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Wireless Router Died, Need Recommendations
- Thread starter Ronin64
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Time Capsule will allow USB connection, broadcasts on 2.4 and 5GHZ bands and takes care of your backups too:
http://www.apple.com/uk/timecapsule/
http://www.apple.com/uk/timecapsule/
Thanks for the Apple Airport recommendations, but I just saw this router on Amazon.
Is this NetGear router any good? It has 2 USB ports, which are blue so I assume there 3.0.
Is this NetGear router any good? It has 2 USB ports, which are blue so I assume there 3.0.
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That router is the same one supplied by my ISP....A word of caution. The signal strength is poor...Was on mine anyway, so I disabled all wifi functions and use it as a modem only plugged into my Time Capsule. Rock solid.
That's not to say that ones which have not had firmware altered by an ISP might not work better though...Just a heads up.
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Airport Extreme Base Station. By far the easiest to manage and most stable router i've ever owned ( been through Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin). I wouldn't choose anything else. My only gripe is that it only has 3 ethernet ports...
I would say don't bother with a Time Capsule. Get a basic base station and add any external usb drive. Much more future proof!
I would say don't bother with a Time Capsule. Get a basic base station and add any external usb drive. Much more future proof!
I've been forced to learn a lot more than I ever wanted to know about wireless networking over the last twelve years.
My current home setup is two Airport Extremes (one in wireless bridge mode), an Airport Express for travel, and in my vacation home, some recent Netgear model. All have performed well. In general, I'd take the Airports over anything else, but there is one "feature" that bugs the crap out of me:
Every other router in the known universe is easily accessed by the old 192.168.x.x IP address. Apple's routers are unique in that you MUST install their doofy Airport Utility app, using SNMP to talk to the router. Imagine if your sole machine was running Linux, or a Chromebook, or game console. You are SOL, but hey, thanks for playing!
That one annoying thing aside, they are otherwise great devices, with many customizable features not found on most other routers.
My current home setup is two Airport Extremes (one in wireless bridge mode), an Airport Express for travel, and in my vacation home, some recent Netgear model. All have performed well. In general, I'd take the Airports over anything else, but there is one "feature" that bugs the crap out of me:
Every other router in the known universe is easily accessed by the old 192.168.x.x IP address. Apple's routers are unique in that you MUST install their doofy Airport Utility app, using SNMP to talk to the router. Imagine if your sole machine was running Linux, or a Chromebook, or game console. You are SOL, but hey, thanks for playing!
That one annoying thing aside, they are otherwise great devices, with many customizable features not found on most other routers.
+1
I needed to install a wireless card in one PC that sits about 3m away from it. Then 3 PCs/Macs on ethernet, all MacBooks, iPads etc on wifi. It works perfect. Installation is just so easy, and the performance are also great.
Airport extreme
I went through a number of cheap routers before I picked up an Airport Extreme. It has been thoroughly reliable and it just works flawlessly. I use the USB port for a printer that I can access from my iPad or laptop.
I went through a number of cheap routers before I picked up an Airport Extreme. It has been thoroughly reliable and it just works flawlessly. I use the USB port for a printer that I can access from my iPad or laptop.
If you have a small home, get an AirPort express. If you need more range, get the Extreme, if you want a built in HDD, get the Time Capsule, which is an Extreme with an HDD in it.
Is Time Capsule a good value? It is only $110 over the price of an Airport Extreme and we can attach an external HD with it as well.
Also, can anyone shed light on how far along Time Capsule/ Airport Express are in their product cycle. I am sure the future generation will have USB 3.0 support in them.
Thank You
Edited: To answer my own question, Airport extreme was launched in June of 2011 and looking at earlier generations, it looked like the product had a 2 year cycle. But since most Mac products have a 1 year cycle now, I wonder if it is the best time to buy a Airport Extreme.
Also, can anyone shed light on how far along Time Capsule/ Airport Express are in their product cycle. I am sure the future generation will have USB 3.0 support in them.
Thank You
Edited: To answer my own question, Airport extreme was launched in June of 2011 and looking at earlier generations, it looked like the product had a 2 year cycle. But since most Mac products have a 1 year cycle now, I wonder if it is the best time to buy a Airport Extreme.
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I'd say try searching the forums for other threads... but I'll save you the effort instead:
Buy an Airport Extreme and plug a USB HD into it. Apple Airports are the best base stations on the market as far as I'm concerned.
USB 3.0 is useless over a WiFi network anyway.
Buy an Airport Extreme and plug a USB HD into it. Apple Airports are the best base stations on the market as far as I'm concerned.
USB 3.0 is useless over a WiFi network anyway.