Cable wireless router

[AledJ]

I have searched the forum but can not find anything to help.

Has anyone had any experience with the Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router for Cable Connections ??

I understand its a sort of plug and play router (although i assume the security on ti still needs setting up??) The reason I may possibly get this one is due to its range (1600ft apparently!) which will get to my room on the 3rds floor of my house.

Also how good is it?? Are there any problems i should expect or things not to do or things i should do??

And lastly when i connect it to my Virgin media modem (old ntl modem) will the router automatically start some set up program??


Thank you!

[AledJ]

If anyone has any other suggestion please post them. It seems the n1 belkin i linked to above does have some odd problems. One being its central clock which updates every 2 hours, and so cause problems when playing games (disrupts web browsing for 10 seconds or so). Their is a way to disable this update clock but its a pain really. Plus will have to update the firmware as soon as its running due tot he factory one is prone to causing drop outs. So anything else that I should look at would be a big help.

Cheers

[Funkstar]

Personally I wouldn't get a belkin. I had one of their ADSL routers, it was pants.

I quite like Edimax equipment, I have a 802.11n AP and a 802.11n cable router (hooked to an ADSL modem) at my parents place.

Whatever router you get should have instructins for setting it up with Virgin/NTL, they are a major cable provider, and the only one in the UK, so any Cable router sold in the UK is going to support them.

[AledJ]

I won't rule belkin out just yet! Buut i will have a look at Edimax routers. Are n1 routers old now??? Have been told that the standared for the top range is now N.

[aidanjt]

Stick with Linksys or Netgear routers. Considerably less headaches.

[AledJ]

Stick with Linksys or Netgear routers. Considerably less headaches.

Anything in particular?? Need the range to be up to at least 1,200 ft

[Funkstar]

Are n1 routers old now??? Have been told that the standared for the top range is now N.

erm.... the N1 is the name of the Belkin. It is a 802.11n router.

802.11n is indeed the latest and greatest wireless "standard". I put that in quotation marks because the full specification hasn't been fully ratified yet. However due to the large number of devices already out there that have been designed to that pre-ratification spec, I can't see there being any show stoppers when this goes final.... eventually.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Edima...oadband-Router
Have a look at this one. No fancy pants display on the front, but significantly cheaper than the Belkin, and it doens't come with a quite frankly idiotic bug in it's firmware that causes gaming issue when a clock updates (how that got through quality control defies logic.... oh wait, it's a Belkin).

[Funkstar]

Anything in particular?? Need the range to be up to at least 1,200 ft

1,200ft through walls and floors?

Ha! you'll be bloomin lucky if you can pull that off.

1,600ft on open parkland I could believe, but not when solid objects are involved.

No way you could run some cable? not necesarily all the way to your room, but if you hooked the cable modem to the router with a long ethernet cable, and had it in the middle of the house, you would be far more likely to get a signal where you want it.

[AledJ]

....

[Funkstar]

See my second post above in case you missed it

Yes, it's all web based.

[AledJ]

1,200ft through walls and floors?

Ha! you'll be bloomin lucky if you can pull that off.

1,600ft on open parkland I could believe, but not when solid objects are involved.

No way you could run some cable? not necesarily all the way to your room, but if you hooked the cable modem to the router with a long ethernet cable, and had it in the middle of the house, you would be far more likely to get a signal where you want it.

No way of putting cable in (parents would not go for that) I'll check tomorrow but my house has ground floor, 1st floor then 2nd floor where my room is. If i find the range would be too much will just ahve to use the laptop downstairs, and keep my pc for games only.

[AledJ]

Looks like i will have to measure myself lol Asked my farther the hight to my room which he said each room was about 8ft tall so lets say 10ft (to be safe). That's 30ft to my room straight up from the ground. I assume going diagonal would add more so no more than 100ft.

[Funkstar]

Wireless range is usually represented by a bubble (though it is more doughnut shaped), so you can assume it is 100ft out as well as 100ft up.

I must have been tired last night, 1,600ft is about a third of a mile! or half a km. That would be one massive house!

[mehmeh]

+1 on Edimax, Netgear or Linksys.. Belkin are pants!

Just a thought from someone who isnt an expert.. What about adding an access point/range extender? Or even going for a wireless bridge if Virgin are going to give you a G netgear for free anyway as per your other thread? 'Course its going to add more to go wrong and be a tad more involved on setup, but chances are it'll pay dividends in signal strengh, no?

[Funkstar]

In that case, forget about an alternative router until you get the free one from Virgin and see how it performs. If you can't get a signal with it where you want it, then you can view your options for improving that signal.

A repeater may be easier, not sure.

[Emirzan]

Funkstar, reading your first post in this thread it sounds like your setup is what I'm considering installing in my home.

I have a cable modem and that is plugged into a 802.11 b/g wireless router. Thing is the signal strength is ok but not great in certain areas of the house. Have considered homeplugs, but they are quite pricey and I'd also like to be able to sit in the garden with my laptop and browse the net. With this in mind I was considering plugging the router into another stronger (in terms of broadcasting power) wireless access point or repeater.

Had good experiences with edimax products and was considering this Access Point.

I have a couple of questions if you don't mind answering, firstly from your experience of using a similar setup did you benefit from better coverage? Also in terms of connecting to the internet, do you have to turn off the wireless broadcasting on the router and just connect via the access point if using wireless? Or is it ok to leave it on and allow a computer to connect to either the access point or the original router?