Broadband Wireless Router/Modem Combi Help

[LWA]

Ladies and Gentleman,
I am about to buy a wireless 802.11g combined modem and router from www.scan.co.uk. The products I am currently looking are either the Edimax AR-7024WG 11G or the Belkin Wireless 11g.

I would appreciate some comments on whether these products are good?. Also if you have some other recommendations please let me know.

Thanks again for your time,
Leon

[Scientist]

Netgear

Is the daddy for me, have used since the day I got ADSL and has been flawless.

[peterb]

Both the routers you describe are in use in their thousands, presumably without serious problems or trhe companies would go bust! Most do exactly what they say on the box. The issues really are ease of set up and the support available if you do have a problem. From the ease of use, the Netgear and Speedtouch are reputed to be good; Draytek are regarded (some would say unjustly) as the gold standard in the budget routers. Some offer better firewall/port fowarding facilities than others, and some cope with multiple static IP addresses better than others, but if yopu are looking for vanilla, straightfoward devices, using a single public IP with NAT to run a small home/office network, either of your choices will cut the mustard.

[jamena]

linksys also do pretty well. tbh, they'll probably all be okay - hunt down a few reviews through google? One thing to consider when you guy a combi unit: if you ever switch from ADSL to cable (eg telewest) or want your combi unit to operate simply as a firewall/router/switch be careful. I got my gf's linksys combi unit working as a WLAN access point for the telewest broadband connection more or less, but it was so much hassle it's being sold off (was excellent for ADSL of course when she had that!) Getting an old 22mbps dlink router from a mate instead...

[Stoo]

Heh, virtually all home budget router have issues, either with UPNP, DNS Proxies, dropping wireless connections at random, overheating, and locking up when using p2p apps.

Some are better than others and will last longer between slaps, Netgear aren't too bad, Linksys are good for hackability (lots of custom firmware out there) and seem to cope with p2p a bit better, or you can go with a cheap and cheerful brand like edimax (just don't expect too much in the way of features, and be ready to give it a kick every couple of days).

Me?

I'd probably choose a linksys, or if money allowed, a Cisco

[StormPC]

Linksys is the best home stuff. Don't waste money trying to save a couple quid by going with the others. Netgear is pretty good considering it's price and I've had good luck with their products. Go Linksys if at all possible.

Also for maximum flexibility get a seperate modem and router if possible.

[LWA]

Gentlemen I have to thank you all for your advice, it is very much appreciated.

Leon.

[Stoo]

You're very welcome Sah!

[peterb]

Draytek Vigor 2600 series worth a look - expensive though...

[KermitTheFrog]

In my experience sometimes the more expensive ones are not all they are cracked upto. I've had problems with a USR, for a customer in the past.

Also have a look at the reviews on Ebuyer, as they generally are helpfull - even if pointing out alternatives. Then buy from somewhere else.

Matt