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Wireless and Wired Routers?

P

paxtonandrew

macrumors 6502
Original poster
My 5 year old router finally died today, and i have decided to go wireless. The only problem is, my older computers, i.e. my PowerMac G4, and iMac are not wireless compatible. Is there any routers, made for wireless and wired? If not, it looks like I may have to buy both, and that is a VERY expensive option. What would you recommend?


Thanks for your help.
 
I think you'll find it hard to find a wireless router without at least 4 wired ports. You set most routers up by logging into it through a web browser, and this would be kinda tough to do if all you had was a wireless connection and were trying to configure the wireless connection, sort of chicken and egg really.
 
Thank you for your help. I automatically went to the netgear website, thinking they would have a decent selection of routers, as my current (dead) router is netgear. Their website is shocking, to the point where i will never buy a netgear router again. D-Link has some good models, which I may have a look at. Can anyone vouch for D-Link?
 
blodwyn said:
I think you'll find it hard to find a wireless router without at least 4 wired ports. You set most routers up by logging into it through a web browser, and this would be kinda tough to do if all you had was a wireless connection and were trying to configure the wireless connection, sort of chicken and egg really.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the airport only have one ehternet port (besides the one that hooks to the cable/dsl modem)? Plus, you can configure a router wirelessly--at least I could with my D-Link 614+. It set up a wireless connection called "default" and had no password.

Edit:

I love my Dlink. I've never had a problem with it in the 2 years I've had it. I get better range than my roomate's airport.
 
paxtonandrew said:
Thank you for your help. I automatically went to the netgear website, thinking they would have a decent selection of routers, as my current (dead) router is netgear. Their website is shocking, to the point where i will never buy a netgear router again. D-Link has some good models, which I may have a look at. Can anyone vouch for D-Link?
Click to expand...


I guess I don't understand. Their website seems fine to me.
 
pcpacker said:
I guess I don't understand. Their website seems fine to me.
Click to expand...
What country are you in? The Netgear Australia site is a waste of server space. There seems to be no information about anything regarding the physical hardware on the routers themselves. There is only the type of speed, and then the amount of connections possible for the router. The USA site may be different, but the product name/number is also going to be dissimilar to those here in Australia. I have been burned before looking at the USA model numbers and then buying them here, so there is no real point looking there.

The USA site is MUCH better than the Australia site. Check it out for yourselves.

Australia
USA
 
We have an airport base station and there is only one ethernet port and one port for the cable modem. We plugged my brother's PC into the LAN port and the cable modem into the WAN port and it works great. Our other computer is also a PC and currently doesn't have the internet. We're planning to get a wi-fi card put in so that we don't have to mess around with cables.

Everybody has suggested that you get a broadband router but the option exists of putting a wi-fi card into your old computers and getting one wireless router....although I don't think that'll cut the cost in anyway. :-/
 
paxtonandrew said:
What country are you in? The Netgear Australia site is a waste of server space. There seems to be no information about anything regarding the physical hardware on the routers themselves. There is only the type of speed, and then the amount of connections possible for the router. The USA site may be different, but the product name/number is also going to be dissimilar to those here in Australia. I have been burned before looking at the USA model numbers and then buying them here, so there is no real point looking there.

The USA site is MUCH better than the Australia site. Check it out for yourselves.

Australia
USA
Click to expand...

Good point. Always look at the DATASHEET PDF on a Netgear produt page for hardware specs, they do hide the info on the basic page.

I have to say that I use Netgear products for both my own use and whenever I've been asked for a recommendation. Judge by the product, not the website. I use two Powerbooks and a PowerMac G5 (all using Airport or Airport Extreme) and they all hook up wirelessly to a Netgear FM114P Router and DM602 Modem. Been rock solid for months with great throughput and signal strength. Same for when visitors pop in, DHCP on the wired ports or add them to the access control and WEP in a minute without rebooting the router.

The only D-link item I've ever trusted are their DSL filters and some KVM items. Netgear are very solid. They just announced a new ADSL modem, and the only time I had problems with products I got RA's from Tech Support immediately and swapped them over the counter from my usual supplier. D-Link are a bit more down horizontally integrated than Netgear. D-link make lots of peripherals/items AND network hardware. Netgear make networking gear and are pretty good at it.

All that being said, Airport Express is fantastic! If you want iTunes everywhere and are happy to forgo a Stateful Packet Inspection firewall and go with only NAT then get an Airport Express. Not much more cost, much more flexible. It's compatible with ADSL and Broadband (Optus, Telstra; you get both in the Shire I believe).
 
paxtonandrew said:
Thank you for your help. I automatically went to the netgear website, thinking they would have a decent selection of routers, as my current (dead) router is netgear. Their website is shocking, to the point where i will never buy a netgear router again. D-Link has some good models, which I may have a look at. Can anyone vouch for D-Link?
Click to expand...

i like d-link!
 
edesignuk said:
Linksys WRT54G - Router + 4 port 10/100 switch + 802.11g Wireless. Perfect.
Click to expand...


yes, thats what i have and it works well. i have also had good luck with d-link (i had an old .b router and it worked fine)

or if you have the cash, get the airport express for wireless. . . and then get a cheap 4 port wired router (ive seen them for $10 or free after mail in rebates) but you can get the linksys WRT54G for about 60 or less. just make sure you get that one, they make one similar (dont know the model number off the top of my head) that looks the same but doesnt have the 4 wired ports
 
Another vote here for the Linksys WRT54G. My girlfriend has a Netgear Wireless G router and the range is terrible. The signal dropped off drastically at 40 feet. Not what I call acceptable.
 
Yep, I also vote for the Linksys WRT54G. I've used it for awhile now with both Mac and PC, and it has worked flawlessly.
 
grapes911 said:
Doesn't the airport only have one ehternet port (besides the one that hooks to the cable/dsl modem)? Plus, you can configure a router wirelessly--at least I could with my D-Link 614+. It set up a wireless connection called "default" and had no password.
Click to expand...

Don't know about the airport as I don't have one. Sure you can set up the router via a wireless link, but if you messed up when enabling and configuring WEP you'd probably have no way to re-connect to the router to correct it. Much better to have a wired connection.
 
blodwyn said:
Don't know about the airport as I don't have one. Sure you can set up the router via a wireless link, but if you messed up when enabling and configuring WEP you'd probably have no way to re-connect to the router to correct it. Much better to have a wired connection.
Click to expand...

I don't use WEP, its over rated. I use ip filtering and limit the number of ip addresses my router will lease. I don't have an airport either, I was just asking.
 
Why do you not use WEP? You understand that even though you have IP filters I can still sit and passively sniff traffic on your network and capture sensitive information.

Did you know that POP3 and FTP both send your username AND password in CLEAR text? Now, all I need to do is capture packets of you checking your email and I know how your username and password for your email and the server IP addresses.

WEP may be "over rated" (whatever that is supposed to mean) but in actuality it is quite difficult to crack if you use a strong key value. Its better than nothing and IP filters are NOT an equivelent substitute.
 
Celeron said:
Why do you not use WEP? You understand that even though you have IP filters I can still sit and passively sniff traffic on your network and capture sensitive information.

Did you know that POP3 and FTP both send your username AND password in CLEAR text? Now, all I need to do is capture packets of you checking your email and I know how your username and password for your email and the server IP addresses.

WEP may be "over rated" (whatever that is supposed to mean) but in actuality it is quite difficult to crack if you use a strong key value. Its better than nothing and IP filters are NOT an equivelent substitute.
Click to expand...

I am very well that many things transfer passwords without encrypting them, but I have no "sensitive information." What are you going to steal from me? I'll forword all my spam and my letters from my mom saying hi if you'd like to save you the trouble. If I were a business or something that I worried about my stuff, then I'd be more carefull. I just have no reason to.
 
paxtonandrew said:
Thank you for your help. I automatically went to the netgear website, thinking they would have a decent selection of routers, as my current (dead) router is netgear. Their website is shocking, to the point where i will never buy a netgear router again. D-Link has some good models, which I may have a look at. Can anyone vouch for D-Link?
Click to expand...

<sarcasm> Yes... I always count products out that have poor looking websites. </sarscam> 🙄

Netgear makes a great wireless product. I'm not so crazy about Linksys.
 
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