Need a wireless router

[JE78]

I'm in need of a wireless router. I'm moving next week to a 2 floor aprtment. My computer will be in one of the bedrooms upstairs along with the cable modem and my girlfriends laptop will be every where else. I'd like something that is secure and a transfer rate of 108mb/sec since I share alot of files over the network. As of right now this is the only one that has cought my eye.

D-Link

I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to wireless so any information is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

May be this can Help.

Wireless What Should I Get?

:sun:

 

[JackBurton]

I highly recommend this one. Great range and extremely stable.

 

[JE78]

thats a little more than i wanted to spend but i'll consider it. The one i posted in my first post is now $40.

 

[Rickten]

bite the bullet get the wrt54 from linksys, put some third party firmware on their and be done with it. I've dealt with many brands and there is always issues but this setup seems to have the least.

 

[nweaver]

realize that even the "108" stuff is a lot slower then regular wired network. 108...more like 10.8 under the most ideal

 

[jlbenedict]

Honestly, I'm not much of an expert when it comes to wireless equipment. I just actually got my first wireless router last week.

After reading hundreds of reviews and still couldn't decide, so I bit the bullet and I ended up getting this for $84.99: D-Link DWL-926 - Wireless 108G Laptop Kit
This combo has the DI-624 wireless router and the DWL-G650 cardbus adapter. D-Link also has a $40 mail-in rebate going on for this package, so when its all said and done, you can get this for $44.99; not a bad deal.

So far, I haven't experienced any issues with it. I read all the horror stories from the Newegg reviews about how most of these wireless routers always lose their internet connections, and losing sync with other wireless devices on the network.

So far, I have had none of those issues, so it may just be a few bad eggs in the batch.. but who knows.

 

[JE78]

I went with the D-Link WBR-2310. I've had it hooked up for almost 24hrs and haven't had any problems as of yet. It was simple to install, and get the wireless working and put some security on it. The only thing I don't get it is, it says the speed is up too 108mb/sec but when my laptop is connected it said its only connected at 54 mb/sec. How do I change that or don't I?

 

[computerABUSER]

bite the bullet get the wrt54 from linksys, put some third party firmware on their and be done with it. I

I just got this one last night wrt54-G but the G version so is there anything that I should know
or do while installing it, any tips??

I've been using a DLink but I wanted to upgrade my wireless so I was reading the .pdf file from their web page and it looks a little complicated...

 

[jlazzaro]

setup on all of these is pretty universal...

login with the default admin password and change it to whatever
change the ssid if you want
using the built-in dhcp server? keep the default range/mask
enable WPA security, use a nice long key
wouldnt hurt to enable mac filtering, just another layer
open/forward any ports you use for certain software

connect and enjoy...

 

[ChiPCGuy]

All I can say, from my experience, is NOT to buy D-Link wireless routers. I am sure many people are not having trouble, but I have recently had two negative experiences with D-Link DI 5 series and DI 6 series routers, and it was sheer coincidence that I happended to come across both in the same week. Both routers, with the latest firmware and the latest drivers on the wireless Intel NIC in the notebook computer(s) were unable to make WPA encryption connections with the D-Link routers (unable to obtain an IP address). This occurred on a Dell notebook with an Intel 2200BG and a Toshiba with an Intel 3945ABG mini-PCI NIC. WEP encryption worked fine, but that is hardly the ideal solution. At no point could I get WPA to work, at all. This is not good. I am hardly new at this, so it was not me

As for my recommendations, I would highly recommend a Buffalo like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833162134

or, even better, a Linksys like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124190

With the Linksys, just be sure to get the -GL version of the router, which is flashable with third party firmware, like the excellent Hyper WRT Thibor firmware which has a great number of improvements over the stock firmware and allows you to CRANK the power output to nearly 3X what the router defaults to out of the box. The link to the Thibor firmware is here: http://www.thibor.co.uk/ and you want to use the latest 15c version.

 

[erikistired]

dlink routers are about the only ones i haven't had bad luck with. avoid the linksys wrt54g v5, it's junk.

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Originally posted by: fisher
dlink routers are about the only ones i haven't had bad luck with. avoid the linksys wrt54g v5, it's junk.

Correct, the latest WRT54G v5 is definitely not worth consideration--it cannot be flashed with 3rd party firmware due to a crippled feature set. The GL version is the best of them, and I can say it is very good as I have installed a few and never had an issue.

 

[computerABUSER]

...avoid the linksys wrt54g v5, it's junk.

Where do I locate the v5 at?

 

[erikistired]

on the bottom of the router, altho somewhere i saw serial numbers (?) posted that corresponded to the version. i'm not sure if it was on here or from a google search tho, sorry.

 

[computerABUSER]

So there is a wrt54g v5, and a wrt54g unit? the reason I ask is, if I open the box up and find that it is a V5 version if I take it back there is a 25% restocking fee...

 

[rivan]

WRT54g is up to at least v6 - that's what I picked up this weekend. It also cannot be flashed and will be going back - range is terrible.

 

[fixxxer0]

DO NOT GET A LINKSYS!!!!

I have both the wireless 4 port and wired, internet connection drops out every half hour to hour and then comes back on in about 20 seconds. EXTREMELY ANNOYING. Also noticed the speeds dropped to half of what I could get when directly connected to the modem. I would hit 1.65mb/s downstream and with the Linksys, max was 800-900 and it would drop off and throttle out at lower speeds for no reason. I tried all different firmwares and some are better than others, but ALL have the problem.

I got a Netgear and the connection speed is exactly what it is with the modem connected directly to the PC, no drop outs, extremely happy.


Also, if you google around the net, you will see this is NOT an isolated problem. Linksys has yet to resolve it, through both hardware and software revisions. Pathetic!

 

[computerABUSER]

Thanks for the heads-up guys, its a good thing I didn't open it yet I'll be taking it back probablt tomorrow and getting something else...I'll report back in and let you know what I had decided on so we all cam still compare WIFI notes!

Later

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Originally posted by: computerABUSER
Thanks for the heads-up guys, its a good thing I didn't open it yet I'll be taking it back probablt tomorrow and getting something else...I'll report back in and let you know what I had decided on so we all cam still compare WIFI notes!

Later

If it is the GL version of the router, you are making a mistake by doing this. The GL version of the router is a different animal and works well--especially with 3rd party firmware. If it is one of the other versions (the plain WRT54G v5 or higher), then I would say return it for reasons other stated. The Buffalo High Power router I linked to above is also an excellent router.

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Originally posted by: fixxxer0
DO NOT GET A LINKSYS!!!!

I have both the wireless 4 port and wired, internet connection drops out every half hour to hour and then comes back on in about 20 seconds. EXTREMELY ANNOYING. Also noticed the speeds dropped to half of what I could get when directly connected to the modem. I would hit 1.65mb/s downstream and with the Linksys, max was 800-900 and it would drop off and throttle out at lower speeds for no reason. I tried all different firmwares and some are better than others, but ALL have the problem.

I got a Netgear and the connection speed is exactly what it is with the modem connected directly to the PC, no drop outs, extremely happy.


Also, if you google around the net, you will see this is NOT an isolated problem. Linksys has yet to resolve it, through both hardware and software revisions. Pathetic!

Your issue is very common to those using a WRT54G v5 or higher. Is that what you are referring to when saying not to buy the Linksys? Please specify exactly what router you are talking about at least by base-series (G or GL type) before making a blanket statement like this. The GL version (WRT54GL) is recognized as on the best routers that can be bought.

 

[ChiPCGuy]

Originally posted by: computerABUSER
So there is a wrt54g v5, and a wrt54g unit? the reason I ask is, if I open the box up and find that it is a V5 version if I take it back there is a 25% restocking fee...

The modeling goes like this:

Model SN Prefix
WRT54G v1-v4 CDF0-CDF9,CDFA
WRT54G v5-v7 CDFB (DO NOT BUY)
WRT54GL v1-v1.1 CL7A,CL7B
WRT54GS v1-v3 CGN0-CGN5
WRT54GS v4 CGN6
WRT54GS v5-v6 CGN7 (DO NOT BUY)
WRTSL54GS CJK0

The three basic models are WRT54G, WRT54GL, and WRT54GS. The GL version is currently the most recognized as being one of the best available. I do not have experience with the GS versions. I can say that the ones I indicated "DO NOT BUY" are the ones that are crippled and not flashable and seem to be giving the most trouble.

 

[fixxxer0]

Originally posted by: ChiPCGuy

Originally posted by: fixxxer0
DO NOT GET A LINKSYS!!!!

I have both the wireless 4 port and wired, internet connection drops out every half hour to hour and then comes back on in about 20 seconds. EXTREMELY ANNOYING. Also noticed the speeds dropped to half of what I could get when directly connected to the modem. I would hit 1.65mb/s downstream and with the Linksys, max was 800-900 and it would drop off and throttle out at lower speeds for no reason. I tried all different firmwares and some are better than others, but ALL have the problem.

I got a Netgear and the connection speed is exactly what it is with the modem connected directly to the PC, no drop outs, extremely happy.


Also, if you google around the net, you will see this is NOT an isolated problem. Linksys has yet to resolve it, through both hardware and software revisions. Pathetic!

Your issue is very common to those using a WRT54G v5 or higher. Is that what you are referring to when saying not to buy the Linksys? Please specify exactly what router you are talking about at least by base-series (G or GL type) before making a blanket statement like this. The GL version (WRT54GL) is recognized as on the best routers that can be bought.

Yes I was referring to the ones he was considering purchasing that he mentioned earlier in the thread, the WRT54G and also its wired brother the BEFSR41.

 

[computerABUSER]

Well, I ended up getting this particular one, I should install it today so if I do I'll report back
here on the details, be it good or bad

My new WIFI baby

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: computerABUSER
Well, I ended up getting this particular one, I should install it today so if I do I'll report back
here on the details, be it good or bad

My new WIFI baby

Good man. You just bought yourself a great wifi router. :thumbsup: Let us know what you think when you have it all up and running.