I Finally need wi-fi, Access point or new adsl/router?

[stytagm]

Hi All,

We've just got a new lappy with Wifi, so it's time to give the network a bit of an overhaul. Should I get a wireless access point (like this - £34.98) or should I just replace my current ADSL/Router (wired) with a whole new adsl wireless (like this £41.99)?

Extra Info:
Our two desktop computers are currently wired, and will still get far more use than the laptop, so if we do go all in one it'll still need to have a wired switch/hub built in.

I'm also keen to be able to switch off the wi-fi but leave the wired connections switched on, can you do this with a wi-fi/adsl/router in one?

Any advice? Are there any brands people prefer these days? (My current router is Speed Touch and I've been very happy with it) The two I've linked two were just the first examples I found to compare how a wireless access point is only marginally cheaper than a whole router/adsl/wi-fi combo.

Cheers all - Andrew.

[Splash]

I'm a firm believer in seperates, but that's just my opinion. When I come to needing wireless I'll be getting a WAP with RADIUS capability and putting it in a seperate VLAN on my Vigor 2800 (VPNing back in if I need access into my own network), and applying strict bandwidth limits on that VLAN.

On most all in ones (though not all) you can turn off the wireless functionality through the management interface.

[burble]

I'm a firm believer in seperates

Ditto.

[Prismatic]

The netgear DG834G in your link there should do everything you've specified (4 ethernet ports, turn off wifi). I'm using that atm and it's not been rebooted for over a month and a half. Most of the other netgear stuff have a bad reputation though.

I also hear more good than bad things about speedtouch but the one I have (780w) seems to need a reboot every couple of days. It appears not to like lots and lots of connections like torrents. My friend mentioned a 'very good' brand called Draytek but I don't know much about those (I believe the Vigor 2800 in that post above is one of them).

[stytagm]

Thanks guys, I went for that Netgear jobby in the end (because I'm too lazy to shop around) and it's now working great plugged into my Speedtouch router/modem.

The instructions seemed a little round-about (had to use a single computer directly connected to the box to do the first config) but I followed them (pretty much) to the letter and I had no problems.

The Vista laptop's connected, It's using WPA2 with AES and I've put some nice strong passwords on there, so hopefully the neighbourhood script kiddies will go elsewhere for their fun.

Cheers for all your help guys, Andrew.

[stytagm]

PS, If I've got password protected WPA2, should I still restrict by Mac address too, or is that a bit pointless?

[burble]

Totally pointless. All you'll accomplish is making it a bit more awkward for you when you want to add a new client on the network.

If someone can get past your WPA2 key then they'll be able to packet sniff the frames and will easily be able to see the MAC address of any currently connected clients and then clone that MAC address.