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Gioman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2009
18
0
Sweden
A couple of months ago our D-link wireless router (not sure about the model) broke. The time has now come to buy a new one. But I am a WiFi rookie....

- Are there any brands I should stay away from? I currently know only Belkin and D-Link.

- The price should not exceed $100; though exceptions could be made.

- Is it possible to have more than 4 ethernet-ports?

- 802.11n would be ideal; seeing as I am not aware of the compatibility of the various computers in the home, which are: PowerBook (early 2005), iPod Touch, a 2007 PC, (and most likely a MacBook soon).

Thanks in advance.
 
Airport Express or Extreme. Buy from Apple, guarenteed compatibility.

Express is around $70 refurbished, and has an incredible range. 11.n also.
 
What do you need the router for? (More than 4 Ethernet ports??) Just data traffic in your network or do you also want to connect a printer or a hard drive to it?
 
@ Doju:
The Express sounds great, but, I am doubtful it would work. Why? The wireless router has to act as the router for everything else. Hard to explain...
The Extreme would work, if you understand what I mean... but it is expensive. Also, I live in Sweden, refurb isnt available.

@ Pol0001:
No need for printer or hard disk.
There are 6 computers in the house plus an iPod Touch (and maybe a MacBook soon). 2 of the computers need wireless - otherwise they have to share an ethernet cable with a Rev A PowerBook (no wifi), which is what they have been doing lately. 4 of the computers use wired internet, although the iMac could potentially go wireless.

Are there any routers with more than 4 ports on the consumer market?
 
Are there any routers with more than 4 ports on the consumer market?

I would look at Netgear. They have great products and from my experience their prices are pretty good as well.
I just did a quick search and found the WNR2000 which should fit your needs pretty well, and costs around 100$ (Amazon).
If you want, go to
http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways.aspx?for=Home+Networking
and look for more products which you think would fit you/your budget best.
Hope this helped a bit ;)
 
I just did a quick search and found the WNR2000 which should fit your needs pretty well, and costs around 100$ (Amazon).

Looks interesting, and is pretty cheap here in Sweden too.
I'll compare this with similarly priced routers.

Thanks.
 
@ Doju:
The Express sounds great, but, I am doubtful it would work. Why? The wireless router has to act as the router for everything else. Hard to explain...
The Extreme would work, if you understand what I mean... but it is expensive. Also, I live in Sweden, refurb isnt available.

I think anyone would be stupid to buy an Airport from the Apple store. They're so horribly overpriced there its not even funny. Look on eBay - most sellers will be perfectly fine with shipping it elsewhere as long as you're polite, pay on time etc...

I bought my Airport Extreme on eBay also and it worked 100% perfect for 7-8 month now.

Just a quick search...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120360936078
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110348482968
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150322241196

and hundreds more in either new, or mint condition that can be had for half off Apple's price. Just when/if you choose to buy this way, keep in mind that it would be preferred to get the MB053LL/A model as thats the second generation one which has the gigabit ethernet ports (first N Airport Extreme had only 100Mbit ports)

Are there any routers with more than 4 ports on the consumer market?

If you need more ports then the 3 that are on the Airport Extreme, what I would recommend doing is getting the Airport for the great wireless speeds and range, and then getting a second router for the extra ports. For example a Linksys (absolutely love them, great products) BEFSR41 can be had for about 20-30 dollars on eBay. And if the 4 ports aren't enough you can get a BEFSR81 for about 70-80.

If you choose to do it this way, just set the second router in bridge mode and it'll interoperate 100% with everything else on the network no matter if its connected via wifi via the Airport, the ethernet ports on the Airport or the ethernet ports on the Linksys.
 
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