Ethernet DSL modem

[peterb]

You need to decide what you want to do, then read the specs on the devices you are planning to do it with, and ensure that they meet your requirement. You need to plan in expansion capability if your needs change. The solution you suggest above might work, but without doing the homework on it, I can't say one way or another, although experience is inclined to suggest that it wouldn't work or at least not very well. It seems a clumsy way of doing it.

[specofdust]

I know little, I know even less what to look out for. All I know is I want a wireless network that runs fast with a DSL modem. The Kcorp router I've chosen runs fast according to reviews, and has a WAN port. I figured thats all I needed to know. Plug DSL modem into WAN port, set up router, plug cards into PCI slots. Happy happy specofdust?

[peterb]

The ADSL connection will be the slowest part of your connection - the speed of the wireless/wired part of your network is only significant if you are regularly transferring large files between computers on the network.

If, as you say, you know little about networking, IP routed networks, DHCP servers, NAT etc, you will find life a LOT simpler with a combined ADSL wireless router such as a netgear or speedtouch. They may not have the fastest performance, but in real life you probably won't notice, they have reasonably good support facilities, and there are so many around that you can get help easily.

[specofdust]

I know a little about DHCP, and a little about the basics of NAT. I can guess that an IP routed network is one where you use standard external IP's for every PC, instead of a single external and a NAT.

Annoyingly, I'm intrested in streaming stuff from a media centre around the house, using MythTV, so high speeds are important

[davidstone28]

If you want a simple reliable ethernet ADSL modem, read on:-

1. I use a Linksys ethernet modem (Model ADSL2MUE) which is plugged into a Belkin Pre-N Mimo Router (which doesn't have a built in modem). Both run absolutely fine with no problems. Pre-N / Mimo is a bit overrated though from my experiences - range improves, but it still doesn't find itself around walls, or cut through dead spots.

2. I also run Netgear 834G based wireless network. I bought it because it was cheap and came with a PC card. Read mixed reports on Cnet and Amazon (US version) about these Netgear modem routers, and I have to admit, I wouldn't buy one again. For intermittent wireless use it seems ok but it will not consisently maintain a connection 24/7. For P2P, its very unreliable - it will drop the connection completely. Rebooting the PC is fine, so its not a signal problem - thoughput ranges from 18-24mbps. It also occasionally has problems when 1 wireless PC is being used as a P2P server, and another wireless PC logs into the network - it takes 2 or 3 "goes" to access a standard web page sometimes. Doesn't happen all the time but often enough to be irritating. Neither does several wireless client PCs logged it at once.

3. I also have network (I have alot of wireless networks ) based on a Linksys WAG54 v2.0 ADSL2 compliant router/switch (with built in ADSL modem). Excellent. Reliable. No problems at all. It feeds 1 wireless laptop, and 2 desktops via ethernet cables, one of which is my 24/7 365 P2P machine.

I've found that there's a noticeable difference in performance and reliability if I mix and match manufacturers. I tried to keep with Linksys>Linksys, but the PCI cards / notebook cards are all different brands. Should be avoided if at all possible.

No experience of D-Link but from the user reviews I read on the Cnet and Amazon, they seem a real mixed bag along with Netgear.

[specofdust]

The plot thickens further

I'm losing track of everything now. ADSL with integrated modem seems to be the favoured option, for more then just the reason of it being a single box.

But how do I know which one to pick? I ask one person they say one thing, another they say other things. The PC mag I read mentioned no issues about using a modem by one company and a router by another.

I'm utterly confused now

EDIT: See, I look here and I find people with a serious problem with a router you reccomend. Theres not all that much out there in the way of difinitive usefull sites, only lots of conflicting views and opinions :/

[davidstone28]

That bloke has v1.2 of the WAG54 which is less reliable. v2 is more than just a firmware upgrade - the internals are different. He also doesn't say what revision of the PC card he's using). You don't know how its positions in his house, you don't if there's intereference from other sources. It could be anything...

Like I say, I've never had a problem with either of the Linksys routers/modems I've got. If you're going for WAG54, make sure you go for the v2 version - there are still older versions in the retail channels (eg. PC World). Amazon do v2 if thats any help.

As with any hardware, nothings ever going to reliable 100% of the time for 100% of people. My PC still crashes occsaionally

All wireless routers will drop their signals at some point - its all percentages - and what you can live with. If you want 100% reliability 100% of the time, you need to get a wired network.

[merlin2001]

another possibilty is the netgear DG632 - has ethernet and a pretty good hardware firewall. i got this one by default (my work colleagues got me a PCWorld gift voucher and it was the best thing I could find). doesn't do anything fancy or extra that will end up costing you more in price. i've been pretty happy with it - no issues, although I did flash the bios as the 1st thing once it was out the box...

[specofdust]

I've heard bad things about Netgear. I'm going to look into Linksys ones some more. I thought I was pretty much done, but this threads basicly shown/made me to decide, to start from scratch again. Going to have to learn as much as possible, which is tough when theres so little out there.

[peterb]

I use an MRI router which feeds a USR 2249 access point. That works well, for example I can stream audio from a server to I-tunes on a laptop quite reliably, although the AP doesn't seem to be compatable with the Roku Soundbridge! (But could ber a fault with the AP - I have yet to investigate that one fully!)

Remember you can stream Audio at 512K ADSL speeds, which is MUCH slower than 11Mb basic wireless. Streaming video at broadcast quality will need higher bandwidth - and if you are using multiple streams then the bandwidth will need to be higher still. I wouldn't use wireless for those applications unless I really had to; I would stay with hard wired connections if I could.

You need to determine what bit rate the applications require and buy the kit accordingly. The higher the bandwidth and the greater the reliabilty you want, the more you will end up spending!