The Best Wifi-Router for this job?

[Wasim]

Hello all.

I am looking for some got tips and recommended wifi routers.

What i am wanting to do is give wifi internet to 3 laptops which are all wifi ready.

I am also wanting wifi for a music player which streams internet radio...this again is wifi ready.

Now what i need is a router which can deliver wifi internet to all these appliances and also which is the best router for this job.

I am willing to pay good money for the router recommended...so any suggestions?

[trickytwista]

take your pick cos theres many good routers about but i would definately go with linksys, they are excellent tools, cheers

[Wicket20519]

I suggest Netgear.

I recently bought a Linksys WRT54G router, and nearly 2 months after purchasing it and working on it, it STILL won't work properly. I've even tried 3rd party firmware, but it's no use.

Maybe mine it just defective, I don't know. But I'm sticking with my Netgear router until I get this Linksys one figure out.

I also believe -- don't know where I read it -- that the super-g routers are really good for streaming media. But don't take that to heart -- maybe some one else can back me up here?

[WhatBackHand]

I've been supporting Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers now for a while. These are routers aimed at the domestic market. The routers are located in buildings and in portakabins. Users have a mixture of DELL and HP/Compaq laptops and also have a mixture of Linksys, D-Link and Netgear PCMCIA cards.

What I've found is;

Linksys

are the most expensive, but also the most reliable at connecting and maintaining a connection. Operate with other manufacturers wireless cards well.

D-Link

are the cheapest, are the least reliable at connection to other manufacturer cards. The drivers can also be very tempramental. Have a good operational range between router and card. Do not operate at high speed with other manufacturers cards, if at all, but do give very good throughput with their cards.

Netgear

sit between Linksys and D-Link in just about everything.

Probably the lowest cost per MB moved over the air is Linksys, because of the reliability of the router, card and drivers. However, any network seemed to suffer if there was a broad mixture of cards, it's just that Linksys had less of a degradation and continued to work in almost every environment. Having a pure D-Link network did give a better performance and was just as reliable as Linksys, until you brought in another manufacturer card into the network. Same was true of Netgear but to a less extent.

So, if you are setting up your own network from scratch and do not expect "visitors" D-Link seems to be better, but if you are building a "mixed" environment I'd recommend Linksys.

Personally I also find the the management of Linksys better, although this is more a matter of personal taste. So I've plumped for Linsys for my own personal router at home and I do not get any trouble from it at all.

Hope this helps.

[Zxian]

I recently bought a Linksys WRT54G router, and nearly 2 months after purchasing it and working on it, it STILL won't work properly.  I've even tried 3rd party firmware, but it's no use.

Maybe mine it just defective, I don't know.  But I'm sticking with my Netgear router until I get this Linksys one figure out.

I suggest that you contact Linksys and ask them how to resolve the problem. If it doesn't work with either the mainstream firmware or the modified firmware then the unit is defective (a rare case - trust me), and you should RMA it.

I also believe -- don't know where I read it -- that the super-g routers are really good for streaming media.  But don't take that to heart -- maybe some one else can back me up here? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The so-called Super-G routers only work with their corresponding wireless card counterparts. i.e. if you've got a Centrino laptop (which has an Intel wi-fi card by definition), then you won't get any speed boost with a Super-G router over a standard 802.11g router.

As for the original question, I would recommend Linksys.

As WhatBackHand said, Dlink routers don't work that well with non-Dlink cards. I had a D-link router a while back, and even with the firmware that was supposed to allow Centrino cased laptops to connect, I would get kicked from the network every 5 minutes. My friend has a D-link wireless card, and now, all of a sudden, the drivers are giving her BSODs... go figure.

Netgear - I've heard mixed reviews. Some people love them, others hate them. It's up to you.

I've had my Linksys WRT54G for about a year now, and it's been absolutely rock solid (touch wood). The administration interface is simple and straightforward, yet it gives you control of many features.

If you aren't going to be doing a lot of large file transfers over wireless, you may want to look into an 802.11b router. I also have a Linksys BEFW11S4, which is also rock solid. For a plain router with wireless, it does the job just fine. Not to mention Linksys is having a promotion on their 802.11b products - Link.