I've just moved into a new apartment, and both me and my roommate play. We have "Cable Modem Broadband speeds of up to 1.5Mbps download / 256kbps upload" and I'm looking to buy a wireless router.
But there are a whole lot of options, and I don't know enough about it to know which would be best. I'd like to get one that lets us get the most out of the connection while playing at the same time, hopefully without being extravagantly expensive.
Anyone know what would be optimal? Or just tell me what I need to look for to figure it out myself.
Thanks :)
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Are you talking wireless or hard wired?
I'm going to assume you're talking wireless. You want a wireless N router (don't waste your money on dual band). There are lots of companies that are decent, the two I recommend the most are either Belkin or Linksys. I personally prefer Linksys, but Belkin is really good too (they were the first to do N correctly).
As far as trying to get it cheap, buy it from newegg, not best buy.
I'm going to assume you're talking wireless. You want a wireless N router (don't waste your money on dual band). There are lots of companies that are decent, the two I recommend the most are either Belkin or Linksys. I personally prefer Linksys, but Belkin is really good too (they were the first to do N correctly).
As far as trying to get it cheap, buy it from newegg, not best buy.
If your laptops are Wireless N compatible, get Wireless N. Go Netgear or Buffalo, never Linksys (pains me to say it, they used to be A++).
If your laptop is NOT N compatible, get a G/B/A.
If you're on desktops, go wired and just get a 4 port hub. NEVER, and I mean ----NEVER---- will a wireless connection be as fast and stable as a wired connection, ESPECIALLY indoors. Wireless networks, even N, are still radio frequencies, and every bit of electrical equipment in your household is putting up a small amount of interference.
If your laptop is NOT N compatible, get a G/B/A.
If you're on desktops, go wired and just get a 4 port hub. NEVER, and I mean ----NEVER---- will a wireless connection be as fast and stable as a wired connection, ESPECIALLY indoors. Wireless networks, even N, are still radio frequencies, and every bit of electrical equipment in your household is putting up a small amount of interference.
I would personally get the best router you can afford. Some are in the $150 range or so and have some very nice features which you'd likely never use.
However, I would get a dual band router which supports IEEE 802.11 b, g and n - this way you cover all standards except a (802.11a was succeeded by 802.11g), have the fewest possible interference issues as well as support for a new laptop/adapter which would support standard n, plus is the simplest way to get a wireless and wired network going.
I have personally used Linksys products for years; however when their router and switch designs went from the classic stackable to the new "sleek" design, I've heard a lot of mixed reviews with their products, especially with wireless performance.
If you would like my personal solution, this is what I would do:
• Use any old router, preferably an older Linksys WRT54G and modify it's firmware with DD-WRT or Tomato.
• Install a wireless N adapter, preferably ExpressCard (there are PCI, USB and PCI-E ExpressCard adapters for desktops) or PCI-E, into a Windows 7 equipped desktop. I've seen tutorials on how to use a Windows 7 computer as a wireless bridge and it isn't difficult to do.
However, I would get a dual band router which supports IEEE 802.11 b, g and n - this way you cover all standards except a (802.11a was succeeded by 802.11g), have the fewest possible interference issues as well as support for a new laptop/adapter which would support standard n, plus is the simplest way to get a wireless and wired network going.
I have personally used Linksys products for years; however when their router and switch designs went from the classic stackable to the new "sleek" design, I've heard a lot of mixed reviews with their products, especially with wireless performance.
If you would like my personal solution, this is what I would do:
• Use any old router, preferably an older Linksys WRT54G and modify it's firmware with DD-WRT or Tomato.
• Install a wireless N adapter, preferably ExpressCard (there are PCI, USB and PCI-E ExpressCard adapters for desktops) or PCI-E, into a Windows 7 equipped desktop. I've seen tutorials on how to use a Windows 7 computer as a wireless bridge and it isn't difficult to do.
Note that your download speed of 1.5Mbps is considerably slower than the 11Mbps that Wireless B gives you. So even though most routers support higher speeds with G,N and A, those are not going to help you in your internet download speeds. It will only be noticable if you have other home computers or other devices within your home intranet that move files/data back and forth between them.
That 11mbps is an optimal speed with 0 interference. You'd be shocked at how quickly that speed drops in an actual environment.
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