Wireless Router

"It depends . . ." ;^)

G and N indicate the maximum speed the router can send out to the various
devices wirelessly connected. But what kind of Internet connection do you
have - cable or DSL? Neither of those is capable of the speeds that an N
router can handle, so go with a G router - and it's usually cheaper.

Also, what other devices will you attach to the router? Printer, disk, etc.
What's your house like - 2-story, long distance and many walls between the
router and the computers, . . .?

And, how many other people and their computers will share the router (and
thus the one Internet connection)? What kind of Internet modem do you have?

On this forum, you'll see a lot of people suggesting you use the Apple
Airport routers, while others love Linksys, and still others had success with
Netgear and such. I never could get Netgear to work, and have had a
Linksys WRT54G for more than 4 years with Comcast cable and 3 computers
in a 2-story condo.

Lastly, whatever you get, use WPA security.

Hope this helps . . .

 

Even if your Internet connection isn't faster than "G" speeds, the "N" network offers advantages of being less likely to be crowded out by other nearby networks and faster operation transferring between computers. It made a world of difference to me when I went from my ISP provided "G" router to a Airport Extreme. It was worth the extra cost just in the elimination of the aggravation.

 

I have both an Apple Time Capsule/Airport and Linksys routers. I like the Linksys better as it is more straight forward to set up.

The main advantage for me to the G versus N debate is range. The N gives much better coverage in addition to faster transfer. Most G routers are 10/100 ethernet switches and most N routers are gigabit switches so they give faster wired transfers. That's important if you want to stream video around the house.

I just replaced my 4 or 5 year old Linksys WRT54G with a WRT610N for both the wireless range and gigabit ethernet reasons. The primary motivation was a network upgrade to support a home media server.

 

I recommend an Apple Airport, esp for a newbie. Airport Utility is much easier to deal with than the shoddy web setup assistants that a lot of routers have.

 

Target has a Belkin "g" router that my mom bought for $35.

Easy to setup and works great in her 3000 sq. ft. house.

If you want to spend more, refurb Airport Express @ $79 works great as well. Not as much range, but the remote printing and Airtunes might be a nice addition.