Wireless Routers

[Schultzy]

My GamerLounge went out on me this week.

I need to replace it.

To say that the newer networking stuff out there is above my head is somewhat of an understatement.


This is about all I am connecting to it:
My phone in wifi mode
My computer via CAT6
My laptop - infrequently, older model
My PS3

Possible expansions include a Wii and a newer laptop.


What kind of options do I have? I don't intend to spend a bunch of bucks... But i need something stable for the PS3 at the very least. I've had problems with "Cheap" routers in the past, else I wouldn't ask... But I am also on a tight budget.

[Devilguns]

My Lounge bit the dust too, I replaced it with this:

http://www.netgear.com/home/products.../wndr3700.aspx

It has a street price of about $100. When coupled with the right cards you can hit 600mbps over the air. And it gives you a slew of cool features.

[Caddys83]

Dont you guys jinks me. Mine still runs like a champ. (knock on wood)

[Schultzy]

My Lounge bit the dust too, I replaced it with this:

http://www.netgear.com/home/products.../wndr3700.aspx

It has a street price of about $100. When coupled with the right cards you can hit 600mbps over the air. And it gives you a slew of cool features.

Right cards? I don't intend to buy other hardware.

[Devilguns]

You don't have to buy anything extra. I just made mention of it just incase in the future you decide to get an N compatible device you could take advantage of the extra performance.

[Schultzy]

Newegg.com - NETGEAR WNR2000-100NAS Wireless-N Router 802.11b100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4

Newegg.com - NETGEAR WNR3500L-100NAS Wireless-N Router RangeMax Opensource 802.11b USB x1

Those are a slightly lower.. I guess I don't quite understand the purpose of the dual band.

What does the dual band provide? Mind you, the use of the wireless devices is not something that happens ALL of the time. But when it does happen it needs to be stable.

Nor do I have alot of items running wireless all at once.

[NateTheBrewer]

If you have an old machine you can turn it into a corporate-grade router/firewall with pfSense... I am running these at home and saw in improvement in torrent performace too... tiny little underpowered routers can't handle that much traffic well... Then you hang access points off of it, which you can do using old wifi routers as well after you deactivate the routing functions.

My house has a pfSense router in the basement, and an access point on the ceiling of the basement under the living room, then another access point ont he 2nd floor at the other end of the house. They both have the same SSID's and encryption, non-overlapping channels, and I can freely walk from one are to the other, and the adapter on the device you are using figures out what is the strongest signal and reconnects without you noticing....

[Schultzy]

That's not cost effective at all for what I am doing. O_O

[juneau]

My Lounge bit the dust too, I replaced it with this:

http://www.netgear.com/home/products.../wndr3700.aspx

It has a street price of about $100. When coupled with the right cards you can hit 600mbps over the air. And it gives you a slew of cool features.

I'm looking to pick up that router sometime soon. Need to replace my ageing d-link.

[mapes]

Dual band wifi usually means 802.11 B/G and 802.11 A. Meaning you can have two networks in two different ranges of frequency. One for B/G and one for A. I run both A and B/G. Just because I used to live in a very wifi crowded area and back then hardly anyone used A so no interference. Looking at your nodes I really don't think you need it. PS3 is B/G, your phone is prolly B/G, your laptop is prolly B/G. I wouldn't worry about upgrade ability as these are pretty much disposable boxes after they die. It looks like you don't need N since nothing you have runs it.

A couple things need to be mentioned about stability and wifi. There is only a finite amount of frequency. So if you have a bunch of neighbors on the same band and on the same channel as you you will lose throughput. Also if you have a network of all G devices and then put a B device onto it the entire wifi network slows down to B speeds.

I would prolly just go out and by a B/G router Netgear box. They seem to me to be slightly above linksys and dlink in build quality and to be at a decent price.

If you're in a crowded wifi space go and download Netstumbler on your laptop. This will show you what networks are out there. Then set your network to the channel that has the least amount of access points on it

[WalkinTarget]

I have the WNR3500 linked above that I picked up as a refurb from Fry's IIRC. For $35, it was a very good deal and its been running flawlessly for over a year now.

Best deal I found was on the 3400 from the Egg currently listed at $35. Can't link it from work tho

[Schultzy]

A couple things need to be mentioned about stability and wifi. There is only a finite amount of frequency. So if you have a bunch of neighbors on the same band and on the same channel as you you will lose throughput. Also if you have a network of all G devices and then put a B device onto it the entire wifi network slows down to B speeds.

I would prolly just go out and by a B/G router Netgear box. They seem to me to be slightly above linksys and dlink in build quality and to be at a decent price.

If you're in a crowded wifi space go and download Netstumbler on your laptop. This will show you what networks are out there. Then set your network to the channel that has the least amount of access points on it

Thankfully, I own a house. So my choice of wireless networks is limited.

I'll have to check out the netstumbler. Will it tell me what frequencies are being ran? Is there something specific I need to check out to make sure I get the right router?

[mapes]

It will tell you what bands/channels are being used. find the least used channel and set you AP to that

[Nauticas]

Newegg.com - Linksys WRT54GL Wireless Broadband Router 802.11b

That is what I have and this is great if you want a simple router. It has 4 ethernet ports, which is enough for what you have and the wireless works great.

It has a nice web based interface and has good security options and is what I recommend for a home that does not need a switch/patch panel setup.

[Quamin]

Newegg.com - Linksys WRT54GL Wireless Broadband Router 802.11b

That is what I have and this is great if you want a simple router. It has 4 ethernet ports, which is enough for what you have and the wireless works great.

It has a nice web based interface and has good security options and is what I recommend for a home that does not need a switch/patch panel setup.

It's 802.11b/g in case you get confused by the missing /g

I have had 3 (different firmware versions) of this router and it's a consumer award winner. Never had a problem with it! You can flash it with an open source firmware and have boatloads of additional functionality. It's quality and usefulness is hard to come by so I'd get that! Sure it's not 802.11n but for managing a wired and an advanced wireless g network, it's not one to pass up!