Wireless Routers

[Zyte]

I've recently moved house and hooked myself up to the net using a USB wireless router network jobby. Problem is the signal drops out every 2 mins or so giving periodic lag spikes when playing my beloved cs source.

So i have decided i to look for a new wireless network hardware as ive heard the problem is that all USB wireless stuff sucks.

I was hoping u could suggest some good wireless routers which are known for being good for gaming. If you could state the model, price and a link it would be much appreciatted.

Thanks in advance

Zyte

[narrowscope]

Speaking for myself, I've never trusted wireless routers for gaming. The added latency is unreliable.

[magicrichard]

You could try one of the new Pre-n routers. I think Belkin do one for £100~. They are supposed to be the fastest around at the moment.

Not sure if that would help the latency issue mentioned above though...

[Dougal]

WAIT!

Before you buy new stuff.

Disable Wireless Zero Config (WZC) service. Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Services

[Zak33]

WAIT further!

But a bit of wire, and plug it in for gaming Avoid wireless for something involving a top game

[Dougal]

I only get 40 ping when I'm on wireless. And thats with a broken aerial...

Its not bad considering the router is in the basement, I'm on the second floor and my mum uses the net at the same time. 0.5Mb down, 0.25 up

[Atomic]

Try using a PCI Card based solution.

If you have lots of other USB things running aswell it goes all slow and crappy.

[Nitestorm]

Also try moving the PC and router aerials around. Or if the router uses an internal one, change the orientation or the whole router. Some routers have more directional aerials than others.

You could try changing channels, incase a nearby wireless network is causing interference. Make sure you have the latest drivers and see if there is a firmware update for the router.

But yeah the Pre-N routers look good, claiming to boost coverage even for .11b devices.

[dbuske]

I have to agree wireless routers for gaming is a bad idea. I use wired, it is just faster at this point.

[unreal]

HOLD YOUR HORSES

I have a wireless router, and I had the same problem as you. Lag spikes on every game once every minute, and the wifi would drop out after a few hours. BUT this was because i accidentally smashed the aerial connectior on my PCI card lol.

Now I got a new one, works perfectly.


AND a big WTF to those who say wireless is a bad idea for gaming!
I was playing CSS when I was using the faulty PCI card with a 9 PING. And I was playing Battlefield 2 today in a ranked server with a 12 ping.
Most people who say its a good idea haven't even TRIED gaming with wireless. I obviously agree that a wired ethernet connection beats it anyday, but unless you frequently transfer large files from one computer to another, theres not much nessecity. (sp? lol)

[Zyte]

id love to use wired but cant due to not being allowed to drill through some walls and a ceiling to get my PC and Modem connected. Ive done a little research and come across these which claim to be a wireless network for gaming, but not sure if its a con for the less informed people.

D-Link

- DGL-4300 GamerLounge Wireless 108G Gaming Router

- Wireless 108AG Gaming Adapter
DGL-3420

[Pealy]

I've had the same issues as unreal, even when I'm right next to my Buffalo router it will drop out after a long connection time. I'm not playing games but listening to MP3's and it means restarting the track. It seems to be very short-lived but it's a drop-out all the same.

What's the "Disable Wireless Zero Config (WZC) service" do? Does it solve this kind of problem?

[Dark Horse]

Don't go for the Netgear DG834G even though its cheap these days, it gave me no end of problems trying to get things connected. However one it got working it was fine, absolutely no problems playing games at all, I didn't notice any difference to wired.

[rajagra]

Some wireless kit works just fine. I have 2 wireless USRobotics devices acting as a bridge, plus a wireless router. Look at these times in order of how my internet connection works:
Ping wireless bridge next to my PC: 1ms or less
Ping wireless bridge downstairs: 1-3ms
Ping router downstairs: 1-2ms (strangely, never as high as 3ms!)
Ping gateway (via cable STB downstairs): 9-12ms or more
Ping Hexus.net: 13-15ms or more.

As you can see, the wireless contribution to the latency is barely significant. It is around 1/10 of the delay caused by my cable connection. And there are no dropouts.

And the maximum 125Mb/s of the wireless link is way faster than my puny 750Kb/s broadband connection.

[unreal]

I was thinking about using one of those Netgear Mimo routers, which have an ultra strong signal and such - but apparently you have to plug a modem in before them, since its only a wireless thing.

[Nitestorm]

Yeah the .11g Mimo routers do look good and claim to boost coverage, even for .11b devices. Supposedly they aren't slowed down by .11b devices on the network either. Which is another plus.

Unless they have a built-in adsl/cable modem, then yeah you'll still need to connect them to a modem.