Complete networking noob needs suggestions

[karansar]

Main comp (vista 64 bit) and xbox360 downstairs in the front room. Son is getting my old pc (xp home) in his room, upstairs, back of the house.
I truly haven't got much of a clue when it comes to networking, been using a BT voyager 100, that I got from aol umpteen years ago.
Have been looking for a router, but there's sooooo many. So, could you good people please suggest some for me. Priorities are: ease of use and (low)price. I'd really just like to plug and play if it is at all possible.
Oh, both comps will be playing WOW at the same time.
Many thanks.

 

[karansar]

Let us know what model router you get in the end and we will show you how to set it up.

That's really nice of you, thanks. I certainly will do that. Actually, I do own and have been struggling with a Thomson speedtouch st585v6 (supplied by aol) over the weekend. I did have it running ok for about a fortnight, well over 6 months ago, but it just dced and I couldn't get it up and running again. Aol "help" were absolutely no help at all, so I abandoned it went back to the voyager.
I made a new build on Saturday and just thought I'd give the speedtouch one more try before trying a different router.

 

[karansar]

FatRakoon. I've been messing about with the speedtouch for the latter part of yesterday and most of the morning today. Didn't get any joy, so I came here for advice on getting a new router, but if we can sort the speedtouch, it'll save me a few quid
All 5 lights came on, but the WLAN one stayed on red. Tried to install it through aol software, but it couldn't find the router. Of the two lights on my ethernet port, one was yellow, the other orange(limited connection). Aol support guy talked me through into control panel>admin>services, then made me reset/stop/start DHCP Client and DNS Client to no avail. I think he went off to get some advice, then came back asking me to find "DCPIP", when I couldn't find it, he copped out and told me to get in touch with my comp manufacturer. Then he buggered off. It wasn't until I googled DCPIP that I realised I should have been looking for TCP/IP. Must've been the guys accent, really haven't a clue where he's from
One thing I think I figured out was, that there is a problem with my IP address being recognised by the router. But as it's a new pc, with a new Vista installation, I can't see how that would be the problem. Then again, I don't know what I'm doing.

 

[karansar]

Mate, thanks a lot for taking the time to help me out, it's very appreciated. I've got a feeling that the speedtouch is knackered. Weird though. It's got to be about 6 months ago since I used it last. It was working fine for a couple of weeks, then one night I was playing wow, got disconnected and I never managed to reconnect with it again afterwards. I tried to get a replacement or assistance from aol, but the nice aol helpline chap was no help at all. although he did eventually convince me to wipe my system (i was very drunk tho and it made sense at the time).
I've just managed to download the user manual from Thomson and had a quick read before I saw your post. According to the manual, when resetting, the power light should turn from green to red in about 7 seconds. After 60 seconds I gave up. Still stayed green.
I'm not sure if the recent helpguy, helped me bugger up my new Vista install, but as I'm waiting to get connected before I install anything else, I've reinstalled the OS, just in case . I've also just downloaded the most up to date ethernet drivers from Asus, but not sure if I should just wait until I buy a different router rather than try this speedtouch again.
I did try your advice with Internet explorer and firefox, but I was just told I had no connection. All the lights were on green only the WLAN was on red.

 

[karansar]

Bit of an adventure this afternoon/evening, left me feeling more than a little bit jaded. You're right with the lights sequence FatRakoon. They all came on, but it seems the computer isn't recognising the router...I think.
Since my last post, I've followed the manual and even tried to get the router going with the ****ey aol software, but still nothing. I ended up calling aol again. Nice chap told me that I had been connected to the net 8 times this afternoon but then my connection had dropped straight away.
He told me that my phone extension cable must be too long and if I were to go closer to the main socket (he almost guaranteed) all would be ok. So I shifted everything across the room and then......still nothing. Really p****d off, I put everything away and phoned them, demanding a new router. Nice guy in India (I know, cos I asked, cos I'm paying the phone bill) put me through to his supervisor, who told me to connect up again, then they would run me through it all again, and then decide if I need a new router. So I went off on one. "Useless aol. Useless help etc", then hung up. Bet they'll lose sleep tonight.
But..... tbh I think the problem lies within my computer.
I did manage to reset the router I think, by pressing and holding in the reset button as I turned it on.
My IPv4 address is 169.254.**.*** ( am I supposed to keep it secret? I know, I'll pm it to you)
and the Default Gateway is blank.
There is a subnet mask number, do you want that too?
Also it says Media state: Media disconnected.
I have read tonight, that IPv6 is unimportant and to disable it, so I did. Right thing to do?
Anyway, thanks for sticking by me mate. Hope you can still help, because the nice aol guy said even if I bought a new router, I'd still have the same problem.


Oh, I can't find how to pm you.

 

[karansar]

My PC------Unidentified Network------Internet
Status
IPv4: Limited
IPv6: Limited
Media State: Enabled
Speed: 100.0 Mbps

IP set on automatic as well as DNS
Restart and exactly the same problem as before, same IP address etc, router not talking to pc, pc not talking to router or neither of them are talking to the other.

I checked through device manager. The Atheros ethernet device is working properly.

 

[karansar]

Despite my lack of knowledge, I think the router stopped working when I first used it with the original computer; dropped connection, couldn't reconnect, router wouldn't talk to pc. Now my new comp can't see it either. All the same symptons, all the same bull**** with helpline. I reckon, although I'm quite possibly wrong, for whatever reason, the router is knackered.
I was going to buy myself a new one, but a free one is better (I hope) so I bit the bullet and called aol again last night and eventually managed to convince them to send me a new router. Should be here 3-5 days. Is it a good idea to get myself a NIC card, just in case the mobo is at fault?

 

[karansar]

Impatient me got bored waiting for aol to deliver whatever they decide to send me. Will probably be the cheapest pile of poo they can get away with anyway, so I bought one of these
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-081-LS&groupid=46&catid=1012&subcat= I like the look of the online guide etc, for idiots
On night shift tonight, so I'll have to try it out tomorrow some time. Will let you know how I get on. Fingers crossed. Thanks for your help FatRakoon.

 

[karansar]

All up and running now. Really easy to configure, just had to call aol cos I needed to confirm username.
Very nice router too I must add. Out of stock here at OcUK atm, but if anyone's looking for a new easy to use router, wait til they're back in stock and get one. If I can sort it anyone can
Thanks so much for all your help FatRakoon.