What do I look for in a wireless router???

[sooner45]

Hey guys! Im fixin to buy a wireless router for my laptop. Im not exactly sure what to look for??? I will only be using ot about 10-15 feet from thr router....on my couch. Is there any brand I should get?? Any types of speeds, if thats possible??? Anyway, I just dont know what questions to ask and what to look for? Anybody got any ideas??? Thanks guys!!

[DevilsDeity]

probably want a linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster.. its about 100 bucks and got better security features then the wrt54g which is 20 bucks cheaper ....

if money is a concern go with an 80211.b there like 60 bucks
there 11mbps. most cable modems are only 10mbps
so anything over that is a waste of money .

[DevilsDeity]

what i would do is save money and buy a 25ft cable and just plug it in like you said your only gonna be about 15 foot away

[sooner45]

what i would do is save money and buy a 25ft cable and just plug it in like you said your only gonna be about 15 foot away

Ive thought about that but I also have my home computer, with all my home emails.....AR stuff, etc. My laptop is for work use only, although I can get on the internet I dont surf AR, check home email, etc on it. So i would rather just get the wireless router so I dont have to switch the DSL modem back and forth..but anyway. I will just save $ for the $100 router that you suggested! I appreciate your help!! Thanks man!

[Elysium]

I have a

DLINK WIRELESS G ROUTER DL-624


Brilliant piece of kit, very stable and secure.

[arthurb999]

I have that router and it's awesome. I set up a home network to share the printer, I have a shared folder on my desktop, etc. It was a great day when I printed something off the internet from my laptop while lying in bed... ha ha...

[cb25]

I have a Netgear router...it was $15 after a $50 mail in rebate...works perfectly, and my room is probably 20 feet away from the living room where the router is, and through about 4 thick walls.

[Red Ketchup]

What kind of wireless LAN adapter does your laptop have?

If it's an 802.11b one, don't bother buying an 802.11g router... you'd be throwing money away.

If it's a g you have, go for the linksys WRT54GS mentionned above... if your laptop only has b (like mine), then go for a linksys BEFW11S4... they are giving those away for peanuts.

Red

[anaBROLIC]

dlink is crap, linksys is ok.. netgear is very good..

[MASStermind]

just look for cheapest one. They are all the same.

[Carlos_E]

Hey guys! Im fixin to buy a wireless router for my laptop. Im not exactly sure what to look for??? I will only be using ot about 10-15 feet from thr router....on my couch. Is there any brand I should get?? Any types of speeds, if thats possible??? Anyway, I just dont know what questions to ask and what to look for? Anybody got any ideas??? Thanks guys!!

802.11b
802.11g (just in case you upgrade your wireless card)
WEP encryption
Mac Address filtering
Port forwarding
Built in firewall (basic firewall)

Linksys & D-Link are inexpensive. I prefer D-Link.

[Tony Soprano]

D-link is great and has much better reviews than linksys. whatever you do, do NOT get a Belkins router

[Elliot]

i have the Netgear router mentioned above.. although 95% of the time its stable the rest it pings out casuing hell. also i was never able to leave the lappy up for more then 2 hours with out the router pining out meaning if you download large things u'll have to saty by the comp..

[Elysium]

dlink is crap, linksys is ok.. netgear is very good..

you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about

Dlink are very good, have always been good. They have the best wireless products for domestic users, at decent prices. They have the best reviews and are the choice of many small businesses.

I have had my Dlink router for over a year now and its never caused me any problems, very good router, good security and alot more "advanced" features than alot of the brands out there. Not to mention the new "super G mode" that Dlink uses.

The range is very good on these units also, i have the DL-624 model. I can sit in my garden with my laptop and access the network with a very good signal. I have it set up in such a way that as soon as my laptop logs onto the network it will access the internet and send my emails, for example driving into the garage... whilst im doing that my emails have been sent.

It is very easy to set UDP and TCP port forwarding too, very simple. The unit has a ton of walk through wizards which practically set it up for you. My router also has 4 ethernet ports for wired devices.

The firmware is also upgradable so that you will not be left behind when improvements are made on software etc.

The warrenty and support they offer are also very good.

My router has been running constantly for over a year, thats 24 hours a day and its very very stable and i would buy anything else for the price range.

[anaBROLIC]

Thats your opinion as well as my statement was. ya you can get a router from any brand that can possibly last years without a problem. my statement is based on the fact that i ran a computer department in retail for 2 1/2 years plus my roomate is a tech manager in a computer store.. we have 13 computers networked in our apartment right now.. we have used many routers before as well as ive had millions of feedback on routers from customers.. have you tried any others besides dlink to compare??

you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about

Dlink are very good, have always been good. They have the best wireless products for domestic users, at decent prices. They have the best reviews and are the choice of many small businesses.

I have had my Dlink router for over a year now and its never caused me any problems, very good router, good security and alot more "advanced" features than alot of the brands out there. Not to mention the new "super G mode" that Dlink uses.

The range is very good on these units also, i have the DL-624 model. I can sit in my garden with my laptop and access the network with a very good signal. I have it set up in such a way that as soon as my laptop logs onto the network it will access the internet and send my emails, for example driving into the garage... whilst im doing that my emails have been sent.

It is very easy to set UDP and TCP port forwarding too, very simple. The unit has a ton of walk through wizards which practically set it up for you. My router also has 4 ethernet ports for wired devices.

The firmware is also upgradable so that you will not be left behind when improvements are made on software etc.

The warrenty and support they offer are also very good.

My router has been running constantly for over a year, thats 24 hours a day and its very very stable and i would buy anything else for the price range.

[OGPackin]

IMHO Linksys is the best and easiest to work with...

OG

[PiecinItUp]

I plain ol hate wireless....untill braudband takes off their bandwith restrictions at least

[Elysium]

Thats your opinion as well as my statement was. ya you can get a router from any brand that can possibly last years without a problem. my statement is based on the fact that i ran a computer department in retail for 2 1/2 years plus my roomate is a tech manager in a computer store.. we have 13 computers networked in our apartment right now.. we have used many routers before as well as ive had millions of feedback on routers from customers.. have you tried any others besides dlink to compare??

Err well yes i have!

I work in Reading, England where the UK Microsoft is based, the network spans three buildings, including the surrounding grounds. I have worked for Microsoft for 2 years, and have worked within a retail computer store. At work we have upwards 1000 computers on the network. We actually use Cisco, as they seemed to be the best on a wide scale network. We play around with alot of equipment as in my department we loan out equipment to customers, and microsoft employees, we have routers from dlink, linksys, 3com, Trust, Belkin and numerous other brands. We have to make sure our laptops and pc we use are compatible with different brands of router, so we test all of them, dlink, in terms of domestic use came out on tops.

By the way im an IT Coordinator. Who looks after a team of 4 people, there are 4 teams and we ensure the hardware and software within the 3 microsoft buildings are kept working!

Shall we compare dick sizes now?

[Red Ketchup]

Shall we compare dick sizes now?

Ohhhh! ohhh! a cockfight!!!

Gentlemen, place your bets!

Red

[sooner45]

Hey guys, one more question.........If I buy just a regular wireless router from Best Buy/Circuit City, etc, will I still be able to access my VPN on my laptop for work from home?? Thanks guys!!

[I R Baboon]

you should be able to use VPN, wireless should work the same as any other type of router as the wireless part is just the medium it uses to send the signal. Its not a big deal and i dont know how many people on here do this but i always change the userid/pw b/c with wireless anybody w/ a PDA or such device can pick up a your signal and use your bandwith. It really only matters if you live in an apartment where a number of people will be living in close proximaty of you. If left on default anyone can get user name and password of the internet and therefore have access to your router.

[Elysium]

Ohhhh! ohhh! a cockfight!!!

Gentlemen, place your bets!

Red

Stop getting excited

[SickNasty]

yah you can access your vpn with the linksys 802.11b router thats what my dad uses and he works for General Electric

[sooner45]

yah you can access your vpn with the linksys 802.11b router thats what my dad uses and he works for General Electric

Thanks my man! Will I have any problems using it if I live in an apartment? Will I need some type of "firewall"????

[SickNasty]

do you work for GE?

My dad's friend says that at a certain hotel the internet sucks but if he drives like a block away he can unknowingly use someones wireless connection which was much better. this is why you need password protection.

There is instructions with the router to set up a private network that requires a password so noone else can use your internet connection. This negates using a firewall, unless you pissed someone off its not really needed. Hackers just dont maliciously attack people.

[Elysium]

There is instructions with the router to set up a private network that requires a password so noone else can use your internet connection. This negates using a firewall, unless you pissed someone off its not really needed. Hackers just dont maliciously attack people.

Hmmm not entirely true. A firewall is designed to keep people out of a network, not necessarily to keep people out of your router. If you had a router, and i drove by and decided to "hack" into it. A firewall wouldnt make the blind bit of difference as what i would want to do is get into the devices config page, where i can just turn off the firewall. Firewalls are important, but make sure you have a software firewall on each connected pc also. Plus, with MAC filters and 128 bit WEP Encryption with multiple keys you can make it very hard for someone to gain access to your existing network.

[sooner45]

Ok, well my I know I sort of asked this question, but when I went to buy the router yesterday at Circuit City they had a "regular" router and then they had some kind of "VPN" router??? Which one shall I need to be able to connect to my VPN for work on my laptop??/ Do I need the "special" VPN Router or can I just get the regular router? Thansk guys!

[The Baron]

If you stick with recent products from LinkSys, Netgear, or D-Link, you will be okay. If possible, stick with the same brand for everything. It may make the hand-holding configuration tools easier for a newbie to use.

Make sure that you use the WEP encryption and require a password. This helps to keep "war drivers" off of your network. While the router does serve as a firewall, you should also use ZoneAlarm or similar on each machine. Be careful about letting messenger have permission to access the internet or act as a server whenever it wants to. Lots of attacks involve using messenger to import or spread malicious stuff or private information. Do not give any program permission to send emails, either.

In addition to your firewall, you should run anti spyware of some kind, and keep your virus defs up to date. An always-on connection is a prize to hackers. They can do all sorts of stuff from inside your puter, like spamming millions of folks or running attacks on other folks that might be traced back to you.

[Soldier of Misfortune]

I just got a Netgear super G wireless router and two desktop cards at best buy on friday morn at 0530. It was normally 100 bucks but i got the router for 30 and the cards for 50 down from 70.

Also a 160gb hard drive for 30 down from 120 and a ATI radeon 9600xt graphics card for 100 down from 200. Ahh, I love rebates.