Replacing A Router

There are several factors you should look for:
Clients (how many devices you want connected to your router at one time)
Band (whether you have equipment which supports 5GHz WiFi opposed to 2.4GHz, 5GHz is supposedly better at penetrating walls plus there is less interference on this wave length)
Cost (Do I need to explain this one?)
Extra features (special stuff such as printer serving, hard drive serving, secondary guest networks etc.)
Interface and customisability (If you're a serial Port forwarder like me (no pun intended ) then interface and ease of use is everything.)

The Windows 7 compatibility list is only the tip of the iceberg, theoretically (and in practice) all N routers are compatible with Windows 7.

I hope this helps narrow your search, it's hard to go wrong with this sort of thing.

Oli

Your suggestion about bandwidth brings up a question...I'm RMAing my Belkin router, but keeping the network adapter. Since the router is only 2.4GZs, I'm sure the adapter is also. Therefore I shall need to get a router with the same bandwidth...right?

If you have a 2.4GHz card then you will need a 2.4GHz router. Some routers (such as the Apple Airport Extreme) support 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously which should future proof the technology your router.

Another advantage of using 5GHz opposed to 2.4GHz is that if you have a 5GHz only network most average punters who try to access your WiFi will not be able to find it even if you broadcast your SSiD so in some respects it is also more secure.

This will sound very obvious but you have to have an N compatible WLAN card to access an N WiFi network.

I guess what it boils down to is getting the router that is most reliable for a simple LAN.

From my experience the simplest and also one of the most convenient, cheapest and portable routers is the Apple Airport Express. Up until yesterday in fact I was using it as my third router and during the year it was in use it didn't let me down. I would NEVER recommend this as a primary router for anyone who wants to fiddle with settings because it is not the most flexible piece of kit in terms of port forwarding etc. although this is just my opinion.

I hope I've helped.

Oli

seekermeister said:

I've been pondering this router:

Amazon.com: Cisco-Linksys E3000 High-Performance Wireless-N Router: Electronics

It's W7 Logo, and the specs seem good, but besides the fact that it's price is more than I wanted to spend, I'm concerned about several things. First, if it will get along with my Belkin network adapter? Are six internal antennas really equal to 2 or 3 external ones? Is there some factor that I'm overlooking that would make me regret buying this router?

I'm 99% sure that this router will work with your Belkin Wireless card; I'd stay away from WPA2 Security though just to be safe because many older cards really don't like it.

6 Internal Antennas may well be equal or greater than 3 external ones, personally I've never had any problems with routers that use internal antennas compared to the ones with external antennas, they all seam to reach the same distance in my house.
After reading some of the reviews of it broadcast area and reliability do not seam to be problems with this at all so I think you're safe in that respect.
Another thing you have to remember is that 'N' signals travel further than 'G' signals or at least that's what it said on the box of my last Netgear router and they haven't lied to me so far.

In terms of factors you have over looked there are 2 things I can see:

The software interface that is supplied is hugely limited and thus requires you to use the web interface which after reading the reviews is not the most intuitive or responsive thing ever.
For many people who don't fiddle with router settings too often this won't be a problem but for people like me, this would be a key make or break point.

Will you really utilise all of what this router has to offer?
Simultaneous dual band is a feature which I think is necessary for future proofing so having that is fair enough.
Guest networking is a nice feature to have but how often do you have guests round who want to connect to your WiFi connection anyway?
I think I saw something about a home FTP server but I may be wrong, would you use that?
I'm not trying to put you off, I'm just trying to point out that you'd be paying for features you may never use.

To be fair $150 (£100) for a router with specs this high from a brand you can trust is well worth it in my opinion, but that's just my opinion.

I hope this is of any use to you and that I've cleared up at least some of your concerns.

Oli

osholt said:

I'm 99% sure that this router will work with your Belkin Wireless card; I'd stay away from WPA2 Security though just to be safe because many older cards really don't like it.

The adapter is not a card, it is Belkin's newest USB adapter, so I don't think that there would be a problem with WPA2, unless there was some kind of compatibility issue between brands.

6 Internal Antennas may well be equal or greater than 3 external ones, personally I've never had any problems with routers that use internal antennas compared to the ones with external antennas, they all seam to reach the same distance in my house.
After reading some of the reviews of it broadcast area and reliability do not seam to be problems with this at all so I think you're safe in that respect.

I think that you are right. Transmission distance isn't really an issue, because the router and adapter are never going to be more than one room apart. I was thinking in terms of signal penetration and bandwidth, because streaming media will be their primary workload. I guess it just feels strange, because everything that I have had before had external antennas. I wonder why some such equipment is external and some is internal...maybe just to appease someone like me.

Another thing you have to remember is that 'N' signals travel further than 'G' signals or at least that's what it said on the box of my last Netgear router and they haven't lied to me so far.

In terms of factors you have over looked there are 2 things I can see:

The software interface that is supplied is hugely limited and thus requires you to use the web interface which after reading the reviews is not the most intuitive or responsive thing ever.
For many people who don't fiddle with router settings too often this won't be a problem but for people like me, this would be a key make or break point.

This is an aspect that I hadn't thought about. I remember reading that it has some kind of software interface, but nothing in detail. My old ZyXel and the Belkin that I just returned only had a browser interface (which may be partially the reason that the Belkin failed, because after rebooting the PC, hoping to fix a problem when became extremely slow, I could no longer access it at all.

Will you really utilise all of what this router has to offer?
Simultaneous dual band is a feature which I think is necessary for future proofing so having that is fair enough.
Guest networking is a nice feature to have but how often do you have guests round who want to connect to your WiFi connection anyway?
I think I saw something about a home FTP server but I may be wrong, would you use that?
I'm not trying to put you off, I'm just trying to point out that you'd be paying for features you may never use.

No, I really don't need those extra features. What caught my eye was that they said that this router's strong point was streaming media, which is exactly what I'm interested in.

EDIT: Thinking further about the dual band function, I agree that this is something that I want for future proofing, but the term "simutaneous" bothers me some, because it sounds as though it will always be broadcasting on both bands. That would mean that even though I might be working in the higher frequency, partly in hopes of greater security, someone could still hack the system in the lower frequency band. I like that idea of being able to manually switch between bands, only operating in one or the other.

To be fair $150 (£100) for a router with specs this high from a brand you can trust is well worth it in my opinion, but that's just my opinion.

I hope this is of any use to you and that I've cleared up at least some of your concerns.


Oli

I don't doubt that the router is worth it's price to someone, I'm just trying to decide whether it is worth it's price to me. If there is a cheaper router than would have equal performance with streaming media, and have the reliability that I hope for, I not against the idea of saving a few dollars. But, at the same time, I know that trying to save money sometimes causes more problems in the end.

I definitely appreciate your comments, for they are helping me to define my focus.

EDIT: Thinking further about the dual band function, I agree that this is something that I want for future proofing, but the term "simutaneous" bothers me some, because it sounds as though it will always be broadcasting on both bands. That would mean that even though I might be working in the higher frequency, partly in hopes of greater security, someone could still hack the system in the lower frequency band. I like that idea of being able to manually switch between bands, only operating in one or the other.

As far as I'm aware you can run 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz simultaneously or just one frequency and change it when needed.

The only alternative I can recommend with confidence would be a Netgear Ethernet over power setup (http://www.netgear.com/Products/Powe...ers/XE104.aspx) and then create an ad hoc network from your PC as a wireless network. I find this to be much more reliable than conventional WiFi. This setup suits my very specific needs very well but it obviously isn't for everyone and for every situation.

Thank you for feedback on my posts and you are most welcome.

Oli

In answer to your question about speed, you can stream full 1080p with 7.1 surround sound in less than 20Mb/s so that wouldn't be a problem. That 300Mbps tag is its theoretical maximum, you're more likely to get at most 150Mbps via WiFi and unless you live live in South Koorea I doubt you'll have an Internet speed passing 20 or 30% or that 150. In short no problem either way the only determining factor is reliability.

In terms of routers again it's all down to personal preference or as my friend once put 'brand loyalty and shiny-ness'. The only big variables are the ones we've discussed.

Again if you're worried about your adapter not working you really shouldn't, all devices certified to work with WiFi have to under the specifications work with all other WiFi devices (on the same band). It's like saying I have a plug and play generic Sony USB 2.0 HDD which only works on computers manufactured by Sony; that just wouldn't happen and the same is true with WiFi.

Oli