Router Advice.....

[suarve]

Hi all,

Right, i have never used a router before and just need a few pointers from peeps who use them. I have two pcs (one upstairs and downstairs) and a my xbox 360 (upstairs too). What router should i be looking to get (want a wired one at the moment as some of the wireless adapers are £65 Having a wireless optiuon would be nice for the future). Also have a few questions:

1. What specs and features shopuld i be looking for?
2. What things/brands should i avoid?
3. Would i be able to use wired and wireless devices at the same time?
4. Is an ADSL2 router backwards compatible?
5. Can i use an alternative ethernet cable to the one supplied by microsoft, as that will definately be too short.

Thanks for any help and apologies for my noobishness.

 

[shine]

Hi all,

Right, i have never used a router before and just need a few pointers from peeps who use them. I have two pcs (one upstairs and downstairs) and a my xbox 360 (upstairs too). What router should i be looking to get (want a wired one at the moment as some of the wireless adapers are £65 Having a wireless optiuon would be nice for the future). Also have a few questions:

1. What specs and features shopuld i be looking for?
2. What things/brands should i avoid?
3. Would i be able to use wired and wireless devices at the same time?
4. Is an ADSL2 router backwards compatible?
5. Can i use an alternative ethernet cable to the one supplied by microsoft, as that will definately be too short.

Thanks for any help and apologies for my noobishness.

1. If you don't already have a router then you want something which also includes a firewall for security and as a minimum is wireless g compatible
2. Linksys/Netgear are the ones to look for but avoid the Netgear DG834GT as its rubbish (personal experience)
3. Yes, you can use both at the same time
4. they normally are, I've yet to come across one that isn't
5. yes

 

[Avalon]

I agree with Shine however I have a slightly different view point. Routers today have a lot of standard features today across the board, most are 4 port 10/100 with or without a print server built in, almost all have the option of upnp if you are that way inclined.

1. As you don't mention content filtering I won't, Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), Intruder Detection System (IDS), if wifi is a major issue then yes you may want to look at fast speeds but I survive quite nicely for all but large LAN based file transfers on 11 or 54 depending where I am so if it's just for browsing the wed anything above 54 will be fine as your net connection will be the limiting factor. Buying a brand name in this case is the best option as it will get a decent life cycle and continued support.

2. Netgear are fine for the majority of people, they have been known - depending on the firmware version - to suffer line drops and line sync has been lower on bad lines (line stats would help), Linksys again have a decent rep by and large, see toms networking for the router charts to give you an idea of max connections and WAN-LAN speed etc. If you want to make the most of p2p based applications number of max connections is important.

3. Yes.

4. Normally Yes.

5. Any length up to about 100feet but i'd stay clear of anything over about 80feet that isn't high quality. Cat5 or 5e will be fine 6 is just about as cheap now depending where you shop.