What are the Pros & Cons ?

jamjar · 14 Jan 2007 at 22:11

Hi All i,m looking into Routers and modems etc ,and want to know what is the pros and cons between a usb ADSL modem and a Router ,apart from one uses drivers ? is one harder to set up ,and are there a lot more tweeking and things not working on a Router ? :confused:

tolien · 14 Jan 2007 at 23:31

USB modems draw their power from the host (and quite often draw more than they're meant to), require the host to "dial" and are bound by the USB interface (and generally only support USB 1.1, which maxes out around 8Mbps).

One isn't significantly harder to set up than the other, and you shouldn't see anything not working with a router. You don't need to do any more tweaking with a router than with a USB modem.

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 17:44

tolien said:
USB modems draw their power from the host (and quite often draw more than they're meant to), require the host to "dial" and are bound by the USB interface (and generally only support USB 1.1, which maxes out around 8Mbps).

One isn't significantly harder to set up than the other, and you shouldn't see anything not working with a router. You don't need to do any more tweaking with a router than with a USB modem.

thanks for that ,when you say it maxes out at around 8mbps ,does that mean its not as good as a Router ? :confused:

bikes · 15 Jan 2007 at 18:18

jamjar said:
thanks for that ,when you say it maxes out at around 8mbps ,does that mean its not as good as a Router ?

I'd say so yes.

I think that he also means that if you was to go LLU you'd have to use a router for the greater speeds anyway.

tolien · 15 Jan 2007 at 18:18

Umm, take a guess?

It'll depend how fast your connection is obviously, but generally, most routers will readily handle a lot more than 10Mbps...

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 19:02

tolien said:
Umm, take a guess?

It'll depend how fast your connection is obviously, but generally, most routers will readily handle a lot more than 10Mbps...

thanks you sold me one ! great salesmanship ! did you know your a salesman ? if not why not ,u should be ! :eek:

OspreyO · 15 Jan 2007 at 19:40

jamjar said:
Hi All i,m looking into Routers and modems etc ,and want to know what is the pros and cons between a usb ADSL modem and a Router ,apart from one uses drivers ? is one harder to set up ,and are there a lot more tweeking and things not working on a Router ?

I don't get what the comparison is for. Unless you have other computers you don't need a router. If you do have a other computers then a router would be pretty much essential for sharing files and/or your internet connection, or gaming between the computers at home.

tolien · 15 Jan 2007 at 20:24

jamjar said:
did you know your a salesman ?

Did you notice that crack you were smoking?

sja360 · 15 Jan 2007 at 20:38

tolien said:
Did you notice that crack you were smoking?

haha!

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 20:58

tolien said:
Did you notice that crack you were smoking?

Cooooool man ! :cool:

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 20:59

OspreyO said:
I don't get what the comparison is for. Unless you have other computers you don't need a router. If you do have a other computers then a router would be pretty much essential for sharing files and/or your internet connection, or gaming between the computers at home.

No this is what i was rreally asking about ,and you have answered it ,that is my belief of what a Router is for ,networking p.c and not just one ..

tolien · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:01

Not necessarily. A router eliminates needing drivers (most USB modems don't work properly on the Mac, in *nix or Vista, if they even have drivers at all) and has an interface faster than USB 1.1...

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:24

tolien said:
Not necessarily. A router eliminates needing drivers (most USB modems don't work properly on the Mac, in *nix or Vista, if they even have drivers at all) and has an interface faster than USB 1.1...

Right i understand that ,i was just looking at a usb modems spec and it read this about the usb conection ...USB 1.1 interface - compatible with USB 2.0 root hubs is this a good sign ? :confused:

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:29

sorry am i thick ?

tolien said:
Not necessarily. A router eliminates needing drivers (most USB modems don't work properly on the Mac, in *nix or Vista, if they even have drivers at all) and has an interface faster than USB 1.1...

So usb Modems won,t work with Vista at all then ? or did imiss read you ? :confused:

BenST · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:42

The interface is still 1.1 so you'll still only max out at around 8mbps. Vista is a very new OS and as such it may be hard to find compatible drivers for your USB modem. Ethernet is the best way to go as the only drivers needed are the minimal set for the ethernet card and all OS's support Eth.

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:46

splitz said:
The interface is still 1.1 so you'll still only max out at around 8mbps. Vista is a very new OS and as such it may be hard to find compatible drivers for your USB modem. Ethernet is the best way to go as the only drivers needed are the minimal set for the ethernet card and all OS's support Eth.

Right got you ,but i thought there were No drivers with a Router/modem or am i wrong ? thought they just are set up and off you go . :rolleyes:

tolien · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:51

A router doesn't need drivers, the network card that connects your machine to the router does.
The majority of OSs will support the vast majority of network cards though.

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 21:53

tolien said:
A router doesn't need drivers, the network card that connects your machine to the router does.
The majority of OSs will support the vast majority of network cards though.

Right ,so you do need a network card ? i thought iread in a thread that you didn,t need a network card if your motherboard had a connection for a router :confused:

tolien · 15 Jan 2007 at 22:03

Whether it's onboard or not, it's still a network card.

jamjar · 15 Jan 2007 at 22:14

in the dark sorry

tolien said:
Whether it's onboard or not, it's still a network card.

Ok thanks ..so if i get a Netgear DG834 V3 Router/modem what will i need ? does it just connect to my motherboard & phoneline etc ? sorry if i sound thick,just been with usb for ages ,so in the dark really . :confused: