Wireless router questions

cheezit

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I hate to sound like a dummy, but....

If I buy a wireless router, does it go inline after the cable modem or before? And do most wireless routers come with whatever is necessary to get two different computers to work, preferably using the same modem?

Also, any suggestions on which kind/brand to get?
 

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Dell Inspiron 660s
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The only dumb questions are the ones you don't ask.

The cable modem is first, then the wireless router. Wireless routers can connect as many computers as you want via the wireless connection, and usually have 3-4 LAN outputs as well. Use a router to link all the computers to the modem, that's what it's designed to do.

Most modems provided by a cable company are older technology and I've seen all kinds of problems when people try to connect more than one computer to a cable modem.
 
Usually, wireless routers provided by and ISP attempt to establish Internet connectivity before they start the wireless LAN. If you buy a router yourself, chances are it will probably follow the same gameplan, but it may not.

All wireless routers have a DHCP server, a DNS relay and a NAT implementation, therefore providing you with the infrastructure to connect multiple PCs with the internet and with each other. If there are some that don't, they don't deserve the name 'router'.
 

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Asus N73SV
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Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP1
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Core i7-2630QM
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Intel HM 65
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6 GB DDR3
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External HDs

WD Elements 1,5 TB
WD MyBook 500 GB
The router would be inserted between the modem and the PC. I'm not sure how to answer your question about the router coming with everything you need to connect 2 computers, but I would have to say no. If you want to connect another computer via wireless, that computer will need to have a wireless card. Most (all?) laptops have wireless built-in, desktops usually don't. However, desktops often have a LAN card installed so you would be able to connect to the router with a LAN cable. The router most likely will not come with the required cables.

You should be fine if you stick with the well known brands such as Linksys, D-Link, Netgear or even Belkin.
 

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W10 Pro desktop, W11 laptop, W11 Pro tablet (all 64-bit)
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3.7Ghz 8700K i7, i7-11800H, i7-1065G7
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ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming in desktop
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AMD Radeon RX580, RTX 3060, Intel Iris Plus
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Samsung U32J59 32" (2x), 15.6", 12"
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500G SSD for OS; 2T, 10T & 15T HDDs for Data on Desktop, 1TB SSD laptop, 128G SSD tablet.
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Microsoft Pro IntelliMouse
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Windows Defender
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FireFox
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Built my first computer (8Mhz 8088cpu, 640K RAM, 20MB HDD, 2 360K floppy drives) in 1985 and have been building them for myself, relatives and friends ever since.
does this help :)

All devices connecting to a wireless router must possess a working network adapter. As illustrated in the diagram, connecting to the router a broadband modem (that has one or more built-in adapters) enables sharing of a high-speed Internet connection.

Wireless routers technically allow dozens of computers to connect over WiFi links. Nearly any residential wireless router will have no trouble supporting the number of wireless devices found in typical homes. However, if all WiFi computers attempt to use the network at the same time, slowdowns in performance should be expected.

Many (but not all) wireless network routers also allow up to four wired devices to be connected via Ethernet cable. When first installing this kind of home network, one computer should be cabled to the wireless router temporarily to allow initial configuration of the wireless features. Employing Ethernet connections after that is optional. Using permanent Ethernet connections make sense when the computer, printer or other device lacks WiFi capability or cannot receive an adequate wireless radio signal from the router.

Optional Components - Networking the router for Internet access, printers, game consoles and other entertainment devices is not required for the rest of the home network to function. Simply omit any of these components shown that do not exist in your layout.

Limitations - The WiFi portion of the network will function only to the limit of the wireless router's range. The range of WiFi equipment varies depending on many factors including layout of the home and any radio interference that may be present.

If the wireless router does not support enough Ethernet connections for you needs, add a secondary device like a network switch to expand the wired portion of the layout.
 

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My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
packard bell IXTREME M5722
OS
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 6.01.7600 SP1 (x64)
CPU
Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500 MHz
Motherboard
Mainboard : Packard Bell (Acer EG43M )
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Physical Memory :8GB Corsair4x 2GB 800MHz C5 DDR2
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Video Card : XFX 6700 AMD
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Maestro 234DL - BenQ V2220 - BenQ VW2420H
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Current Display :1920x1080p pixels at 60 Hz in HD LED
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Hard Disks : WDC (1000 GB)
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Drive D: (Hard Disk) : 426 GB available on 492 GB
SAMSUNG spinpoint HD103SJ 1000.2 GB
(X 2) KINGSTON SSD NOW V 30GB
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XFX ProSeries 550W PSU
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PACKARD BELL IXTREME
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Gigabyte Aivia K8100
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TP-LINK > TL-WN951N / AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
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chrome dev
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Bios> American Megatrends Inc.
Version : P01-A1
Date : 08/31/2009

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
packard bell IXTREME M5722
OS
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 6.01.7600 SP1 (x64)
CPU
Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500 MHz
Motherboard
Mainboard : Packard Bell (Acer EG43M )
Memory
Physical Memory :8GB Corsair4x 2GB 800MHz C5 DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
Video Card : XFX 6700 AMD
Monitor(s) Displays
Maestro 234DL - BenQ V2220 - BenQ VW2420H
Screen Resolution
Current Display :1920x1080p pixels at 60 Hz in HD LED
Hard Drives
Hard Disks : WDC (1000 GB)
Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 428 GB available on 491 GB
Drive D: (Hard Disk) : 426 GB available on 492 GB
SAMSUNG spinpoint HD103SJ 1000.2 GB
(X 2) KINGSTON SSD NOW V 30GB
PSU
XFX ProSeries 550W PSU
Case
PACKARD BELL IXTREME
Cooling
System Blower Current: 150mA Air Flow16CFM ;Akasa 90mm rear
Keyboard
Gigabyte Aivia K8100
Mouse
TRUST-Wireless Laser Mouse - Carbon edition MI-7770C
Internet Speed
TP-LINK > TL-WN951N / AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
Browser
chrome dev
Other Info
EXTRA COOLING>(FAN CONTROLLER) PC Bay Cooler 3 x 40mm fans; Akasa AK-HD-BL Blue hard drive cooler 2 x 40 mm fan 4500 rpm 29.7 dBA
Bios> American Megatrends Inc.
Version : P01-A1
Date : 08/31/2009
I would be connecting two desktop computers to the router. Is there some sort of device that would plug into the ethernet port on the back of each PC to connect to the router? It seems that having to use an ethernet cable for each PC defeats the whole "wireless" concept.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell Inspiron 660s
OS
Windows 7 64 bit
CPU
Intel Pentium processor G630(2 .60GHz, 3MB)
Memory
8GB SDRAM at 1600MHz
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell ST2320L
Screen Resolution
1920 X 1080
Internet Speed
Cable 30 MB per second download
they look like this
 

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My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
packard bell IXTREME M5722
OS
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 6.01.7600 SP1 (x64)
CPU
Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500 MHz
Motherboard
Mainboard : Packard Bell (Acer EG43M )
Memory
Physical Memory :8GB Corsair4x 2GB 800MHz C5 DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
Video Card : XFX 6700 AMD
Monitor(s) Displays
Maestro 234DL - BenQ V2220 - BenQ VW2420H
Screen Resolution
Current Display :1920x1080p pixels at 60 Hz in HD LED
Hard Drives
Hard Disks : WDC (1000 GB)
Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 428 GB available on 491 GB
Drive D: (Hard Disk) : 426 GB available on 492 GB
SAMSUNG spinpoint HD103SJ 1000.2 GB
(X 2) KINGSTON SSD NOW V 30GB
PSU
XFX ProSeries 550W PSU
Case
PACKARD BELL IXTREME
Cooling
System Blower Current: 150mA Air Flow16CFM ;Akasa 90mm rear
Keyboard
Gigabyte Aivia K8100
Mouse
TRUST-Wireless Laser Mouse - Carbon edition MI-7770C
Internet Speed
TP-LINK > TL-WN951N / AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
Browser
chrome dev
Other Info
EXTRA COOLING>(FAN CONTROLLER) PC Bay Cooler 3 x 40mm fans; Akasa AK-HD-BL Blue hard drive cooler 2 x 40 mm fan 4500 rpm 29.7 dBA
Bios> American Megatrends Inc.
Version : P01-A1
Date : 08/31/2009
I would be connecting two desktop computers to the router. Is there some sort of device that would plug into the ethernet port on the back of each PC to connect to the router? It seems that having to use an ethernet cable for each PC defeats the whole "wireless" concept.

The ethernet ports are used if you wish to connect the PC's via an ethernet cable, if your intent is to connect to the router in a wireless environment then the router must have wireless capability and each PC must have their own wireless adapter of which there are many types. Don't know what your carrier capability is but if it is DSL or cable via a communications company like Comcast, Time Warner etc you will probably do well with an N class wireless router and the PC's adapters should conform to the wireless N class structure.
 

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DELL XPS Studio 435T
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Vista 64 Ultimate, Windows 7 64 Ultimate, Ubuntu 9.10
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i7 975 3.3 GHz Extreme (Factory OC'd to 3.6 GHz)
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DELL provided
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18 Gb Tri-Channel 1066
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ATI 5970 2048 Mb
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X-Fi Extreme Gamer
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Vizio 37" HD-TV
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1920 x 1080
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1.5 Tb HDD
1.5 Tb HDD
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DELL Provided 475 watts
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DELL
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3 fans
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Logitech Performance K350 Wireless
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Logitech Performance MX Wireless
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3 Mb up 750 Kb down
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Bamboo Fun Tablet, Belkin N+ Wireless router, Pioneer Dolby System Wireless Headphones, Bose 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound System, LifeCam VX 3000 Webcam, Blu-Ray/Hi Def DVD +RW combo and Blu-ray +RW,l 15 in 1 media card reader, Logitech Rumblepad 2, Hauppauge 2250 DTV Tuner with MS Media Center Remote

Laptop:Alienware M17x, Q9100 CPU, 8Gb RAM, 1920x1200 WUXGA LCD driven by 4870's in CrossFireX, Bl
and you connect wireless adapter to the pc ie: usb type or pci type that goes inside pc most laptops and desktops have wireless already installed :)
 

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My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
packard bell IXTREME M5722
OS
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 6.01.7600 SP1 (x64)
CPU
Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500 MHz
Motherboard
Mainboard : Packard Bell (Acer EG43M )
Memory
Physical Memory :8GB Corsair4x 2GB 800MHz C5 DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
Video Card : XFX 6700 AMD
Monitor(s) Displays
Maestro 234DL - BenQ V2220 - BenQ VW2420H
Screen Resolution
Current Display :1920x1080p pixels at 60 Hz in HD LED
Hard Drives
Hard Disks : WDC (1000 GB)
Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 428 GB available on 491 GB
Drive D: (Hard Disk) : 426 GB available on 492 GB
SAMSUNG spinpoint HD103SJ 1000.2 GB
(X 2) KINGSTON SSD NOW V 30GB
PSU
XFX ProSeries 550W PSU
Case
PACKARD BELL IXTREME
Cooling
System Blower Current: 150mA Air Flow16CFM ;Akasa 90mm rear
Keyboard
Gigabyte Aivia K8100
Mouse
TRUST-Wireless Laser Mouse - Carbon edition MI-7770C
Internet Speed
TP-LINK > TL-WN951N / AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
Browser
chrome dev
Other Info
EXTRA COOLING>(FAN CONTROLLER) PC Bay Cooler 3 x 40mm fans; Akasa AK-HD-BL Blue hard drive cooler 2 x 40 mm fan 4500 rpm 29.7 dBA
Bios> American Megatrends Inc.
Version : P01-A1
Date : 08/31/2009
What you need for your network would be wireless adapters. They can be built in or USB. If you used this kind of conection to each of your PC's you would not need any cables running from router to them.
 

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Gateway GT5692
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Windows 7 Ulti. x64
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AMD Phenom 8450 triple-core 2.10 ghz
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4GB
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ATI Radion HD 3200
Monitor(s) Displays
Gateway FPD1775W
Screen Resolution
1280x720
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465.6613 Gibibytes
Most (probably all) wireless tranceivers are USB based (for best results, get ones of the same manufacturer as your router). However, for initial setting up purposes, each machine will need to be connected directly to the router via Ethernet. Follow the instruction manual provided with the router for details on how to set up a wireless connection.
 

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PC/Desktop
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Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
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Windows 8.1 Pro RTM x64
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Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.4GHz)
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ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
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4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
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MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
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Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
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ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen (VGA)
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1440x900
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OCZ Agility 3 SSD 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
PSU
XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
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Gigabyte IF233
Cooling
1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
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Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
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Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
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NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
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Avast! 8.0.1497
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IE 11
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Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
I would be connecting two desktop computers to the router. Is there some sort of device that would plug into the ethernet port on the back of each PC to connect to the router? It seems that having to use an ethernet cable for each PC defeats the whole "wireless" concept.

using Ethernet is better than using wireless most users will opt for Ethernet if thay can get the cable to the pc. wireless is good for hard to get to places like upstairs in bedrooms or studies.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
packard bell IXTREME M5722
OS
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 6.01.7600 SP1 (x64)
CPU
Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 @ 2500 MHz
Motherboard
Mainboard : Packard Bell (Acer EG43M )
Memory
Physical Memory :8GB Corsair4x 2GB 800MHz C5 DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
Video Card : XFX 6700 AMD
Monitor(s) Displays
Maestro 234DL - BenQ V2220 - BenQ VW2420H
Screen Resolution
Current Display :1920x1080p pixels at 60 Hz in HD LED
Hard Drives
Hard Disks : WDC (1000 GB)
Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 428 GB available on 491 GB
Drive D: (Hard Disk) : 426 GB available on 492 GB
SAMSUNG spinpoint HD103SJ 1000.2 GB
(X 2) KINGSTON SSD NOW V 30GB
PSU
XFX ProSeries 550W PSU
Case
PACKARD BELL IXTREME
Cooling
System Blower Current: 150mA Air Flow16CFM ;Akasa 90mm rear
Keyboard
Gigabyte Aivia K8100
Mouse
TRUST-Wireless Laser Mouse - Carbon edition MI-7770C
Internet Speed
TP-LINK > TL-WN951N / AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapters
Browser
chrome dev
Other Info
EXTRA COOLING>(FAN CONTROLLER) PC Bay Cooler 3 x 40mm fans; Akasa AK-HD-BL Blue hard drive cooler 2 x 40 mm fan 4500 rpm 29.7 dBA
Bios> American Megatrends Inc.
Version : P01-A1
Date : 08/31/2009
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