Which router should I go for?

[morland]

Hello all,

I recently did a fresh XP Pro SP3 fresh installation on my Laptop and since then have been running into ALL kinds of problems. Each is unique but frustrating. This one is related to the slow web browsing and download performance I have been observing since the fresh install... So the essence of this request/post is to

• Trouble problems with my settings (if any)
  
• End up using the best router (please see details below)
  

There are 2 parts (which in my opinion are directly linked) to this posts and I will e very grateful for expert help from people in the Networking/Wifi related areas.

Problem #1:

Amongst the following routers, which one is better? I have tried to follow posts and did use Google to understand what really too look for but everything pretty much went over my head and thus I am requesting help. What are the things which a simple home user should look for when selecting amongst the following? Will appreciate if your reply will kindly keep in consideration the fact that my knowledge about these things is pretty much nil and so I am not aware of the many terminologies/abbreviations which the experts have at their finger tips.

I find it important to mention that I paid quite an amount about 2 years back for the 1st router (D-Link) while the 2nd one (TP-LinK) was purchased recently and the price was rather affordable.

Router #1: DIR-635 RangeBooster N 650 Router http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=487

Router #2: TP-Link TL-WR740N http://www.tp-link.com/products/productDetails.asp?pmodel=TL-WR740N

Problem #2:

The additional information that you may find useful is that

1. I am only using Wireless Zero Configuration (not using the complete features which the driver offers). Should I instead use the full features rather than simply using the WZC? Read somewhere that simple use of WZC is strongly recommended
   
2. The screen shots at the following link show all the screen shots that I took of my network card configuration. Don't know if these are of any use but maybe these will play an important role in trouble shooting the problem URL here screen shots are available: http://tinypic.com/m/a3h8wx/3
   

Many thanks for your help and guidance.

P.S

1) Just trying to learn and hope I am not ending up comparing apples and oranges.

2) My Laptop (Sony VGN-FZ140E) claims to offer N-Series Wifi compatibility

[Buwaleed]

Morland,

I wouldn't change the router just yet, you need to configure it correctly first and see how things go from there (Unless you really want to change your router to an N'series, which if used for only web browing you won't notice much difference). Go to the router setup page 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 and enter the username / password check the manual, what we want to change here is to use static IP address, input the default gateway and dns address's. If you don't know them contact your isp for that information. After you have done this make sure to use static IP address for each computer on your network also, this will make things faster and more organised.

Sample configuration for your TP-Link

Personally I like linksys routers so I'd recommend you buy WRT120N if all else fails.

[morland]

Thank you Buwaleed and appreciate your reply. Too late. Have already switched to D-Link. Once the financial side of things improve, I do plan to get a good router but till then will live with the D-Link.

Regards.