Routers

[Kenshin Himura]

Can anyone suggest some great wired routers for gaming purposes? I'd rather not go wireless, as I've dealt with one in the past, and it was not a very pleasant experience.

I'm not too familiar with routers, so Tails and I have having trouble finding one that has a lot of bang for the buck. I know we've got a few routing/networking guys here, so I figured I'd get some advice from the experts.

Thanks.

[mapes]

For home use the belkins or netgears are great. I really haven't had a problem with em. I don't like linksys or dlink . I've had problems in the past with those although some folks on this list say they're ok.

[BenKenobi]

IDK I've got a linksys, and it hasn't broke for a very long time..... at least 4-5 years

[Kenshin Himura]

Is there anything specific I should be looking for? Tails and I are planning to use it to for gaming purposes, so we'd both we online at the same time. I know gaming can be quite demanding, so is there any specifics we should be checking?

Thanks.

[CarbonFire]

Well, there are "gaming" routers out there, though I'm not sure how well they work. Supposedly they push game packets through first, so it may improve your connection when having multiple people playing a game at the same time. Honestly, I think your connection to your ISP is going to make a bigger difference there, so I'm not sure it's all that worth it. Someone who owns one might know better though.

You could also get a Gigabit router, which will transfer files between your computers at 10X the speed of older, cheaper 10/100 routers that most people have. You have to have gigabit cards in your computers to take advantage of this though, and the older/cheaper the computer/motherboard, the less likely you are to have Gigabit built in.

Honestly, unless your needs stretch far beyond just general shared internet access and gaming, any typical router from a good manufacturer will do the trick. If you feel it's really necessary to get the absolute most out of your connection when both of you are playing games, then look at the "gaming" routers. Otherwise just get something like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127091
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124001
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833105049

Of course, you could always get a wireless router and just use the wireless feature later on down the line, but those will cost you another $30+

[BenKenobi]

Ive got the second carb listed!

[Kenshin Himura]

Well, there are "gaming" routers out there, though I'm not sure how well they work. Supposedly they push game packets through first, so it may improve your connection when having multiple people playing a game at the same time. Honestly, I think your connection to your ISP is going to make a bigger difference there, so I'm not sure it's all that worth it. Someone who owns one might know better though.

You could also get a Gigabit router, which will transfer files between your computers at 10X the speed of older, cheaper 10/100 routers that most people have. You have to have gigabit cards in your computers to take advantage of this though, and the older/cheaper the computer/motherboard, the less likely you are to have Gigabit built in.

Honestly, unless your needs stretch far beyond just general shared internet access and gaming, any typical router from a good manufacturer will do the trick. If you feel it's really necessary to get the absolute most out of your connection when both of you are playing games, then look at the "gaming" routers. Otherwise just get something like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127091
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124001
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833105049

Of course, you could always get a wireless router and just use the wireless feature later on down the line, but those will cost you another $30+

Thanks, that answered a lot of questions.

I wasn't sure if we were going to need something higher due to our needs, but as long as it'll hold the connection while we're both gaming, I have no real complaints.

Based on the reviews, I'd say the third choice (3com 3CR858-91) is looking best so far. After digging through multiple reviews on quite a few routers, this one seems to have consistent and excellent performance.

[{CLR}geneSW]

i've got a Linksys WRT54GS and I like it, it's wireless but I don't even notice it half the time when she is on because i'm set-up in a DMZ.

[Kenshin Himura]

My Dad used a Wireless router, and it seemed really convenient not having to worry about wiring and such, but it seemed to have a nasty habit of dropping connection. It wasn't all the time, but it seemed like it had some bad days pretty often. At first I thought it might have been because it was going through two walls, but I've heard a lot of people say that they do the same and have little to no trouble.

[TheSilentAssassin]

I have a Linksys WRTG54 router. Basic, simple to set up, cheap, effective, and provides a 128 Bit encryption. No problems to complain about, just the rare disconnect...my sister has too many computers on the internet at the same time

[mapes]

One thing to look at if your looking at wifi routers is if you have cordless phones they will make you lose connection if the phone use 2.4 ghz range.

[mapes]

I have a Linksys WRTG54 router. Basic, simple to set up, cheap, effective, and provides a 128 Bit encryption. No problems to complain about, just the rare disconnect...my sister has too many computers on the internet at the same time

Just out of curiosity when you say 128 bit encryption...in what way?

[{CLR}geneSW]

WEP 128 bit...

[mapes]

WEP 128 bit...

Ahh your right most likely I was thinking hmmm please clarify it could do SSL 128(HTTPS), IKE 128(VPN).

[CarbonFire]

Don't use WEP....its painfully easy to bypass. The key is transmitted with the packets it sends, so anyone can capture it and sneak onto your network. WPA, while not perfect either, at least gives you SOME protection.

Kenshin, also keep in mind that no router is perfect. They deal with a heavy amount of data on a regular basis, and no matter what happens, sometimes they won't perform as well as you'd hope. Also remember that just about every router out there needs a firmware update at one time or another. Especially, it seems, in the consumer space.

I posted that 3Com router there though because it did have a better rating than most, so take that with as large a grain of salt as you'd like That or the D-Link look like decent options. For the record, I've had problems with routers from just about every manufacturer, so I tend to look at these things on a case-by-case basis, not a "this brand is good, that one is not" approach.