Wireless Routers

markb5900

markb5900

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Mark B
My router is dying a slow and painful death. (cheap linksys that is 4 years old) The signal is getting weak from it.
I am going to be purchasing a new one and would like some opinions.
My main concern is distance and signal quality. My router is on the 1st floor of my house and my office is in the basement in the FAR opposite corner. All my pc's in my office are wireless (to far and to much a pain to run wires).
Not looking to spend more than about $100.00 at the most.

Any personal experience with the different ones out there would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mark B
 
When I had problems that were first diagnosed as the router, it turned out to be the modem. I called the ATT DSL tech support for diagnostic advice. After confirming it was the modem, they told me which one to buy and where to get it at a good price. They might also be a good source of info for the router. If not, you now know everything that I do about those two devices.


markb5900 said:
My router is dying a slow and painful death. (cheap linksys that is 4 years old) The signal is getting weak from it.
I am going to be purchasing a new one and would like some opinions.
My main concern is distance and signal quality. My router is on the 1st floor of my house and my office is in the basement in the FAR opposite corner. All my pc's in my office are wireless (to far and to much a pain to run wires).
Not looking to spend more than about $100.00 at the most.

Any personal experience with the different ones out there would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mark B
Click to expand...
 
Well, if it's the wireless signal strength that's the issue, then it is the router, period.

I've had good experience with linksys, and a good external antenna will help. In most cases, the weak link is the wireless chipset on your laptop and it's antenna. It just can't put out the signal that a fixed card/antenna can.

Good luck.
 
All three of my PC's in my office are Desktops with Linksys wireless cards in them.

If that helps.
Mark B
 
Apple Airport Extreme Base Station.

Better range and reliability that Linksys (from experience) and the best router I've ever had. Works equally great with mac/pc.

Linksys comes in second, and whatever you do stay away from friggin Belkin.
 
RossFischer said:
Apple Airport Extreme Base Station.

Better range and reliability that Linksys (from experience) and the best router I've ever had. Works equally great with mac/pc.

Linksys comes in second, and whatever you do stay away from friggin Belkin.
Click to expand...
I concur on all three points. (But add NetGear to Belkin as another one to avoid.)
 
I guess my question is what would cause the signal strength to deteriorate over time. Is it possible that your problem is actually that other people nearby have added wireless systems and that their signals are causing contention with yours? Or did you recently repaint the place with lead-based paint? :)
 
What freqs are you using? My cordless phone would wipe out my wireless
until I starting using the 5 GHz (iirc) band for the wireless.
 
No cordless phones in the house.

Mark B
 
I've had good luck with Linksys. My only complaint is their lifetime tech support went away after Cisco bought them. Fortunately, I learned most of the tricks to keep it running by that time.
 
Bob Noel said:
What freqs are you using? My cordless phone would wipe out my wireless until I starting using the 5 GHz (iirc) band for the wireless.
Click to expand...

Ha! I cannot use my laptop with wireless and make a cup of tea in the microwave at the same time!
 
Not happy wiht Netgear. I had a plain jane Belkin wireless G ($40 variety) router that worked fine until it died after a reasonable life. I moved a computer to an office across the hangar and wanted a little more signal strength so the replacement was a Netgear advertixing "ten times the coverage". Returned the first one because it had less signal strength than the old Belkin so it must be defective - right! The second one was exactly the same as the first. Limping along with it because a different solution is on short final and it isn't worth the hassle to do something about it.
 
It has been my experience that it is the receiver on the PC that matters more. My toshiba had a REALTEK wireless and it didn't matter much if I were one room away from the transmitter or not, the signal was weak and sometimes worthless. The best combination I've had was LINKSYS router to LINKSYS receiver.
On the other hand, my IBM or Lenova both work quite well, even with weak signals.
 
A good source for a router. The customer support is trustworthy and can answer any of your questions.

Idf you do call or e-mail say Hi to Shane (my Boyfriend) and tell him your a friend of mine. ; ) (He's the business unit manager but it's a small operation and is still working customer service. I hope for not much longer.)

I really don't know which router I have... I just installed the one he told me to.

http://www.homenetworksupply.com/products.aspx?search=wireless+router
 
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