NationStates Jolt Archive

i want to get a router for my flat because there are two of us here and we often both need the internet at the same time and my flatmate wants to be able to use her webcam in her room so she can speak to her boyfriend.

anyway, our internet connection is 2megabyte broadband with telewest (soon to be virgin media). my laptop is the oldest from 2003, it doesn't have an internal wireless thingy although it can take a wireless card. my flatmate's is almost as old but it can do wireless itself. we used to have a linksys router in our old flat but it wouldn't work with my computer and even the computer people we know couldn't figure out why, i had to attach an ethernet cable instead, but i could connect just fine to the university wireless thingy, don't know what system they use.

all these routers have all sorts of different numbers and letters after them but they all look the same so i don't know which one does what and what numbers and letters i need it to have on the end. our budget is about £40 and i've mostly been looking at amazon.

can anyone give me any pointers. (in layman's terms, please :))

no-one want to help me :(?

a.k.a. BUMP! ;)

*has no idea*

*streaks the thread instead*

:)

I wish someone would help you because I'm thinking about updating my wireless router--it's only about 6 years old now and I think it's having an effect on my laptop's ability to access the internet at home. It's gotten to the point where when I'm at my desk, I just plug into the thing instead of using the wireless.

Close your eyes and point.

I like the Linksys WRT54GL (http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1133202177241&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper) for b/g, but that's because you can chuck out the Linksys firmware and replace it with DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php).

I like the Linksys WRT54GL (http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1133202177241&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper) for b/g, but that's because you can chuck out the Linksys firmware and replace it with DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php).

ah thanks, i'm probably better with somehting that already has good firmware though cuz i don't know what that is.

Wish I could help you there but I only use cisco kit...

Wish I could help you there but I only use cisco kit...

is cisco expensive or something? i (vaguely) know the son of one of their directors, maybe i could get some cheap... hmmmm.... no probably not.

is cisco expensive or something? i (vaguely) know the son of one of their directors, maybe i could get some cheap... hmmmm.... no probably not.

It wasn't back when I used to drink it. ;)

It wasn't back when I used to drink it. ;)

i had to look it up. "known as 'liquid crack', for its reputation for wreaking more mental havoc than the cheapest tequila." sounds awesome!

is cisco expensive or something? i (vaguely) know the son of one of their directors, maybe i could get some cheap... hmmmm.... no probably not.

Its enterprise stuff...the aeronet product...

It wasn't back when I used to drink it. ;)

Ok...now I'm worried...wasn't cisco the name of some kind of cooking oil???

i had to look it up. "known as 'liquid crack', for its reputation for wreaking more mental havoc than the cheapest tequila." sounds awesome!

It's the only alcohol that ever made me want to fight, and I'm as peace-loving a drunk as you'll ever find.

How do I choose a wireless router?You don't.

You buy some ethernet cable, some wall sockets, those things that hold cables to walls. Then you download an image that tells you how to wire a wall socket for a RJ-45 jack. Finally you go out buy some wire strippers when you find you really pretty lazy and can't be bothered to strip wire with just a knife.

Advantages:
- your network can't be hacked by those bastards next door who want to steal your bandwidth.
- no signal loss problems
- the landlord likes the idea as it makes the flat more attractive to future tenants. I even got mine to pay for the materials, and give bit of the next month's rent for labour.
- cheap wireless routers suck and I have never seen one work decently.

You don't.

You buy some ethernet cable, some wall sockets, those things that hold cables to walls. Then you download an image that tells you how to wire a wall socket for a RJ-45 jack. Finally you go out buy some wire strippers when you find you really pretty lazy and can't be bothered to strip wire with just a knife.

Advantages:
- your network can't be hacked by those bastards next door who want to steal your bandwidth.
- no signal loss problems
- the landlord likes the idea as it makes the flat more attractive to future tenants. I even got mine to pay for the materials, and give bit of the next month's rent for labour.
- cheap wireless routers suck and I have never seen one work decently.

unfortunatley i don't have the time or the inclination to start any sort of DIY project, no matter how small.

i'm not too worried about people stealing bandwidth seeing as i've done it myself and i'm big on sharing. and when i leave this flat i have to pay for the removal of any fixtures i install if i don't remove them myself. that includes even curtain rails and would certainly include this sort of set-up.

it's a wireless router or nothing, i'm afraid.

unfortunatley i don't have the time or the inclination to start any sort of DIY project, no matter how small.

i'm not too worried about people stealing bandwidth seeing as i've done it myself and i'm big on sharing. and when i leave this flat i have to pay for the removal of any fixtures i install if i don't remove them myself. that includes even curtain rails and would certainly include this sort of set-up.

it's a wireless router or nothing, i'm afraid.Silly boy. :p

Anyway, like I said you can get the landlord to agree to have the work done and to have it stay their permanently.

And if I can get a guy who is self employed as a consultant for two companies and a producer for another to make his own wired network then you have no excuse. His girlfriend caught him taking his laptop on holiday so that he could keep on working.

You don't.

You buy some ethernet cable, some wall sockets, those things that hold cables to walls. Then you download an image that tells you how to wire a wall socket for a RJ-45 jack. Finally you go out buy some wire strippers when you find you really pretty lazy and can't be bothered to strip wire with just a knife.

Advantages:
- your network can't be hacked by those bastards next door who want to steal your bandwidth.
- no signal loss problems
- the landlord likes the idea as it makes the flat more attractive to future tenants. I even got mine to pay for the materials, and give bit of the next month's rent for labour.
- cheap wireless routers suck and I have never seen one work decently.

Well you can restrict access via mac address...that should prevent dodgy access...and its easy to admin with only two machines...of course you need to change the admin console password....

Well you can restrict access via mac address...that should prevent dodgy access...and its easy to admin with only two machines...of course you need to change the admin console password....I know... there are plenty of ways to secure a wireless network. Encryption, turning off broadcast of SSID, restricting the IP pool to the number of computers on your network, tying IPs to MAC addresses and so forth. But wired is safest as they have to physically break into your house to connect to the network.

The main reason I have a wired network is that the staircase in the house manges to pretty much completely block the wireless signal. My computer is about 10 metres away from the router.

Silly boy. :p

Anyway, like I said you can get the landlord to agree to have the work done and to have it stay their permanently.
i'm not sure though, my landlord is a big national company which keeps changing hands. they're not big on flexibility and accomodation and are almost impossible to get hold of for anything.. it explicitly states in my lease that any alterations we make must be returned to the original state by the time we leave.
And if I can get a guy who is self employed as a consultant for two companies and a producer for another to make his own wired network then you have no excuse. His girlfriend caught him taking his laptop on holiday so that he could keep on working.

i'm a work-shy technophobic student with a 12,000 word dissertation to research and write in just 2 months ;).

i'm a work-shy technophobic student with a 12,000 word dissertation to research and write in just 2 months ;).
Well, you've got seven weeks to get your wired network sorted out then...;)

My computer is about 10 metres away from the router.

Get a new router.

Get a new router.My landlord isn't sure what's in the staircase walls so a new router might be pointless. Besides, I have a wired network now and it works fine.

i'm not sure though, my landlord is a big national company which keeps changing hands. they're not big on flexibility and accomodation and are almost impossible to get hold of for anything.. it explicitly states in my lease that any alterations we make must be returned to the original state by the time we leave.Ah... a company... why didn't you say so... My landlord is a person and not a company. Much more agreeable.i'm a work-shy technophobic student with a 12,000 word dissertation to research and write in just 2 months ;).Well, you've got seven weeks to get your wired network sorted out then...;)

I like the Linksys WRT54GL (http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1133202177241&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper) for b/g, but that's because you can chuck out the Linksys firmware and replace it with DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php).

The only good part about that router is the fact that you can get rid of the shit firmware that is on there ... I much preffer buffalo brand

What i'm most confused about is what these numbers mean:

54Mbps Wireless-G - i guess this is the speed it can cope with or something, my connection is up to 2megabytes so i guess this router could cope with that. i don't know what the G stands for though. if it has a G on it is it somehow better than if it doesn't?

802.11g - I have no idea what this is about - i notice that wireless cards also have this sort of number on them, do they have to correspond for the whole set up to work?

What i'm most confused about is what these numbers mean:

54Mbps Wireless-G - i guess this is the speed it can cope with or something, my connection is up to 2megabytes so i guess this router could cope with that. i don't know what the G stands for though. if it has a G on it is it somehow better than if it doesn't?

802.11g - I have no idea what this is about - i notice that wireless cards also have this sort of number on them, do they have to correspond for the whole set up to work?

Welcome to the wonderful world of IT standards :p

http://standards.ieee.org/wireless/

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireless80211/a/aa80211standard.htm

http://www.networkworld.com/topics/wireless-standards.html

http://www.ieee802.org

The only good part about that router is the fact that you can get rid of the shit firmware that is on there ... I much preffer buffalo brand

Several buffalo routers are broadcom-based like their Linksys counterparts, hence why they can also run DD-WRT.

Welcome to the wonderful world of IT standards :p

http://standards.ieee.org/wireless/

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireless80211/a/aa80211standard.htm

http://www.networkworld.com/topics/wireless-standards.html

http://www.ieee802.org

thanks, that second link was very useful :)

i recommend Netgear stuff. all their kit is designed to work together and is damn easy to set up (when i first set up our home WLAN i had no clue what i was doing, but it was easy, and have since set up ones in offices)

the only complicated bit is setting security, but follow the manual and you'll be fine

Pick the one with the fewest STDs.

i recommend Netgear stuff. all their kit is designed to work together and is damn easy to set up (when i first set up our home WLAN i had no clue what i was doing, but it was easy, and have since set up ones in offices)

the only complicated bit is setting security, but follow the manual and you'll be fine

thanks :) they look good, prettier than the lynksys ones too

Various reviews are here: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/reviews.html

802.11g == Wireless-54g, by the way. 54Mbit/second wireless networking. Pretty much everything you get nowadays is 802.11g, but there's a new one coming soon (802.11n?) which is faster. Not sure if that standard's been set properly yet, so I'd be a bit wary of it.

Firstly, do NOT get or trust anything from Linksys...EVER! They are severely lacking in the help-desk department and haven't proven to be useless to mediocre. The hardware is finicky and it doesn't have a long life as hardware should.

If you invest in the right router, you can get a good run from it.

We have a D-Link right now. It's given us reliable service, but it has reset itself at odd times, typically it targets my boyfriend's router. Other than that, it has no downtime.

SMC is my preferred company for routers. I haven't tried SMC for wireless, but, the wired one I had for about three years and it gave me solid service until my dad tried to connect its laptop to it and sent my poor router to the emergency ward. I miss my SMC router. I was never disappointed. It did everything I needed it to do, even though it wasn't wireless and the router interface was simply.

Cisco routers are excellent for security, but not something for beginners. It's better if you want to special your network and create subnets if you've got users who are a liability and may inadvertently download viruses and other malware. Their own subnet will protect the network.

You can always find a Cisco router at eBay. You'll have to do research on the router itself before bidding. Some are better than others, and typically cost more than a basic start-up computer that you see in a store like Best Buy or Future Shop.

In terms of price, D-link was more than SMC, but both have so far served me well. Linksys is lousy in pricing. What you pay for a Linksys is far too much given the unreliable nature of Linksys hardware. Cisco is expensive but they are very good for security buffs.

I've seen lots of people bitching out Linksys, but the one I have now I've had for nearly six years and I've never had any problem with it. I've carried it all over the country and never had a beef. It's just old and slow now, which is why I'm thinking about upgrading. Have they had a major meltdown in the last couple of years or something?

Firstly, do NOT get or trust anything from Linksys...EVER! They are severely lacking in the help-desk department and haven't proven to be useless to mediocre. The hardware is finicky and it doesn't have a long life as hardware should.

If you invest in the right router, you can get a good run from it.

We have a D-Link right now. It's given us reliable service, but it has reset itself at odd times, typically it targets my boyfriend's router. Other than that, it has no downtime.

SMC is my preferred company for routers. I haven't tried SMC for wireless, but, the wired one I had for about three years and it gave me solid service until my dad tried to connect its laptop to it and sent my poor router to the emergency ward. I miss my SMC router. I was never disappointed. It did everything I needed it to do, even though it wasn't wireless and the router interface was simply.

Cisco routers are excellent for security, but not something for beginners. It's better if you want to special your network and create subnets if you've got users who are a liability and may inadvertently download viruses and other malware. Their own subnet will protect the network.

You can always find a Cisco router at eBay. You'll have to do research on the router itself before bidding. Some are better than others, and typically cost more than a basic start-up computer that you see in a store like Best Buy or Future Shop.

In terms of price, D-link was more than SMC, but both have so far served me well. Linksys is lousy in pricing. What you pay for a Linksys is far too much given the unreliable nature of Linksys hardware. Cisco is expensive but they are very good for security buffs.

yeh, lynksys are pretty useless in my experience too. we used to have a lynksys router in our old flat and we had to re-set it almost every day (sometimes several time). plus they are really ugly.

I've seen lots of people bitching out Linksys, but the one I have now I've had for nearly six years and I've never had any problem with it. I've carried it all over the country and never had a beef. It's just old and slow now, which is why I'm thinking about upgrading. Have they had a major meltdown in the last couple of years or something?

Pretty much! :p

I've seen lots of people bitching out Linksys, but the one I have now I've had for nearly six years and I've never had any problem with it. I've carried it all over the country and never had a beef. It's just old and slow now, which is why I'm thinking about upgrading. Have they had a major meltdown in the last couple of years or something?

i didn't even know wireless had existed for six years! i thought you must have meant months in your original post here.

i didn't even know wireless had existed for six years! i thought you must have meant months in your original post here.

Wireless was one of the few instances where I was an early adopter. Came from having three people and four computers with only one dsl modem in a house. ;)

thank you for the help and tips everyone :)... now i can say:

"Look! No wires!!!11 w00t!!" :D

while we are here...
are the USB clips as good as the PCI cards ???

i want to get a router for my flat because there are two of us here and we often both need the internet at the same time and my flatmate wants to be able to use her webcam in her room so she can speak to her boyfriend.

anyway, our internet connection is 2megabyte broadband with telewest (soon to be virgin media). my laptop is the oldest from 2003, it doesn't have an internal wireless thingy although it can take a wireless card. my flatmate's is almost as old but it can do wireless itself. we used to have a linksys router in our old flat but it wouldn't work with my computer and even the computer people we know couldn't figure out why, i had to attach an ethernet cable instead, but i could connect just fine to the university wireless thingy, don't know what system they use.

all these routers have all sorts of different numbers and letters after them but they all look the same so i don't know which one does what and what numbers and letters i need it to have on the end. our budget is about £40 and i've mostly been looking at amazon.

can anyone give me any pointers. (in layman's terms, please :))

Jeez don't bother, stick with ya good old wires.

Jeez don't bother, stick with ya good old wires.

too late, i got one now. anyway, we have multiple computers with only one ethernet port in the modem and no option for laying extensive cables from a wired router.

while we are here...
are the USB clips as good as the PCI cards ???

i haven't heard one lauded over the other. i got a PCI card because my USB ports are designed stupidly so that only usb cables rather than sticks can fit in them.

too late, i got one now. anyway, we have multiple computers with only one ethernet port in the modem and no option for laying extensive cables from a wired router.

Ahhh well, I hope you got ya self a good firewall then.

Ahhh well, I hope you got ya self a good firewall then.

well it says it's firewalled. i wouldn't know how to tell if it was a good wall or not.