I want to get my first Cisco wireless router, which one?

[Super Tigers]

Hi, at present I am studying with the Open University for my CCNA and then hopefully next year moving onto CCNP. At present I have a netgear powermax modem router which has served me well. But I want to get really down and dirty configuring Cisco routers and having a fully working one will enable me to really hands with the IOS interface and configuration. At present I use Boson simulator software and Netlabs for going configs and labs, which is good but not really enough.

Have seen a myriad of routers for sale on the web and the 850/870 series looks like it has the best range of features for my home network (2 laptops, wireless printer, wifi phone, Nintendo DS and wired PC). I can pick up a new 877W router with all the dogs gonad features for £250inc vat, 871W for £240 and 857W for £210. Which would suit my needs? I need solid reliable connection, full IOS support with all the latest Cisco developments and features.

I have really got into CISCO and networking with the CCNA course and I am looking to move career wise into networking after my CCNA finishes.

Does any one run any of these routers at home and what are their experiences.

Thanks
Rob H

 

[Teal]

The 850/870 series are very nice routers for home / small business use, but they only support a very limited part of the feature set available to more expensive Cisco devices.

No harm in having one but don't imagine it will get you more than a very limited insight into Cisco configuration, better than not having a Cisco device at all though of course.

 

[Tui]

Have look back for recent thread asking about the 850/870 - the 870 is far better. For ADSL you'll want the 877.

We use 877 and 877W routers for our remote 1-5 people offices and home workers. They're very good boxes (well, have been for the last year when Cisco started releasing firmware that did what it was supposed to do) supporting multiple wired and wireless networks for data and voice and VPN connections.

For all features (particularly multiple VLANs on the switch), you need the Advanced IP Services firmware which currently requires 4MB more of flash that the default Advanced Security Services.

Have to agree with Teal in that you'll get exposure to the Cisco CLI for switch, router,bridging and QoS commands but not the full Cisco developments. Plus, everything is in the one box and networking is really about connecting multiple devices together.