Need a wireless router recomendation

[Computer-Ed]

If you are not a gamer and do not perform alot of large file transfers between machines then wireless is fine. It is when you have 2 gig to move between two computers or want to game online that wireless hits the flaws.

My wife is wireless right now in our hame and for her it is okay but it is a mess for me when I want to send her any large files.

[Lead Head]

Originally Posted by Reloadron

All I can add is a few years back I bought a Linksys WRT54GS (I think that is what it is as I am at work right now). I added a better antenna set. It has sat in the corner and behaved fine for a few years running 24/7.

Two of the machines connecting through it are running Linksys wireless NICs, and two are running some cheap generic Belkin cards (I think). Never a problem anywhere. The machines are in close range so I can't say much for distance. I need to take a walk with a laptop someday.

About a year ago my neighbor needed a wireless router. I had a Belkin (Clueless as to model) I snagged at MicroCenter I set up. It has sat in his basement running fine for a year or so. Had to reboot his cable modem a few times but that basic Belkin has worked fine.

I can't compare my Linksys to anything else as I never needed to replace it or had a problem with it. It just sits there doing its router thing. Works for me.

I am not an online gammer but if I have a wireless speed of 54 MB/sec accross my network and my cable modem is something like 5 or 6 MB/sec. why would I care if I was wired or wireless? Not that it matters much to me, just curious.

Ron

My download speeds actually doubled going from 54 mbps wireless, to 100mbps ethernet, using only 5mbps cable internet. Its packetloss that kills wireless

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

If you are not a gamer and do not perform alot of large file transfers between machines then wireless is fine. It is when you have 2 gig to move between two computers or want to game online that wireless hits the flaws.

My wife is wireless right now in our hame and for her it is okay but it is a mess for me when I want to send her any large files.

I hear that as I frequently move large files around and frequently back up large files to the other machines in here.

The old router I had (actually still lying here) is a 4 port Linksys which supported 4 machines just fine. Then I added a fifth box which was a dual boot Windows 2K / Suse Linux box. Thus I figured I would add a wireless router (Enter the wireless Linksys). The problem was the added box had no problem at all running Windows 2K with an old wireless Belkin NIC. Hell, works great. But.... Suse Linux was not fond of the wireless Belkin NIC, thus one of the other guys was going to give up a wired connection. That being my everyday machine.

I could have just added a switch since the entire damn room is sort of small but wanted to play with wireless. Actually room is fair size, just full of junk.

One day I decided to move some real large files to the wife's machine temporarily. Maybe like 4 GB of stuff so I could redo a RAID array. I am sitting here and things are crawling and I am like what the hell is the problem? Then a light came on and I am like damn! OK, drag cable from Linux box over and connect to this box. Gee go figure!

Back on topic. As I mention I bought the linksys some time back. The wired one worked well for years so I figured why not? Following the purchase I began to read the horror stories of the version 5 firmware and other assorted nightmares. However, the little thing has worked flawlessy for a few years now. Based on that, if the classic question arose would I buy another one? I guess definately YES!

Ron

[Quakindude]

I vote for the Netgear WGT624. You wanna talk about a damn fine product? Mine was sucked out of the house and on the lawn two houses down with all but the power cord ripped out of it. When I set up my wireless network here in our temporary home, that sucker worked just fine. It had dirt, water and insulation all over it. I just cleaned it up, dried it out and it works great. I've used Linksys, Buffalo and D-Link. Netgear has been my favorite for the last 4 years. Excellent range and easy setup. Wireless gaming from my computer room to my son's room in the old house was acceptable. Wired his Quake3 ping was 89. Wireless through 2 walls and about 18 feet saw a 110 ping.

I personally don't care for the Wireless N standard. It isn't standardized yet.