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wireless router recomendation??

Z

zipper1022

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 13, 2006
234
1
Long Island, NY/ Boston, MA
well at least i think thats what i need...

rite now i have a linksys wired router with 3 cables running out of it.
i just got a mbp so i want to use wreless inernt on it.

what do i need to buy? just a wireles router?
if so, what recomendations do peopl e have. Im trying not to spend a fortune either....

thanks
 
Normally I would say there isnt much of a point of buying a wireless router when you already have a router, just buy a access point. However, now a days, it seems access points are more expensive then wireless routers.


Companies I trust and would buy from, for my networking needs, are from Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear. Mostly these three companies because they support their products the longest, especially Linksys. I bought a router from them from 1999, and their latest firmware update for that router was late last year.


For what kind of a wireless router, it depends on you. If you need alot of range, alot of routers offer range boosters. If you want more speed out of the connection, some offer MIMO, however it needs a network card/adaptor that supports MIMO. All these little extras will cost you more. Expect to spend atleast 40 dollars online like newegg or more
 
see i knwo absolutely nothing about wireless routers or accespoints or whatever...
i dont need alot fo range, im just going around my house, in my roomadn into the downstairs, And its a small house. I dont relly want to spend more than 50 dollars but i want something thats going to be relatively fast.

can i get a router that has wireless capability and will replace my old one? or would i just plug one of the cat5 branches into something to transmit it wirelessly?
 
I've always had great luck with D-Link, lifetime warranty on their stuff and its fairly cheap and I still have my very first router from them, from 7 years ago and it works flawlessly today :)

So they got my vote :)
 
I have a D-Link WBR-1310. This is the cheapest router they make (well, usually depending on when/where you buy). It works great. I usually have 12-15 bars (out of 15) when I am 20 ft away and through 2 interior walls.

This router replaces LinkSys WRT54G (sold on e-bay). I had a lot of trouble with this router (so have a lot of other people; with Macs).
 
zipper1022 said:
see i knwo absolutely nothing about wireless routers or accespoints or whatever...
i dont need alot fo range, im just going around my house, in my roomadn into the downstairs, And its a small house. I dont relly want to spend more than 50 dollars but i want something thats going to be relatively fast.

can i get a router that has wireless capability and will replace my old one? or would i just plug one of the cat5 branches into something to transmit it wirelessly?
Click to expand...



if you get a wireless router you have to replace your old one. If you get an access point, then you just need to plug the access point into your current router.


A relatively cheap router with no bells or whistle should be fine for you if you really live in a small house. My house which is relatively medium sized does fine with a normal router. From my room, which is all the way across the house and the wireless access point, I get a decent reception.
 
how much is a good acces point, now that i think about it,i could probably deal with just not hving a wire so i can sit on my couch in my room and in my bed. thats like less than 20 feet away.
 
a normal access point costs around 50-60 dollars... which is basically the price you would be paying for a normal wireless router...


You should checkout Newegg.com. They often have alot of good deals on wireless router
 
Umm... many routers today are all mac compatible whether they say it or not.


Its not like you have to install anything when you setup a router... enter in the IP and the page comes up.... I definitely have a 8 year old router on the box says nothing about mac but it is working fine for me during LAN parties (i bring my laptop so I can game and surf :D)
 
ChickenSwartz said:
I have a D-Link WBR-1310. This is the cheapest router they make (well, usually depending on when/where you buy). It works great. I usually have 12-15 bars (out of 15) when I am 20 ft away and through 2 interior walls.

This router replaces LinkSys WRT54G (sold on e-bay). I had a lot of trouble with this router (so have a lot of other people; with Macs).
Click to expand...

when i looked thart up on newegg it had mostly negative comments... haha

will that be as fast as my wired linksys etherfast router on the wired machines?

let me just clear this up. i can have my three mchines connected through the wire, and have my one laptop connected through the wireless on the same router right?
 
zipper1022 said:
when i looked thart up on newegg it had mostly negative comments... haha

will that be as fast as my wired linksys etherfast router on the wired machines?

let me just clear this up. i can have my three mchines connected through the wire, and have my one laptop connected through the wireless on the same router right?
Click to expand...

As far as internet connection goes, yeah it should be as fast, limiting factor here is your internet connection. Computer to computer I don't know.

Yes, three wired and one wireless will work.
 
And a recomended router would be the d-link wbr 1310??

i just want to make sure i dont waste my money on a POS router.. seeing that i have no knowledge of them, im goign strictly by what you guys say...
 
I have had absolutely no problems with mine.

I was somewhat surprised by the reviews on NewEgg. You might check out the reviews on Circuit City's website.

If you get it, make sure you have it up and running well before you cut the UPC off for a rebate.;)
 
zipper1022 said:
And a recomended router would be the d-link wbr 1310??

i just want to make sure i dont waste my money on a POS router.. seeing that i have no knowledge of them, im goign strictly by what you guys say...
Click to expand...

You have a router, you just need an access point. Do you know what that is? Probably not, based on your questions (this is not criticism, OK?). An Access Point (AP) just plugs into one of your wired router RJ45 ports and provides one, or more, wireless connections. Basically, you set-up an AP with the same configuration as you would one of your wired computers. Your wired router is handing our IP addresses for you using DHCP. It sees the computers using wireless from your AP just as if they were plugged into it. Does that make sense?

Anyway, the Netgear wireless Access Point will give you no problems. Linksys may require a little more work in a mac environment. It will work fine (my experience), the configuration may not be as easy. D-Link has been historically inferior to Netgear. D-Link was better than Linksys (before Linksys was bought out by Cisco for the home market). I would now rate them in 3rd place, however it would be worth reading recent ratings on their products. In technology, "Today's disaster is tomorrow's breakthrough".
 
PLEASE DO NOT READ THE NEW EGG REVIEWS FOR THE PRODUCTS. There are NO admins that patrol the reviews more or less. Alot of people post moronic reviews when it is simply their fault. FOR EXAMPLE, some idiot thought a CPU was 1 star because it DIDNT FIT IN THEIR MOBO. Yes, I read that review before... morons...
 
SMM said:
You have a router, you just need an access point...
Click to expand...

I think the situation is that a new wireless router is cheaper than an AP. Right? Is there any advantage to paying more for the AP than just getting a new wireless router? Plus, you can sell the wired router you have now on e-bay or something.
 
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