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Help! Wireless Networking Advice Needed...

golakers

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Hi folks.

I'm a Trek fan, but not very experienced in the tech realm. Here is my problem: I think we need a new wireless router.

Our current wireless router (an old Airport Extreme) is on its last legs. Connectivity and speed sucks - badly. We're talking 100-200 kb/s via a high speed cable modem. The cable company (Charter) checked our lines and other equipment. I've tried every potential fix/reconfiguration that I could find on the Internet, but it hasn't worked.

So, I'm looking to buy a new wireless router. I don't know what I should get - wireless n or wireless g? Netgear, D-Link or Lynksys? I'm not going near the near the new Airport.

We have two Macs in our 1,500 square foot home - one desktop 5 feet from the router and laptop we carry around the house. I also have a PS3 about 25 feet away from the router.

Any advice on what I should get - preferably under $125 bucks. Cheaper the better?

Thanks!

golakers
 
A g-band router should be fine, I would think. 802.11g is faster than your cable connection is ever likely to be, so you might as well go for that.

There is no reason you should have to spend over $50 on a wireless router, either. Personally, I find wireless routers are usually interchangeable--there is not much benefit to be had buying a $100 router over a $40 one. Most people just need encryption (WPA at a minimum), port forwarding (for games), and firewalling.

That said, most of the people I know, who are non-technical, buy Linksys routers. They're just really easy to set up. So, get yourself a cheap Linksys 802.11g router. I hesitate to recommend a specific model. Any of them should be fine. Just make sure you read some reviews on whichever models you look at.
 
There is no reason you should have to spend over $50 on a wireless router, either. Personally, I find wireless routers are usually interchangeable-

Yes and no - if you do downloading, a lot of routers cannot copy with the amounts of connections that torrent software wants to open and will consistently reset. So if you are going to do that, best to check online that the specific router you are going to pick up is ok for that purpose.
 
There is no reason you should have to spend over $50 on a wireless router, either. Personally, I find wireless routers are usually interchangeable-
Yes and no - if you do downloading, a lot of routers cannot copy with the amounts of connections that torrent software wants to open and will consistently reset. So if you are going to do that, best to check online that the specific router you are going to pick up is ok for that purpose.

Really? I didn't think much about that. I have a totally piece-of-crap Microsoft wireless router that I've used for years... short on features, but cheap. It always seems to cope just fine with torrents and other traffic with lots of transient connections.

I suppose this is why it's important to read reviews, though. Best to make an informed decision before laying out your cash. :)
 
Coincidentally, golakers, I've been on the phone for almost an hour with a support tech about my wireless router that just conked out. :wtf: I'm glad I read Joe's answer about resetting because the tech said nothing about that. I'm hooked up with my DSL cable now until I go through the long process of dealing with Verizon's techs and setting up wireless again.
 
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