router advice

MNuTz · 20 Oct 2006 at 12:26

Hi all,

When we move into the new house im finally going to be able to get rid of Internet Connection Sharing, i cant access the net through my PC running Linux because of it and its driving me loopy.

I will be having 2 PCs upstairs in the office and then i think we will end up buying a laptop of some description for the missus to use downstairs, maybe even conenct the 2 DS lites as well.

So i will be needing 2 new network cards as the old ones are very old and use the old round cable connectors with a 10mb/s limit. A wireless and wired router/modem for connection of the 2 pcs upstairs and then the laptop.

Must be easy to use as im totally new to routers, not majorly expensive but be good quality.

Any suggestions?

On a side note, is it true that i will be able to stop using firewalls once we are behind a router?

MNuTz · 31 Oct 2006 at 04:08

Well, ive spent some time looking around and im thinking of getting the following:

Netgear DG834G 54Mbps Wireless ADSL Modem/Router/Switch/Firewall (NW-017-NG)
Price: £54.99 (£64.61 Including VAT at 17.5%)

As this will allow me to connect the 2 Pcs directly to the router with cables and allow access to the net for a wireless laptop and hopefully the 2 DSLites.

Belkin Cat5e Network Patch Cable 3m - Grey (CB-002-BE)
Price: £1.95 (£2.29 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Im unsure whether to go for the:

Belkin F5D5005EA Gigabit PCI Network Card (NW-030-BE)
Price: £11.95 (£14.04 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Or the cheaper

D-Link DFE-530TX PCI Network Card (NW-024-DL)
Price: £4.95 (£5.82 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Any suggestions or comments on this setup?

Avalon · 31 Oct 2006 at 10:49

You don't mention if you will be using ADSL/Cable/Sat/Wifi to connect with.... Also check the Belkin card's Linux support.

MNuTz · 31 Oct 2006 at 10:52

Sorry, will be connecting the 2 PCs to the router via cable for the adsl. Only the laptop will be connecting to the net via wifi.

thanks for the linux support suggestion, didnt even occur to me

Avalon · 31 Oct 2006 at 11:40

I switched from a DG834 to a DG834G when I was bored one friday afternoon at work and it's been perfect (we got a few of them free when we moved users over to AOL). The best compliment I can pay it or any other bit of networking kit is appart from power outages (working in the middle of nowhere has it's downside) it's been rebooted once for a firmware upgrade since it got plugged in.