Wireless routers? Computer advice

[OptionZero]

I've been digging through some reviews of various Netgear or Linksys products, and each one has its own share of detractors. The reviews are from random people so I can give nothing any added or less weight.

Anyone have any suggestions? Range is more important than ultimate speed, and I'd like to keep prices less than $100 or so.

My application is a Dell laptop, and I need range around 75 ft (wired connection is on the 3rd floor).

Help appreciated.

[s14xman]

i use to run a netgear wireless card with linksys router! haha But i'd say go linksys and you won't go back

[boosteds13]

Are you trying to send a wireless signal through 3 floors? That might pose a problem depending on the building materials. Particularly steel.

[mjjstang]

well I have only used linksys, and my only problems I have are every so often my shit wont connect on any computers, so I have to unplug router and cable modem for 1.5 minute to reset that shit, I think its an ip problem and not anything to do with router or whatnot. I have a satellite with an exceptional card in it, so I have to say that the range really depends on the router and wireless card working togather, as a buddy bought a "top of the line" card, and my laptop built in, owned his card in every aspect, and this guy knows what hes doin too, so yah I have my router on the 2nd floor in one corner of the house and I can go in the basement on the other corner and have NO issues whatsoever with connection. Linksys is pretty much the leader in wireless products in my opinion. And of course there are tons of range boosting options on the market. But try just a wireless router first and if boosting is necessary go from there.

[anthony240]

wireless is very sensitive when going through walls. mine is 40ft away but it's going through about 3-4 walls. signal was weak as hell.

while getting the router/nic, invest in higher dB antennas and you won't have to worry.

also, there's a trick to directing the router signal: get some cardboard, about 4x6 inches, wrap it in aluminum foil. with a separate cardboard sheet create a half circle about 6 inches in diameter, and cut out a hole in the center. wrap the foiled sheet around the circumference of the half circle in the middle, and insert the router antenna through the hole. then just point the antenna to where you want the signal to go. there's a better writeup out there.

some routers (linksys) have 2 antennae and you can do the above to both.

I bought my Linksys Wireless G 54Mbps with Speedbooster Router and NIC for less than $100 at Fry's about a year ago. Got it running stable, plus Linksys is easy to manage.

[SimpleS14]

I have a Linksys router and card and I get a good signal even with the router in the basement. My computer is on the 3rd floor if that helps. No dropped signals excluding the times the ISP would go down. Also setting up the router to work with my ISP (Verizon DSL) was a PITA at first...but it was easy solved with the easy configuration program you can download from Linksys support website. Once its hooked up, changing the admin settings are easy.

[boosteds13]

Linksys is pretty much the leader in wireless products in my opinion.

Yeah...not really-- http://www.tomsnetworking.com/lans_routers/charts/

Orinoco owns just about everyone with their gold series cards in terms of range.


OptionZero-- Check out this link on Toms Hardware- http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2006/02/27/wireless_networking_ntk_2006/

Also, peruse their site a little bit. They have done a ton of reviews on various wireless routers so you can see which one is the best for you.

[LB.Motoring]

LInksys for the win,

but if your worried about signal, you need to know that it will also slow the connection down, I would suggest upgrading your router with aftermarket intennas, I think mine are 4 times the power as the stock, but then again I need it. Im shooting internet from down the street to my house, then a repeater here for my household, and yet I still have 3.2mb downloads. Just research what you need first and go and spend sppend spend. hahaha

GL :rofl:

-R

[S14DB]

Linksys routers are just easy to hack.

Their PC cards suck balls cause they use some dumb proprietary connection system and not the connection wizard.

[boosteds13]

LInksys for the win,

but if your worried about signal, you need to know that it will also slow the connection down, I would suggest upgrading your router with aftermarket intennas, I think mine are 4 times the power as the stock, but then again I need it. Im shooting internet from down the street to my house, then a repeater here for my household, and yet I still have 3.2mb downloads. Just research what you need first and go and spend sppend spend. hahaha

GL :rofl:

-R
Down the street with line of sight is different from multi-level spanning. 1" thick steel has an attenuation of about 6db and floorboarding about 3db. And since attenuation is exponential, two floors would make the problem real bad. Unless you are breaking FCC rules, you aren't going to have an antenna powerful enough to penetrate.

[mjjstang]

Yeah...not really-- http://www.tomsnetworking.com/lans_routers/charts/

Orinoco owns just about everyone with their gold series cards in terms of range.




actually yes because I said in MY opinion, and that didnt change my opinion, and come to think of it. I think that is the card my buddy had, and my built in card owned it. he picked up 2 AP, while I was having to choose between 5.

[boosteds13]

actually yes because I said in MY opinion, and that didnt change my opinion, and come to think of it. I think that is the card my buddy had, and my built in card owned it. he picked up 2 AP, while I was having to choose between 5.
Ok? Congrats on forming an opinion. Was your "buddy" using the external antenna for the Orinoco? Because if he wasn't than I am not surprised. Their internal antennas are weak. The benefit of them is the external antenna jack. Check out any wardriving forum and they will recommend you an Orinoco Gold 802.11b card.

[LB.Motoring]

Down the street with line of sight is different from multi-level spanning. 1" thick steel has an attenuation of about 6db and floorboarding about 3db. And since attenuation is exponential, two floors would make the problem real bad. Unless you are breaking FCC rules, you aren't going to have an antenna powerful enough to penetrate.


the way mine is set up, its breaking fcc rules, and i also think health rules.... hahahaha :rofl:

Also, I updated my firmware on my router to an altered state program which infact puts 30+% more power out....

[dannyboi]

I had a Netgear router... the piece of shit refused to get installed. Then bought a Linksys, and it worked like a charm.

[S14DB]

actually yes because I said in MY opinion, and that didnt change my opinion, and come to think of it. I think that is the card my buddy had, and my built in card owned it. he picked up 2 AP, while I was having to choose between 5.
Most decent built in's have a vertical and a horizontal antenna behind the screen and the card switches between the 2 for the best signal. They pwn any internal antenna PC card.

[CaoBoY]

i have a netgear router. its fine, but then again, im always about 20 feet from it.
signal strength? 5 bars. 3 floors? probably not? maybe you should look into getting the dsl line run down teh three floors to your computer?

[OptionZero]

It's be a PITA to run the line downstairs, plus there are multiple laptops used in the house.
Thanks for the help guys, looks like I got reading to do.

[yokotas13]

i have an array of linksys components for different things adn i love it. TYhe wireless router has enough distance to get me to my car in the parkign lot from my 3rd story apartment ....im happy with that. and linksys has a signal amplifier as well to get more range

[Var]

i have a linksys AND a netgear and i can't get either of them to work. it says acquiring network address then it never connects. so i just leech off my neighbors' connections.

[TurDz]

I've had the same problem as mjjstang. I have to do a "power cycle."

Sometimes the internet connection just stops...

basically, the router can't receive IP info from the modem.

I've had Linksys for 5 years tho (through college, different houses/routers and at home too) and its work ok the whole time. Probably the cheapest too...

[boosteds13]

I've had the same problem as mjjstang. I have to do a "power cycle."

Sometimes the internet connection just stops...

basically, the router can't receive IP info from the modem.

I've had Linksys for 5 years tho (through college, different houses/routers and at home too) and its work ok the whole time. Probably the cheapest too...
I had that problem with mine. An update to the firmware fixed it though.