially, I was getting some frequent disconnects (there was a wireless connection but no internet). I'm wondering if it is the internet connection itself vs. the routers I have been using. I will see how it works overnight. If I get anymore disconnects, I will be very tempted to go back and exchange it for the Netgear.

....I thought Linksys was good in not disconnecting which is why I'm wondering if the problem is my internet connection. I checked all the wires and they seem to be tight. Either way, I'm crossing my fingers for a good experience.

Nick, can you tell me why I should disable the SSID and enable MAC filtering? I'm assuming it's because it enhances security? If I do, would I have to do that to all the computers that are going to be connected or just the primary laptop? I'm still learning security features 101, so any help would be great....thanks!

BTW, i just got disconnected as I was typing this post....grrrr

 

Yep, disabling SSID broadcast and enabling MAC filtering are great security steps to take with your network.

As for your issues, try updating your wireless card drivers inside your laptop and see if that helps.

Dont worry now, when this is all setup and working, you will enjoy wireless and discover it is a great thing

 

Nick, I updated my intel wireless driver but now it seems my netscape runs much more slowly than before. Also, even more annoying is that although I am connected wirelessly, my intel device manager doesn't recognize my card anymore (although the windows does). Before, I was able to click on it and it would let me choose what frequency I could connect to as well as bluetooth.....

 

I would try different drivers then. Believe it or not, some drivers (either old or new) work a lot better than others.

So go to the Intel website, and try some different drivers for your card

 

Thanks Nick. I figured out my problem and repaired the program. It works now!!

 

Great! What did you change?