Wireless router

[McBainUK]

Thinking of getting a a wireless router as will soon be forced to run my third cat-5 cable across the living room floor!

Connections required
* ADSL modem, preferably built in.
* A reliable and fast wired connection for my gaming PC (which sits next to the phone line).
* Wi-fi to a Nintendo Wii.
* Wi-fi to a GB-PVR PC in the living room.
* Wi-fi to a laptop.
* Spare wired connection for work laptop on occasions.


I already have a wireless card and USB dongle for the GB-PVR PC and the laptop so not interested in any bundles or "fast" wireless as they are both bog standard 802.11g. It's a small flat so distance/signal strength shouldn't be a problem.

Looking at this linksys one from amazon but I'm a noob when it comes to networks. Any thoughts from those "in the know"?

Thanks

[rtiangha]

Should be fine, although Speedbooster is useless unless you've got devices that also have Linksys Speedbooster cards as well (the Wii probably doesn't, don't know about what's built into your laptop). If you don't, then save some money and go one model down (i.e. without Speedbooster). So instead of getting the WRT54GS (which this model appears to be), just get the WRT54G and that should be fine. This guy doesn't have a built in ADSL modem, though.

If you can, try to get the WRT54GL. It's essentially the same as the regular WRT54G but a) it runs the Linux OS (not that important, only really important if you want to run third-party firmwares) and b) has twice as much RAM (makes it worth it). The extra RAM helps if you do bittorrent and other peer-to-peer stuff as it can handle more connections reliably. Costs about the same usually too. Doing a search on amazon.co.uk shows that it's only 6 pounds more. I think it's worth it for a router that's a smidge more robust.

Edit: although it looks like they're selling the WRT54G for the same price as the WRT54GS. In that case, if you don't want to spend the extra 6 pounds, get the GS, I guess.

[McBainUK]

I've heard good things about the linux version.

This guy doesn't have a built in ADSL modem, though.

I would need this, does the others have it?

[rtiangha]

I've heard good things about the linux version.


I would need this, does the others have it?

Unfortunately not.

Cable user myself, so not familiar with the ADSL side of things.

[McBainUK]

This netgear one looks good. Might have to do some reading around. Thanks for your help

[supplier]

check Linksys or Buffalo routers with Linux, that can be upgrade to DD-WRT firmware -- it's the best combination avalable that you can get. I got Buffalo WHR-G125 for $25 AR. it's awesome, stable, customasable, rebootable and your scadule, VOIP and SAP compatible and much, much more... http://www.dd-wrt.com

[-Oz-]

yea, i have 5 buffalo routers running right now replacing d-link and linksys gear. They're great and all modded with dd-wrt. My favorite is this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833162134
But that may be overkill for you. The one I use in my house is the Buffalo WHR-G125.

I wouldn't get one with the modem built in because then if one part stops working (or you move) then you need a new router.

This is what I did with the HP buffalo routers: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=104898

[bogyver]

If your interested in the dd-wrt type of firmwares for added features, you could consider building your own wireless router out of older pc hardware.
I use pfsense more info can be found at http://www.pfsense.com
Basically I have a 1ghz p3 setup with 2 nic's and wireless card
the normal wireless card to use is anything with an atheros chip set
the setup I have is capable of routing over 10 megabytes per second, I live on a college campus and we have full Ethernet access. Depending on your situation a low end p3 could fit your bandwidth requirements.
If you decide to go with pfsense use the 1.0.1 release as the new version is based of freebsd 6.2 and has issues with wireless cards that are inherent to that version of freebsd
If you have more questions feel free to ask

[linene]

I live on a college campus and we have full Ethernet access.

GO CYCLONES (class of 93 here)

Sounds like a pfsense project might be fun...got alot of old computers. Is it as configurable as dd-wrt for things like wds with wpa?

[bogyver]

GO CYCLONES (class of 93 here)

Sounds like a pfsense project might be fun...got alot of old computers. Is it as configurable as dd-wrt for things like wds with wpa?

I dont think they have wds yet (would have to look into and possible ask on the forums), but for the most part they offer the same features that dd-wrt does.
I use mine mostly for vpn access, the only thing that sucks for vpn is the restriction that the software (raccoon is used for ipsec on pfsense) has on ipsec vpn, requiring at lest one static ip on one end of the tunnel.
but i think that might not be as big a problem in new releases. I have just gave up on it and use openvpn and pptp for vpn.
It really awesome to be able to go to any windows machine (98 and up) and just put in the address and user/pass and be able to remote in and get files if needed. I even set up a wins server to get windows (samba/cifs) file sharing to work over the pptp.

I'm finishing up my undergrad in chemistry (go figure a chemist that does system administration in the electrical and computer engineering department)
Graduating at the end of this semester