Looking for some computer help

[Mangyrat]

For router information start here.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/compo...rt/Itemid,189/

The 3rd highest rated one on that chart is also the cheapest router.

[mail man]

Thanks for all the replies, funny thing though...I posted this yesterday, and got home to see a router sitting on my porch.
My Step sister that gifted me the laptop, had her old wireless router sitting in a closet, so she figured I could use it.

I am going to try and hook it up tonight, and if it works...cool, if not, I will be checking into the link that Mangy posted.

Thanks again.

Keith

[CptnBlues63]

Thanks for all the replies, funny thing though...I posted this yesterday, and got home to see a router sitting on my porch.
My Step sister that gifted me the laptop, had her old wireless router sitting in a closet, so she figured I could use it.

I am going to try and hook it up tonight, and if it works...cool, if not, I will be checking into the link that Mangy posted.

Thanks again.

Keith

That's nice of her and saves you a few $$$

If you need a hand, I have a fairly wide experience with a wide variety of makes/models and would be more than happy to help you get it setup.

I like both Linksys and D-Link and have found them to be fairly reliable. My ISP provided me with a 2wire brand combo unit (combination modem/router/wireless access point) when I upgraded to a 6 Mbps package a couple years back and it works pretty good too.

When it comes to running a wireless network in your home you definitely want to secure it. WEP encryption sucks and our security guy here at work can crack it in under 30 min's so you'll want to use WPA encryption. When you create a password for your SSID, make it complex (at least 8 characters and include upper/lower case, numbers and symbols) and if need be, write it down or store it in a file on your PC.

The encryption will prevent war drivers (usually hackers or child pornographers) from using your wireless network for their nefarious purposes.

If you, or anybody else in your home is an online gamer, you'll want to use a wired connection for the gaming. Wireless is a convenience and you pay for that convenience with inherent bandwidth issues and a lot of lag and latency.

[Mangyrat]

So far the best router i have ever owned was a belkin.
The only reason I'm replacing it is it chokes to death on the new DOCSIS 3 modems.

[MarineOne]

The LinkSys WRT54G wireless router is the way to go. Depending on which model, you can load either of the aftermarket firmware versions like TOMATO or DD-WRT to increase power output on the antennas or add features that aren't in the default firmware from LinkSys/Cisco.

[Mizicke5273]

The LinkSys WRT54G wireless router is the way to go. Depending on which model, you can load either of the aftermarket firmware versions like TOMATO or DD-WRT to increase power output on the antennas or add features that aren't in the default firmware from LinkSys/Cisco.

That is without a doubt one of the best routers made, especially the earlier versions. I have an original v1.0 and a 2.0 I believe. Not too sure how the current versions stack up nowadays. I picked up a D-Link DGL-4500 a few months back, so I'm gona throw the DD-WRT firmware on my WRT54G here soon to mess around with.

[CptnBlues63]

The LinkSys WRT54G wireless router is the way to go. Depending on which model, you can load either of the aftermarket firmware versions like TOMATO or DD-WRT to increase power output on the antennas or add features that aren't in the default firmware from LinkSys/Cisco.

I was going to mention that but I frequently go off all techie and people's eyes tend to glaze over. We have a project pending to provide in-house enterprise level wireless here at work but because of budget constraints due to the economic situation it's been pushed back.

In the mean time, we're using SOHO level equipment to provide a "guest" wireless network. Which is to say, there's no encryption enabled and all you get out of it is internet access, no internal access, for obvious reasons.

I've gone through several D-Link wireless access points and had little or no luck with most of them and we finally settled on the Linksys WRT54GL router running Tomato firmware which can be found here:

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato

There's also a version of tomato that has VPN capablity which can be found here:

http://tomatovpn.keithmoyer.com/

I've used both versions of Tomato and really like it a lot. Being Linux based, if you know Linux, you can write, and run scripts on the routers.

I've yet to look at DD-WRT or any other but if you go to the first link (Polarcloud) and scroll to the very bottom of the page you'll see it actually provides links to DD-WRT and several other 3'd party firmwares.

I personally recommend any Linux based Linksys router, especially if you know Linux/UNIX. This makes them so much more flexible than any non-Linux based SOHO Router.

But, if you already own one, or are considering buying one in order to run 3'd party firmware, you definitely want go to the Polarcloud website first and read the "Routers that are known to work with Tomato: " portion of the "NOTES" in order to ensure you have, or buy, one that's compatible.

[mail man]

Wow, y'all are making my head spin ...sorry, I am not very good with the tech, at all.
I do appreciate the advice, and if I do decide to delve any deeper than just user level, I will refer back to this.

[ggiese]

So far the best router i have ever owned was a belkin.
The only reason I'm replacing it is it chokes to death on the new DOCSIS 3 modems.

[Mangyrat]

I take it your not a fan of belkin routers.

[ilikefishes]

I have always used a Linksys but I have heard that Belkin is good as well. The most important thing I have found is placing the right router for the right situation.

We live in a walk out two story, so my wifes studio/loft is about 60' from the router. So we had some problems when we had a wireless "b" router, once we upgraged to w wireless "n" here recently we have had no problems.

Point being, if you have about 20-30' to go to your computer or anyplace in your home for that matter, any router would be fine. If you have to "reach" some distance, then you might want to go with a better brand and make sure you get the latest technology for security.