which wireless router should i choose? i'm stuck

hi there,

i'm looking for a wireless router (preferably with ADSL2+ modem built-in), i checked online and found out that netgear, linksys and belkin are good brands, than i looked into specific models and i got confused;

i read a lot (i mean A LOT) about people having problems with routers dropping connection, resetting and all kind of other problems; it's obvious that no product is perfect and one may encounter problems on virtually any hardware but c'mon... is it that bad?

basically i'm looking for reliable, stable router for about two or three laptops (all g-type of wifi) and maybe one more desktop (with cable connection, not wireless); i'm going to use it extensively with many kinds of services (p2p downloads, voip, online gaming etc); range is not that important, cause all clients are withins 5-10 metres radius and walls are not very thick;

any recommendations? i'll be glad to receive your input;

thanks in advance

 

most people having to reset their router constantly are probably running BitTorrent 24/7. heavy traffic will necessitate better hardware for stability.

 

thanks for reply guys, that gave me some idea what kind of hardware exactly i need;

h'anyway, do you really think that i need separate router between adsl modem and wireless access point? although i'd like to have an option to hookup good old fashioned network cable from router straight to my laptop (in case of... something) if my wireless connection is reliable enough i could stick to it... i could skip that above mentioned wired connection to desktop or just add wireless pci card there;

so now i'm thinking about getting solid accesspoint and just hooking it up to adsl modem... is it even possible? i've always using cable isp providers instead of adsl options

thanks again

 

hi,
i had a linksys wag54g for a year, it dropped out once maybe more every day and when it fell of the wall i smashed it up gladly. i then spent a resonable amount and got a netgear rangemax (nice blue leds), i switched it on at xmas and havent had to reset it yet! i can also get a connection down the road! when the linksys struggled to go up through the ceiling.
regards

 

I agree with ZX on that deal, but I am glad to see it works at tremendous distances. I just bought the WPN824 rangemax myself (should be in next monday), in the hopes that I could extend my range to my workshop, about 75 feet away from my router. No worries for me with network jumpers, I have several acres between me and my nearest neighbors, and live down 1/4 mile driveway.

 

ZX has a home user's wet dream of a network setup. Rock solid and great components. And actually given the ever increasing amount of data people are pushing and pulling though their wires it is really the way it needs to go in the future. Specialized devices to manage the different needs. A router, a wireless access point and maybe a print server somewhere in there. Maybe even a SlingBox to stream video around the house from one place.

It is all going to increase the processing overhead on each device. That means more heat generation. With the heat comes component failure. So many existing consumer grade components will at least run better if you add a fan to move out the warm air (just like with out laptops.) And/or upgrading each component to a business class device.

The difference between consumer and business grade devices is just how much data they can handle w/o overheating. It's funny though if you have a consumer device that is like 5-7 years old it likely is far better built then new devices. Especially the fan/power supply. Back then they usually used the same basic pieces for each device and the line between consumer & business level devices was much less obvious.

If you do go with more consumer level type equipment always keep a spare around if you really need the network running. That is a given in business networking.

I use just a couple devices and have all my printers networked in...there are just two of us and I get great results from a Linksys WRT54g (it's either rev. 3 or rev. 4) It's a pretty flexible device and has not given a bit of problem in 2 yrs. or service running 24/7. So I can recommend that router. The bonus is you can buy them locally if you have a WallyWorld near by for around $50. Of the consumer lever WiFi routers it is the only one I have used beyond a Dlink DL514+ which lasted about a year then ate itself...no more Dlink for me...and I used to by their stuff when they were brand new and a small company could order wholesale directly from them.

But after reading what ZX has done...I wanna do this whole thing over and done the right way. I am soooo jealous, especially as I recall he is saving to add a CISO to his network....coolness!!

By you can do it cheap and easy, something like the Linksys wrt54g, or go higher end and modular...I chose the former because, well, I am old and burnt out on this stuff... It's pretty much all plug it in and it works kinda stuff...unless of course you are dealing with Verizon and their POS modem is in the way. Setup a neighbor who we had to spend over 3hrs troubleshooting only to find out that Verizon has their modems setup is some "super secret" mode so at the time a person had to call support to reprogram the DSL modem to get it to talk with any routers...gawds love Verizon....

 

D'oh!! of course!! that might even be fun to do...thanks!!

 

I heard a lot aboutg dd-wrt and how amazing they are. So maybe get a linksys router that is capable to flash to dd-wrt?