Wireless Router

[Alice]

Anyone know where to get a decent wireless router that's on the fairly inexpensive side? 

Really, at most I'll probably be 15 feet away from the router when I'm using it.  If even that.

[Gamplayerx]

I don't, but I can say that the people who work the telephones at Linksys are very nice when you completely screw up your router on a Sunday night. 

[Bennyhana]

Anyone know where to get a decent wireless router that's on the fairly inexpensive side? 

Really, at most I'll probably be 15 feet away from the router when I'm using it.  If even that.

Cable is cheap.

[Jessie]

I need to get one too, so if you find a cheap one, let me know.

[Beefy]

Decent does not usually equal in expensive.

When I set mine up, it cost, with cable, a bit over a hundred if memory serves.

Distance from router is only part of the issue.  Protecting your wireless from other network leeches is also important, lest they steal your bandwidth.

[Alice]

Anyone know where to get a decent wireless router that's on the fairly inexpensive side? 

Really, at most I'll probably be 15 feet away from the router when I'm using it.  If even that.

Cable is cheap.

Having a dog with a gimpy leg that gets caught up in cable and pulls your computer off of things, causing them to fall to the floor and break - is not cheap.  I need wireless.

[nallen]

25 ft. range, $3.92, run it along the wall or under the carpet to avoid dog-leg issues

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10208&cs_id=1020801&p_id=140&seq=1&format=2&style=

[Alice]

25 ft. range, $3.92, run it along the wall or under the carpet to avoid dog-leg issues

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10208&cs_id=1020801&p_id=140&seq=1&format=2&style=

Its for my work laptop.

[Jessie]

I think this is the model that was recommended to me, for $50

http://www.buy.com/prod/linksys-wireless-g-broadband-router-wrt54g/q/loc/101/10336386.html

[Gamplayerx]

I think this is the model that was recommended to me, for $50

http://www.buy.com/prod/linksys-wireless-g-broadband-router-wrt54g/q/loc/101/10336386.html

That's what I have.  And if you jack it all up on a random Sunday night, the nice Indian man will fix it for you.

[Jessie]

For the record, I don't need wireless at all, but I really like kicking back in my bed and watching tv while chatting/writing/surfing.  It's nice!  When I have some extra cash, I'll get a wireless router.

[nallen]

Does your laptop have a 802.11b/g card?  I guessing it does.   Go with g if you're tired of shitty performance (I was skeptical until I switched my router out, it's a huge difference is signal strength and reliability.)   Ignore n and draft-n, it's unnecessary.

Linksys gets a lot of flak for folks, but the truth is they have known weaknesses (none of which apply to you), and lots of support. 

~$50

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=628108&CatId=373


A bit cheaper, but more prone to issues of interoperability:

~$30

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=578283&NoMapp=1

[Alice]

What's b/g?

[nallen]

What's b/g?

802.11b vs 802.11g 

They are different wireless specs, b gives a transfer rate of ~10Mbits/sec, whereas g gives 54 Mbits/sec, is actual data speed this is about 8 kb/s for b and 43.2 kb/s for g.   Reality is you'll get closer to 5 for b and probably 30 for g.  That's at a good signal strength level, if there are problems, expect b to drop to ~1-2kb/s and g to 10 kb/s.   The difference here is big, since the b gives noticeable lag on web surfing, while the g will not.

[Bennyhana]

What's b/g?

802.11b vs 802.11g 

They are different wireless specs, b gives a transfer rate of ~10Mbits/sec, whereas g gives 54 Mbits/sec, is actual data speed this is about 8 kb/s for b and 43.2 kb/s for g.   Reality is you'll get closer to 5 for b and probably 30 for g.  That's at a good signal strength level, if there are problems, expect b to drop to ~1-2kb/s and g to 10 kb/s.   The difference here is big, since the b gives noticeable lag on web surfing, while the g will not.

However, you want a router that is backwards compatible to b, because there are some pieces of hardware (streaming music devices, etc.) that only do b. 

[Bishamonten]

Do what the rest of do.

Hire chinese kids to memorize binary and run the back and forth between your laptop and your cable modem.

[Bennyhana]

Do what the rest of do.

Hire chinese kids to memorize binary and run the back and forth between your laptop and your cable modem.

But then, for the love of God, hide your coke.

[Bishamonten]

Do what the rest of do.

Hire chinese kids to memorize binary and run the back and forth between your laptop and your cable modem.

But then, for the love of God, hide your coke.

If you pay them in coke, they work longer and faster.

[meredith]

I'd agree with the suggestions for linksys models in the $50 range.

802.11b vs 802.11g 

They are different wireless specs, b gives a transfer rate of ~10Mbits/sec, whereas g gives 54 Mbits/sec, is actual data speed this is about 8 kb/s for b and 43.2 kb/s for g.   Reality is you'll get closer to 5 for b and probably 30 for g.  That's at a good signal strength level, if there are problems, expect b to drop to ~1-2kb/s and g to 10 kb/s.   The difference here is big, since the b gives noticeable lag on web surfing, while the g will not.

who the hell is this guy?

also -

802.11b - full speed  1.2 megabytes/sec
802.11a/g - full speed  6.7 megabytes/sec

802.11b is totally adequate for setting up mom or grandma.  It's not an issue of lag though, just bandwidth.  If you are in a dense apartment area with many wireless networks, you are going to see performance issues, which is probably where nate's experience is coming from.  There are 12 channels available for wireless networks but they overlap so you can only have 3 or 4 networks in the same airspace before you start crowding other signals out.

[nallen]

Here's a handy dandy table, stolen from Wikipedia of course  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11):

Protocol    Release Date        Data Rate (Typ)    Data Rate (Max)    Range (Indoor)    Range (Outdoor)
802.11a    1999                      25 Mb/s                     54 Mb/s                     ~25 meters     ~75 meters
802.11b    1999                        5.5 Mb/s                     11 Mb/s                 ~35 meters    ~100 meters
802.11g    2003                     25 Mb/s                     54 Mb/s                ~25 meters             ~75 meters
802.11n    2007                   200 Mb/s                   540 Mb/s               ~50 meters          ~126 meters


It's important to know that the numbers are given in bits (b), not bytes(B), it take 8 bits to make one byte.  The rate is almost an order of magnitude less, 5.5 Mb/s = 0.68 MB/s, and 25 Mb = 3.125 MB/s

[BigDun]

Another important thing to keep in mind is that 802.11b and 802.11g operate in the 2.4 Ghz spectrum. This is the same radio frequency that most portable phones use. Also, microwave ovens can often interfere with this spectrum.

802.11a is faster than 802.11b (even though it is lower in the alphabet) and works on the less crowded 5.4 Ghz frequency.

If your laptops supports it, and the price isn't too much, I would recommend going with the 802.11a if you are in an apartment building. Otherwise go with 802.11g and hope that you don't lose connection when you make some popcorn or are talking on a call with a portable phone.

[Alice]

How do I know if my laptop supports it?

[swolt]

Get two tin caps. Put a string on one and tie it to the cable modem. Put a string on the other one and tie it to the PC.

make sure the cans are facing each other.

[swolt]

How do I know if my laptop supports it?

what is the make/model of your laptop? Anything made in the past 2 years should support both B and G

[Alice]

Dell Inspiron 9400