Broadband routers

[GilesGuthrie]

Greetings,
I've acquired a server, and I also sometimes bring my laptop home, so I'm in the hunt for a device that acts as a router and a hub. The plan is to plug the WAN port into my cable modem, and then have at least three further 10/100 ports available for other devices.

The router needs to have NAT as standard, since my ISP will only allow one device to connect at a time, but they'll tolerate Broadband Routers with NAT.

Probably got up to $200 (£150) to spend.

Anyone got any recommendations? I've seen quite a nice Netgear device, with 4x10/100+1WAN for approx $110 (£80).

 

[Tom M]

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
Greetings,
I've acquired a server, and I also sometimes bring my laptop home, so I'm in the hunt for a device that acts as a router and a hub. The plan is to plug the WAN port into my cable modem, and then have at least three further 10/100 ports available for other devices.

The router needs to have NAT as standard, since my ISP will only allow one device to connect at a time, but they'll tolerate Broadband Routers with NAT.

Probably got up to $200 (£150) to spend.

Anyone got any recommendations? I've seen quite a nice Netgear device, with 4x10/100+1WAN for approx $110 (£80).

I'd go with anything except Linksys. I'm on my 4th, and I don't know why I kept going back to them. They burn out rather quickly under heavy use, and I've even had one start a small fire (which extinguished on it's own thank goodness) Right now mine is on a tile floor away from anything combustible, but as soon as it goes, I'm getting a different brand.

 

[Jordan]

Tom, are you joking? Just how heavy was that use? I'm sitting here looking at my new Linksys router right next to me...

Giles, what Tom said is a little unsettling, but so far I have been fairly satisfied with my EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch. The setup was easy enough, although I did have to make a call to Tech Support to get everything finally working. Fortunately the rep on the phone answered very quickly and was very friendly and knowledgeable (we had the problem fixed in about 2 minutes).

The only thing I'm not happy with is the wireless performance. Although I might not be fairly judging this router (I have never had the chance to expirement with wireless networking before, so I don't know what is the "norm"), the speeds are terrible. My personal computer is hooked directly into the router via standard Ethernet, and of course the speeds are excellent and it works great. But, on my second desktop PC (with one of these) in the next room over, the speed is almost cut in half. And my laptop (with one of these), about 70 feet away from the router, is almost exactly half the speed of the second desktop, sometimes loosing it's signal altogether!

Like I said, I really don't know what to blame this on - the router, my walls, or what. So if any other WiFi users are reading this, please tell me: how is your range?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Jordan, that sounds a fantastic device! All I would need to do is get a wireless adaptor for my laptop and I'd be laughing!

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[Jordan]

So my wireless network's performance is drastically below average?

 

[Tom M]

Originally posted by Jordan
So my wireless network's performance is drastically below average?

No, the wireless is perfectly fine for cable modem service. If you were running a Lan where lot's of traffic was taking place a more traditional system would be better, but a cable modem connection doesn't approach the limits of a wireless system in the least.

As to the other question as to whether I'm joking? I wish I was. I was able to return the one that burned, but the others funtioned just long enough for me to throw the reciepts out. Here's a pic of my linksys hall of shame.
Note: I moved the router onto the carpet for the photo because I was getting too much glare off the tiles, right after the photo.... back it went.

 

[Pako]

My my... That's quite a collection there Tom...

Anyhow, yeah GilesGuthrie...I'd like to offer a suggestion:

SOHO WatchGuard. Comes standard with a WAN link as well as 4 additional ports for lan devices. And if you needed more, you could just add an inexpensive hub to the equation.

Here's a Link to do some reading on the SOHO's... BTW - I've implimented several of these at work for my VPN solutions over a DSL connection to save the company close to $6,000 a month, not to mention the Dollars saved by not getting the CISCO routers...even though that would have been fun to play with..


http://www.watchguard.com/products/fireboxsoho.asp

 

[NocturnalPS]

Originally posted by Tom McDonnell


No, the wireless is perfectly fine for cable modem service. If you were running a Lan where lot's of traffic was taking place a more traditional system would be better, but a cable modem connection doesn't approach the limits of a wireless system in the least.

As to the other question as to whether I'm joking? I wish I was. I was able to return the one that burned, but the others funtioned just long enough for me to throw the reciepts out. Here's a pic of my linksys hall of shame.
Note: I moved the router onto the carpet for the photo because I was getting too much glare off the tiles, right after the photo.... back it went.

Man and i was about to go buy one of those linksys routers too. I would only use it when my cousin would come over though. Witch would not be too often. Do you know if it burned out because you were using it no-stop? Or was it because you were not using it too often? Because the only reason i want to get one is so that my cousin and I can play games when he comes over. I dont know what i should do now.

 

[Jordan]

Originally posted by Tom McDonnell


No, the wireless is perfectly fine for cable modem service. If you were running a Lan where lot's of traffic was taking place a more traditional system would be better, but a cable modem connection doesn't approach the limits of a wireless system in the least.

Oh I know it should provide more bandwidth than my modem could provide, but it's definitely not. My router is supposed to have an indoor range of about 90 meters, yet you loose the signal at about 15. I was just wondering if all wireless router's ranges were that over-estimated.

 

[Pako]

There's a lot of factors that can effect a wireless transmission.

I'm sure in optimum conditions with no interference, 90 meters LOS is not Overstated. (LOS = Line Of Sight)

The unfortunate thing is that most of us live in the real world with real situations and limitations to work around. Just curious.....why go with wireless with CAT5 cable is so cheap these days?



Oh and Tom? I seriously think you have a power issue that's blowing out your routers... I've been running mine for almost two years straight, non stop. I think I've only rebooted my linksys twice and only powered it down a couple times since I installed it.

 

[Tom M]

Originally posted by Pako

Oh and Tom? I seriously think you have a power issue that's blowing out your routers... I've been running mine for almost two years straight, non stop. I think I've only rebooted my linksys twice and only powered it down a couple times since I installed it.

I thought of that, and my wall outlets are definitely putting out enough power, so I thought that they might be spiking (thunderstorm damage and all), but quite some time ago I bought a really good surge protector (by Monster Power (Monster Calbe maker)) but I've lost one since then.

To add to that, a friend of mine has had the same problem and is on his second router by linksys, and as he pointed out, all 4 routers (of mine, and one of his as well) over the past 2 years have had radically different types of power supplies leading me to believe that there are problems that they have yet to iron out.

Nocturnal:
My routers are always on (as they are designed to be.) And is generally in use several hours a day whether I'm around or not. It sees some pretty heavy internet traffic as I tend to push my IP to it's limit all the time I also do Lan gaming from time to time, and move files between my two PC's fairly often. If you are only going to use it sporadically, I wouldn't worry about it then, but if you are, I'd get another brand like SMC (Which another friend of mine has had for quite a while with no problems.)

 

[Jordan]

Originally posted by Pako
Just curious.....why go with wireless with CAT5 cable is so cheap these days?

Because the rest of the family doesn't want cable going down the hall, and I want to be able use my laptop from anywhere in the house. Like I said, though, my computer is hooked directly into the router via ethernet so only the less-hard-core surfers get the slower speeds...

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Well, I've finally made the jump. After doing some of my own research, I plumped for the Linksys router that Jordan mentioned.

Thanks to all you guys for your advice. I'll let you know how I get on after Christmas.

 

[Jordan]

That's great to hear, Giles. Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[Pako]

Right on Giles! So which little box did ya get?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by Pako
Right on Giles! So which little box did ya get?

I got this one, on a good deal through Amazon - 33% off!

 

[Pako]

All right! Now the for the rest of the questions:

Have you got it yet?
Does it work?



Congrats man, it should work out just fine, just be sure to set your TTL quite high and have your auto connect enabled. At home I'm using the BEFSR41 and it's been rock solid.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by Pako
All right! Now the for the rest of the questions:

Have you got it yet?
Does it work?



Congrats man, it should work out just fine, just be sure to set your TTL quite high and have your auto connect enabled. At home I'm using the BEFSR41 and it's been rock solid.

No, Amazon have dispatched it today, but it's a Christmas present, so Santa's not gonna bring it until 25th, and then I'm at Mum & Dad's (no cable, no broadband, it's like going back in time!!!) until Boxing Day. Still, I'll have the box opened and the MAC address registered with my ISP, so when I get home, it will be a plug-and-play job.

I'll report on performance as soon as I can. Now all I have to do is work out a way to sneak a wireless LAN card through the joint account!

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Well, I've set up my router, and am chatting to you on it at the moment.

It was relatively easy to set up, but I wasn't able to force it to seek a new lease with the ISP without a hard reset, in spite of there being a button for it on the web interface. That's my only gripe at the moment. Seems like a pretty decent machine.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by Pako
All right! Now the for the rest of the questions:

Have you got it yet?
Does it work?



Congrats man, it should work out just fine, just be sure to set your TTL quite high and have your auto connect enabled. At home I'm using the BEFSR41 and it's been rock solid.

OK. Well, I know this is my third post in a row, but there's more to say, especially in the light of Pako's questions.

I had to pick up a WLAN card for my laptop. I wanted the 3Com one, as I had heard good things about it. In the end though I got a good deal on a 22Mb card from US Robotics (see here), which is as good as being from 3Com anyway.

It took me a while o get it working, principally due to my own stupidity really - and that of my laptop! It picked up the physical connection, and then wouldn't let go to use wireless when I disconnected the CAT5. Once I released the DHCP lease, it started running wireless with little hassle.

Because I'm concerned about the security of my WLAN, I had prevented the router from broadcasting the SSID, but in spite of tellign the WLAN card AND the router what the SSID was, they couldn't hold a connection. When I switched Broadcast back on, all was well, so I'm going to have to put the MAC filter on again.

As for the router itself, all seemed well initially, but oddly it wouldn't allow Dreamweaver to connect to my web host, which was going to be a REAL problem. I knew that it was likely to be a config issue because Jordan uses this router and I know he uses Dreamweaver as well.

So I downloaded the latest firmware, and all is well again. Here I am, in the living room, completely wireless.

It's kinda cool!

 

[Jordan]

That's great to hear, Giles! 👍 What kind of range do you get on your laptop?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Well, I haven't fully tested it, but I'm getting 75% signal strength at approx 15m through a wall and a floor, so that's reasonable.

I am beside a pathway thought so my signal will be open to signal hunters - I'll be clamping down on the MAC addresses soonest.