What Wireless Router should i buy?

Hey guys i don't know much about wireless router. I am going to read the guide later but can you guys recommend some routers for me. I want to use the router for gaming etc So ill need it provide my with good bandwidth. Also is there a way on routers where you can set how much bandwidth each computer gets?

Question # 2
What is wireless N (draft) like i know its the fastest one but what is it and G , B etc.
How do i check what my network card supports?

When you guys recommend a router please provide a link to it. So i can read up on it or buy it.

 

hi lavitz

you could try doing a search as we answer this about every 2 or 3 days.........

dlink
linksys
netgear

etc..........

Google...........

 

and don't get caught up in the numbers game. a 54g router will basically do it for all real-world intents and purposes. keep in mind your internet connection ain't nowhere near 54mbps, so having 54mbps is just for head-room if you have files to move between your networks. the N ones do offer a lotta range, but N cards in notebooks are a rare matter.

you got a fancy laptop, so it'll have b/g built in, and possibly even A. look under device manager to see what card you have.

get a wrt54g from linksys, or start your research there. its a winner all-around

 

thanks guys yeah. I look at couple routers. ill post em here when and you guys can give me some opinions on them.

I have the Intel wireless wifi link 4965AGN. is that the right network card. Also it says
802.11n channel width
802.11 n mode. does this mean it supports N draft?

 

Yes it supports draft N. The latest and greatest driver updates will update the firmware as well so long as there are firmware updates that is. N is a viable option if speed is a requirement. If not then stick with G until N prices come down more.

 

so N gives more speed? how much more? and help better range?- Explain please thanks!
Why would i want wireless N? what is the best wireless i can get. Btw what does it even mean wireless N , g its connection type? or what. Can someone list me an order of whats the best to least and explain why which one is better.. LOL i should just read the guide - Lazy me :S

~ Thanks

 

Read my sig... I get 270Mbps with my router and the 4965. (meaning I can transfer a file to a remote mapped hard drive about as quick as I can to the local one in my system) You have to be around 20-25 feet though. After that it drops off to low 100's or less. As far as range my router is far superior to anything I have owned before.

Yes N is a new designator like G. It is called "Draft" N because the standard is still in draft form and has not been ratified yet. Ratification is expected in or around a year.

 

is it worth chippin out the etc 50+ dollars to get draft N? or just go get a decent router like this one.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=9546&vpn=WRT54G&manufacture=Linksys

Or should i buy this one? Btw why is it so much cheaper then other wireless N routers?
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=26528&vpn=DIR-615&manufacture=D-Link

 

Why is it more expensive? New = more

Only you can decide if it is worth it. Can you afford the extra $50 or not? Do you need the speed or not? Faster routers don't necessarily reflect a faster online speed. There might be a drop in latency and a slightly better, more efficient processors handling the packets that might help things a bit but I wouldnt expect night and day change at all.

I have N because I want to wirelessly edit video's from a large NAS or remotely mapped share on my local network and have "like" locally attached hardware performance. Otherwise I would not have bothered.

 

No i was asking why that wireless N router is cheaper then the other N draft routers and why is that linklys router cheaper then the other ones? What should look in router to decide if its worth the extra buck. I looked at the speed etc they all the seem to be same but there is a price difference.

 

There are a lot of different N routers. Look for a dual band unit capable of both 2.4 and 5ghz. they will be higher prices. The Dlink 655 and the linksys wrt600n are like routers and can be had for around $130 to $150

 

dual band router --> 2.4 & 5Ghz.......capable of transmitting simultaneously- dual radios is the very best......... IMO.........

as stated, they will come down in price, BUT, why spend $50-$80 on a new G router when you can put that money towards a new N router....

I love my Dlink DIR 655, but it is a single BAND router-- but w/ DLink adapters, it hits 300mbps easily........ the same goes for other single band N routers as long as you use matching adapters-- dlink-dlink, linksys-linksys, etc.

many laptops have the intel 4965 dual band N card, but to hit 270-300mbps w/ it, it has to be used w/ a dual band N router as I discussed. Otherwise you will be limited to 130mbps.........

 

130 mbps is more then enough. I wont be transfering big files over the network. Just make of 10 gb.But i will be doing gaming over the network and that seems to be covered by G based router as well. Does my internet speed have anything to do with a router? does it get affected alot? I am gettin 10 mb dl 1 up in couple of days. So yeah.

 

gonna add my experience in this... i think this has everythign to do with my router bc, my m15x downloads stuff 50-100kb/sec on my wireless-g, and about 500kb/sec on my wireless-n.... can't guarantee you will! but that's what's happening for me...

(on school internet i download at over 1000kb/sec), if it's early enough in the morning i've hit over 2000kb/sec =D

 

hmm.. wow. Thats a huge jump. I think i will get wireless N. But now there cheap wireless N routers
like the Belkin F5D8233 N
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=27627&vpn=F5D8233-4&manufacture=Belkin
here is a link to all the routers i am looking at.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1051&subminorcatid=356
as you can see there are alot of cheap ones and alot of expensive ones. I can't really defrenciate good wireless N routers from bad ones.

What should i look for?

 

read about them here:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

 

Sorry avoiding a new thread start since it would just clog up the forums

I am buyin a wireless N router but I only have Intel wireless ABG (Dell wanted 150$ for N so i said eat it) Anyways I can buy this card that comes with the router to support Wireless N. Is it compatible with the Vostro 1500? it appears to be the standard for wirelss.. Would be great to know.. Sorry I am a n00b with routers etc. Also Would it be better to get Cat 7 over Cat5 cables?

Thanks Sorry

 

I dont know if the vostro 1500 has the internal antenna or not for N by default but I don't see why it wouldnt. I bought a 4965 AGN on ebay from a guy for $25 and installed it in my laptop and they auctioned off the 1395 that came in it for $25 hehe.

I had the internal antenna for it so I just replaced what I had. You would most likely need the same type card mini PCi Express and you could replace what you have.

I have seen a lot of Atheros pundits on here talking about how they kick butt. I can only tell you the internal 4965 I bought works great and is flashable to new firmware. Assuming no drastic changes in N's current protocol then it will be flashable to the ratified version in a year or so.

 

Assuming is for home network use, why would you like to buy an expensive router when the connection to the AP is much inferior than what the router can handle?

My 4965 AGN can go up to 300Mbps if the router can handle that speed, but my WAN AP traffic is 15Mbps DL and 1.6Mbps UL, so I currently have a cheap router working at 54Mbps and my 4965 AGN is working at 54Mps as a consequence.

Now, if you home network has a few computers interacting with each other (games) needing that high speed, then I would suggest to go with an expensive high speed router.

 

So, i bought a new N wireless router, but when i drag my mouse over my connection in the windows network/sharing window it shows that my radio output is 802.11g rather than N. I checked my connection speed on CNET but it reflects that I am a grade higher than T1 connection speeds. Is there something i need to do to change the radio output? Does it makie a difference?

 

nscp2005,

More info would help.... what kind of "N" router, what kind of wifi card. Brand and model please.

Not all are set up to work properly together out of the box so some tweaking will most likely be necessary.

 

....g means 54Mbps between the router and the computer wireless nic, if your nic also supports N then something wrong.

BTW, a T1 is 1.544Mbps, but this is the DL between the router and the AP, which doesn't apply to your communication between the RT and the Client card or nic.

 

I have a 1505 wifi card (believe it is draft N) that came with my dell xps 1530 and am using a Belkin N (not N1) wireless router

 

THere is probably some tweaking that needs to be done but unfortunately I have not used a Belkin in a while.

 

Well for the amount of downloading i do (mostly music and video steamings of The Office (lol =/) it still seems very quick. I'm getting around 400kbps on downloads, but i was just wondering why the radio output was reflecting G rather than N.

 

That may depend on your OS... I thikn I read another thread where someone talked about that. You might search to see whats up. I think the other guy was running XP and it was something like "Xp doesnt understand N" type of answer.

 

hi

let us know what your router settings are.............. but belkin sort of suck and are not very reliable........

I found this in the forums on your card:

recently installed two laptop and a wireless home network. One was an
Inspiron with the referenced Dell Wireless N mini-card. The other was a Dell
XPS notebook with an Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N mini-card.

The Dell wireless adapter had two issues.

1) It's range was quite poor. Just going across our house (60 feet or so)
and the signal degraded to "fair or poor". My XPS with the Intel wireless
adapter saw "strong to excellent signals" in the same location.

2) Even when operating in the same room as the wireless router the Insprion
was very unreliable coming out of sleep mode. The only solution that I found
that worked every time was to wait at least 7 minutes (sometimes as long as
10 minutes) and your connection would be re-established. Sometimes the
"Diagnose and Repair" path (Control Panel -> Networking -> Network and
Sharing) would work (either reset adapter or request new IP address). But
sometimes it wouldn't and sometimes it would take multiple tries. My
tentative conclusion is that it was doing nothing helpful and was just a way
to pass the time while your connection finally got re-established. My XPS
with the Intel card takes (usually) 5-10 seconds and occasionally 30
seconds, but never longer.

I would strongly suggest that folks buying the Dell Insprion laptop avoid
this Dell Wireless adapter - the Intel is a relatively inexpensive upgrade
for this machine ($25). Or you can take my path where you buy the Dell
adapter and Dell will work on your machine remotely for several hours and
finally send you the adapter upgrade for free