New ADSL Wifi/Modem/Router Choice

[jonathan_phang]

Hello All,

I'm sure that this has been asked before, but as technology keeps updating, then its worth asking anew! Recently, my trusty 3Com OfficeConnect Modem Router decided to just die on me and then the usual thing pops up "What am I going to get instead to replace".

I've read around and as I need decent wireless connectivity for my laptop upstairs, I'm still having trouble deciding. The things that I am trying to avoid (and have tried to find issues with specific models on forums) are wireless drops, poor signal strength and frequent reboots needed.

In all honesty, i cant really afford to spend THAT much so its a kind of best value as possible. Even looking on PC world website (only because they often do great bundles) they have a linksys WAG354G and card, but that seems to have problems that i have stated.

I'm sure that a lot of hardcore comms people are going to recomennd a Draytek - to be honest, I've never heard of them that much, but what i have is very good - it is obvious that the quality comes at a premium. So can i have some decent comments on particular models and why you think that it would be good as a choice to buy???

Thanks in advance

Jonny

[RavenNight]

I have a Linksys WAG354G which I got from PC world in the aforementioned bundle for a steal (pricing mistake which they honoured). Its fantastic, its been running for months, haven't had to reboot it once. The range is great fills the whole house nicely and I get full power most places, its also tiny compared to a lot of routres out there and the antenna is internal so no untidiness (though there is a socket to attach one if you want the range). Top router, highly recommended!

[atrull]

I'm quite partial to the thompson/alcatel speedtouch. Don't know which model I've used though!

[ultim8um]

Dlink for me as almost all of them come with easily replaced antennas for boosted range etc.

[jonathan_phang]

Well, plumped for the Linksys bundle from PC World and have it up and running at the moment, and also connected wirelessly to my laptop. Downloading Half-Life two from Steam to just give it a run through, but stability-wise, only time will tell. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

One day i WILL be able to afford a Draytek!!

[LaxG]

Which Linksys bundle was it? Did it perform well?
Was it a good buy? Would you recommend it?
I'm in the same boat, I need a wireless router that would allow me to connect my new computer to the old one and a laptop in future.

[Lee H]

You might be interested in the tests that THG did.

Yes it's P2P tests (cue the usual posts about P2P being naughty - even though a BIG film name is looking to use bit-torrent to distribute DRM crippled files) but more and more people are noticing these issues, hence me highlighting them earlier rather than later

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2006/0...outer_for_p2p/

[LaxG]

Thanks a lot Lee, this article seems very helpful.

Would a wireless connection to the internet affect online gaming performance? i.e. lag?

[Lee H]

I use wireless and wired and only see about 4-5 ms difference between pings depending on which system I use.

I prefer the 'wired' as theres less chance of my mate popping something in the microwave and causing slight interference, but I've used wireless for playing WoW, CS, HL2 etc without any adverse effects

[jonathan_phang]

Well, update on this whole saga, as follows. Initially, as per my first post, my 3Com seemed to die on me and I ended up getting the Linksys WAG354G (small square with a mesh-looking top) which came bundled with a PCMCIA card.

I have previously set up Linksys connections for my brother in law (though a DSL WRT wireless router) and was impressed with the config pages and the range of things that you could do. That prompted me to get the aforementioned bundle.

Went home and set it up and it seemed fine on wired, however, wireless was another story. Now, the router is in my study, an extention to the back of my house and i have the room at the top at the front - about as far away as possible. This is quite a way and with much in the way, so i wasnt expecting superb signal strength, but the Linksys gave variable throughput, being 24 at best and cycling down to 2 and everything in between. What I need is consistent throughput upstairs, so i was a little dissapointed.

I then went to get the next version up, the WAG54GS, which has "Speed booster". I just wanted to see if this would make the signal a bit more consistent. The Setup pages for the router are a little bit more polished and again, the wored connection was great, but the wireless was again the same.

Today, i have been thinking of getting a netgear rangemax but thats about £100+ and thats double what i paid for the original linksys bundle... I hate it when you get problems like this and end up going further and further up in price...

In a strange twist of fate though, the 3Com router that i had thought had died might not have after all, it may just have been the adapter that fried!!! So i'm going to try and borrow a replacement off someone for a bit, then test if it still connects fine. If it does, I'm off to Maplin to get a replacement!!! Then going to stick with that and wait for the n-standard to be finalised, or at least wait for the MIMO/Pre-N range to come down in price.

For those who can put the router in a central place, I'm sure that it wont be a problem if you go for the linksys. Great setup, they are very small and the wired connection was fine, no lockups, connection losses or drops. But if you are at the extremes of your house, then maybe not...

2p worth

[EtheAv8r]

I have had 2 NetHear DG834 boxes. My first was a NetGear DG834G and it was good - I ran it for over 2 years, but now I have upgraded to a NetGear DG834PN Rangemaster which is rock solid and has better range and signal strenght & throughput that my original Netgear DG834G - (which is now runing a friends home network quite happily).

I have only sent 2 Tech Support quieries to NetGear and got a good and fast response. You can get a bundle of DG834PN plus a wireless card for a laptop for under £100 including post (Lowest on Web)

[RavenNight]

There is an external aerial socket on top of my Linksys, it might be worth trying a cheapo Hi-gain anetnna to see if that boosts the signal enough.

[jonathan_phang]

As a final update, it appears that it WAS just the power adaptor - got another, and back to 24/36mb on wifi - great - who'd have thought the officeconnect was so good! Also returned the WAG354G to PC world, and they seemed to suggest that there had been a few returned for the same....shame on you linksys...