internet router

[jwoody]

Hey guys, I just moved in with a buddy of mine and we both have computers. I also have a ps3. He has a laptop, and i have a desktop. I need to get a router that has both. I was looking online and noticed there are different letters, or speeds to them. We have cable, so I was wondering what letter or speed I should look for. Nothing fancy or too expensive though. Thanks for the help.

Edit: We also live in a 6 story condo building, so I was wondering if it is difficult to password protect the wireless part? If that makes sense lol

[dna9488]

I have this one: Linksys - SpeedBooster 802.11g Wireless Router - WRT54GS

It works well, and delivers a wireless signal throughout my house, and i have it password protected
Its easy to configure because it comes with a tutorial CD.
It tells you step by step on how to configure your internet, and how you can encrypt your wireless signal

The number thingy means how strong the signal is, and how far it will transmit it

[jwoody]

good deal, I appreciate help.

[Bouncer]

any linksys wireless router will work fine. follow the directions for setting up the password. pretty easy.

[Timber]

Yea let me jump on the Linksys system. I can reach everywhere in my house and shop as well as my pool house and front yard. I also have been very pleased with there teck support.

[hitmansb]

Go with Linksys...they cost more than D-Link...but you really do get what you pay for.

[redback]

password protection wont always stop people logging onto your network with a wireless router

[blm]

password protection wont always stop people logging onto your network with a wireless router

Really? You mean there are people out there that can hack into other peoples equipment? :breakit:

[jwoody]

password protection wont always stop people logging onto your network with a wireless router

Yeah I understand that, but it will atleast keep out the majority of people.


Thanks for all the replys guys. Looks like Linksys is the way to go

[Bouncer]

Really? You mean there are people out there that can hack into other peoples equipment? :breakit:

:breakit:

[Scrumhalf]

Pick either Linksys or Netgear - I have had good luck with both. There's usually one of them on sale/rebate all the time, so pick whichever one is cheaper.

As far as speed is concerned, a 54MBps router (802.11g protocol) should be plenty. Your laptop or computer probably only has a 54MBps (or smaller) wireless card anyway, so having a faster router does you no good unless your computer can handle it. Moreover, your cable internet feed is going to be less than 10MBps (or maybe 15MBps if you have FIOS), so the only thing the extra capability does for you is if you want to move large amounts of data back and forth between your computers in your home network.

Also, as far as security is concerned, you can do one of two things. You can set up 24-bit WEP. This is a reasonably secure key that should prevent any amateur hacker. I seriously doubt anyone would be sitting outside your house trying to defeat 24-bit encryption.

An alternative is to set up your access by MAC address. This is what I have done. I have specified the MAC address for each of my computers explicitly to my router. So, it will only communicate to those specific computers.

[blm]

Use WPA for encryption it's more secure than WEP.

[Scrumhalf]

Use WPA for encryption it's more secure than WEP.

Good point...

[Bouncer]

Use WPA for encryption it's more secure than WEP.

how can i change it. i just looked and mine is using WEP. i dont see and option to change it.

[Scrumhalf]

Do you have very old router? WPA is a fairly recent encryption standard (last 3-4 years or so if I remember right). It is possible that you may be able to download a firmware upgrade from the manufacturer that will flash your firmware to include WPA but more likely than not, you may need to purchase a new router. All new routers sold these days must have WPA to be Wi-Fi certified.

WPA is indeed vastly more secure with 128-bit keys and it also dynamically changes keys, so hacker attacks to try to retrieve the key are pretty much impossible with WPA.