Best ADSL wireless router?

[Scott]

I have decided my new BT home hub is absolute pap for range around my house and its affecting other users at home where the old router didnt.

Im going to buy a new router (adsl) and looking to see if anyone has one that appears to be able to send a single through one thin brick wall without loosing connection every 10 seconds

[Viper]

firstly, have you tried pointing the aerial in different ways to try and get the best reception.

have you tried any other way of boosting signal, e.g metal foil behind the aerial so it concentrates the signal.

i cant suggest any routers, as we have only ever had one, which i have never been impressed with.

[b0t13]

d-link and netgear make decent routers, lots of support etc.. too

try their website, my netgear router atm is perfect, never fails and i have full signal upstairs all the time. i download alot too ;)

[Kevvv]

Netgear DG834G FTWWWWWWW!

No doubt the best router i have ever had, got it beamed to me from AOL's Finest. Infact i have 2. 59.99 in Shops, ill sell you it for 10+ postage. Never been used, when i upgraded my AOL subscription i got another one sent out to me. I think it has a box i will get back to you later today about the box, if you want it. Can Download the Drivers off the Netgear site...

[Clouds_mate]

Scott mate iv got a brand new netgear wireless router unopened ;)

[Scattle]

I got a US Robotics 9016, used it for about 2 years no problems, and it keeps signal and doesn't disconnect when i am upstairs. Good bit of kit.

[Clouds_mate]

and its the same as what Kevs suggesting ;)

[Kevvv]

Whats your price bitch

[Clouds_mate]

No idea. i did put it on ebay but they removed it this morning because i copied so text of another listing....only the spec of the router (fucking gay i know)

[Kevvv]

Hmmmmm i might Ebay mine
But i have 1.25 to pay from 4 month ago, so can't until i pay that off:ponder:

[Scott]

lol i shall consider your offers gents though i may end up going to pc world (hack) today and just buying it because im fed up getting grief.

Viper: I have tried pointing the aerial all at both otehr devices and made no difference. I cant use tin foil etc due to this then cutting off the other device. I did buy a wireless extender thats done nothing, though after some further digging last night it would appear that the home hub is made not to work with these things (not sure how or why)

I also bought a new aerial to try to get the extender to pick up more but the home hub aerial is not removable.

All in all i think the home hub is my problem thanks to its substandard internal components and the stupid tiny rubber aerial.

[BENSAX3]

netgear ftw sat in the garden now on the laptop

[Mystic]

I've had a netgear DG834GT for over 2 years now (maybe even quite a bit longer come to think of it!) and its never let me down.

108mbps wireless, inbuilt ADSL modem capable of ADSL2
http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/SuperGWirelessRouters/DG834GT.aspx

Its able to stream music from a pretty central point on the 1st floor of the house to the back of the garden, a floor and a half below the router, with no problems, i can surf the net on my laptop outdoors too (squinting like a mofo at the screen with a strategically placed newspaper in hand ;))

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l47/DJ-Mystic/wireless.jpg
According to Google i get about 50ft of reliable wireless which is enough to cover the house, garden & neighbours it seems. Not to mention the line i've drawn from the router to my spot in the garden involves the signal going through a slate roof, outdoors & then through a lead roof into our lounge and back through a wood & plaster wall back into the garden again :P

Its probably a bit dated now & i know netgear offer routers with even further ranges. Its a good place to start from though & certainly enough for one house :y:

EDIT: its also compatable with aditional access points though i've never tried this yet

[Scott]

excellent i will check out some netgear stuff then if i pop round this afternoon.

Also wireless N seems to be getting the push at the moment, am i worthwhile moving to this platform yet? A lot of articles are saying its not stable enough yet?

[Mystic]

I think its safe to stick with the current system. Alot of the newer netgear stuff is wireless N compatable though.

Internet connections are only at 16mbit though so even a very basic 54mbps wireless will do for wireless net browsing. Unless your gonna be transferring large files between computers i'd just stick with a decent 108mbps setup.

Would be interesting to hear what the pc world yobs make of it though, i had an interesting conversation with a curries employee about HD TV working using DVI cables last week (he assures me HD only wortks using HDMI cables :homo:)

[Scott]

lol i dont intend to speak to the gimps at pc world though i expect one to come up to me so ill see what their take on it is. I dread to think what rubbish may come out however there is always the chance i might get one of the good ones

[Ste]

Ive never had any problems with Netgear, Belking & D-LINK..

However i always get problems with;

Linksys, BT, Zyxel, Alcatel, Phillips & the worst = Zoom


And thats speaking from a fair bit of experience with routers...

D-Link are probably the best for Wireless imo.

[Scott]

cool im going to PC world in the next hour or so and willbe primarily looking at netgear and the belkin stuff then. I have heard before that linksys can be a bit off.

Looking at the netgear site the rangemax range might be worthwhile

[Scott]

Bought: http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/RangeMaxWirelessRoutersandGateways/DG834PN.aspx

6 antennas and its Super G mimo. Comes with a free rangemax USB dongle which should be useful for the PC tucked away at teh corner of the house. £80 so not to bad if it does the job

[RootDogg]

Not completely off topic but something you guys might be interested in..

Basically says the speed in which your router or what says it is it will never reach it..

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39561

[Mystic]

Looks like a good choice Scott, when i got mine years ago it was £80 and i got a free usb wireless dongle too :P who ever does there promotions are as imaginative as the porsche design team ;)

Make sure you encrypt it or your whole street will be "borrowing" it.

[Scott]

Aye ill encrpyt it like a mofo. Oh the joys of now having to go and set up all the PC's, laptops, Wii's xboxes etc.....

[Mystic]

That many plurals, i think you can afford to have someone do the dirtywork for you!

[Scott]

I could but then if it wasnt done right i wouldnt be happy, at least if i dont do it right i can only shout at myself:P

[Scott]

New router hooked up and has done the business for the downstairs PC tucked in the corner but my sisters laptop through two walls is still struggling :rage: might need to invest in a wireless card with external aerial for her because I cant be arsed with it anymore

[Ste]

Turn mac address filtering on and put in the mac addresses of all your machines. Thats the only proper way to secure your router as theres plenty of software out there to break keys and ssid's.

The mac address is unlike an IP and is assigned to your machine and never changes and is never used twice. To find it Cick Start > Run > Type cmd. In the black box type ipconfig /all

Its the Physical Address

Ta daaa


Is there a wardrobe or anything like that in the way? You could try a signal booster between the router and the aerial?

[Barry123]

not sure what everyone else has put but

netgear DG834GT for defo.

[Scott]

Ste: Not to bothered about anyone else using the connection but i will set that up later.

Between my room and my sisters room is the bathroom, one normal wall and the other wall is slightly thicker. I have a belkin expander but doesnt seem to be making much difference though im going to move that later tonight.

Sayer: bought the new one that supposed to be better than that though i did have that in my hand yesterday and it was cheaper. Going to try some other stuff then maybe change it at the weekend if no further forward

[Barry123]

my parents comps are on the 108Mbps connection whereas Adsayer and SisSayer are on the 54Mbps... no difference for broadband but if you're a LAN gamer or like to transfer stuff between various comps then it makes sense to go for the quickest.

any probs then usually a firmware upgrade should sort it.

[Mystic]

I've had a netgear DG834GT for over 2 years now (maybe even quite a bit longer come to think of it!) and its never let me down.
not sure what everyone else has put but

netgear DG834GT for defo.
Too slow boyo.
Bought: DG834PN

and hes bought this

Turn mac address filtering on and put in the mac addresses of all your machines. Thats the only proper way to secure your router as theres plenty of software out there to break keys and ssid's.

The mac address is unlike an IP and is assigned to your machine and never changes and is never used twice. To find it Cick Start > Run > Type cmd. In the black box type ipconfig /all

Its the Physical Address

Ta daaa


Is there a wardrobe or anything like that in the way? You could try a signal booster between the router and the aerial?

Acctually mac is a contraction of macintosh, & MAC is an acronym of Media Access Control ;)

Sorry but im a Mac user now, we get very pedantic about the word :P

[Ste]

Homemade signal booster;

Get a can (tin of beans) Eat the beans and clean the can.

Get a connector like a pigtail (http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi?PigTail) and fix it mid way into the can on the side somewhere, and plug a small aerial into it in the can. Leave one end of the can open and the other sealed.

Plug your homemade signal booster into your wireless card......


Mystic: I have a Mac you can be calm :)

[Mystic]

Mystic: I have a Mac you can be calm :)

;)

Scott, u tried pluggin ur freebie dongle into the laptop and using that? Sounds like the card in the laptop is the problem, unless one of the walls is seriously thick, cus mine manages to get through a lead roof & i get wireless in the car aswell (i park at the side of the house) and thats though a fairly hefty stone wall!

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l47/DJ-Mystic/DSC_0626.jpg
^ your 2 walls cant be much thicker than that? Unless they are some kind of support walls or there are alot of electircal wires in them which are upsetig the signal?

[Scott]

the second wall on teh bathroom used to be one of the outside walls so its thick but nothing out of the ordinary.

I quickly tried the dongle last night before going to the pub, it was picking up a good signal but wouldnt connect to the internet. Ill have a further go with teh dongle tonight when i have some more time, i was also considering buying a proper card rather than the laptops internal card.

[DarylVTR]

D-LINK is great

Avoid Linksys at all costs. If the walls in your house are steel backed your screwed ....

[theecho]

The Netgear DG834PN is a brilliant piece of kit, use the RangeMax client equipment too and your range will be a problem of the past. So get a RangeMax USB dongle or PCMCIA card for the laptop if its struggling :)

Security wise I wouldn't just use MAC control. Its the probably easiest security method to break. Get a card in promiscuous mode, use some free software and you can sniff the MAC's of the authorised computers without even connecting to the network.

Use WPA or WPA2 if you equipment allows. Its more secure, still breakable but its a pain in the ass to crack and people won't bother.

Just my 2 cents :)

[Scott]

i have all computer connected now, some low signal but workable so thats a step in the right direction. I do plan on buying new rangemax cards etc...

However the dongle so far has been gash, it can see the network, it says that it is connected yet wont fix to a channel on scanning and if it does it will connect and hold the network but wont connect to the internet. So it sitting in the corner at the moment to think about what its done until i get a few more moments to check it:P

[Scott]

FFS. All was going well all 3 main machines were fine now my room wont pick up a signal. Stupid fucking dongle is still recognising the network but wont fix on it or connect to the internet.

Going to go buy a rangemax card for my pc at lunch and try that or im going to launch the whole lot out of the window