Wireless Routers

[Ric]

hey all,
Im looking for a wireless router, but know absolutly nothing about them.

So any help, thoughts, or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

and once we do get one, anything that I need to know about getting both the desktop and laptop to work corectly ?

[Good Times]

Since you have a laptop, you'll need to find out what the specification on the laptop wireless is. That will be your limiting factor. I doubt you have a wireless on the desktop so if you do go wireless you'll need to pick up either a pci wireless card, usb wireless card or some other combination.

At any rate, you'll need a broadband wireless router and a wireless card for the desktop. (I'm assuming you have a wireless system built into your laptop).

Stick to the major brand and you'll be in good hands. D-Link, Linksys/Cisco, Netgear are my favorites. If you need anything let me know, I can find some killer deals for you.

[Ric]

Lance,
thankx for the info. we want to keep the desk top on the Ethernet Cable and the laptop on a wireless, thats what we "want" Im guessing its doable.
I appreciate the heads up on the brand names, I was looking at Micro Centers site, and didnt really know what manufacture to go with, so thankx :thumbup: we will probley go there (or somewhere) tomorrow, she needs something ASAP..

[Good Times]

Ric,

In that case, I would just check to make sure the laptop supports either 802.11A, 802.11B (most likely), 802.11G (probably) annd/or 802.11N(maybe). Most older laptops support A/B but G and N is relatively new so depending on how old the laptop is G and N may be out of your limits. If your laptop supports either G and N, then most definitely look at those routers that have them as they support a higher transfer rate.

[reggie 00]

A G and N router should be backwards compatible to B. A is not as popular for regular consumer use.

Dlink, Linksys, Netgear in that order. Don't bother with anything else you'll see on the shelf. It may have the same specs but you'll find em harder to set up.

Make sure you go look on your ISP help page on items that need to be addressed for router set up. A lot of em are getting pretty easy to set up though.
While your looking around on the net for that info, grab a quick tutorial on sharing printers and files.

Have fun.

[Bob98SR5]

ric,

dude, just email me your address and ill give you mine for free. it a linksys with dual B and G . its just sitting in my closet collecting dust. you pay shipping and its yours, my friend

bob

[Cebby]

ric,

dude, just email me your address and ill give you mine for free. it a linksys with dual B and G . its just sitting in my closet collecting dust. you pay shipping and its yours, my friend

bob



That router is certainly making the rounds...

[Bob98SR5]

yup, its the one i bought from you many eons ago

[Ric]

thankx for all the replies all :thumbup: .... Bob you got a PM

[Erich_870]

ric,

dude, just email me your address and ill give you mine for free. it a linksys with dual B and G . its just sitting in my closet collecting dust. you pay shipping and its yours, my friend

bob



Another great example of the UY community. :thumbup:

While we're on the subject, anyone have info on a program to keep neighbors from sniping your wireless? I've never really addressed that with my system :spank:

Erich

[Cebby]

use a WEP key

[d0ubledown]

yup..you should be able to setup your wireless so that its password protected.

[reggie 00]

dont broadcast your SSID

limit the nmber of wireless ip addresses to the actual number of computers you have that are connecting wireless.

[Ric]

Hey all,
I greatly appreciate all your help and suggestions, but we decided to go another route, lol

[BruceTS]

my wireless router died a few weeks ago, fortunately Fry's electronics had a sale, I ended up going the $$$ route and getting a Linksys wireless-N Gigabit Gamming router. The range is awesome compared to my old "G" router, my laptop with built-in G gets full bars throughout my house now, when I used to lose reception, but I did pick-up an N card for it....

[Tanto]

If you do decide to revisit this topic for your setup, Ric, I know that all the consumer Linksys wireless routers also have a couple ports in the back to connect Ethernet cable for your desktop.

[Ric]

awesome, thanks for he heads up :thumbup:

[hillbilly]

Use the "MAC Address filter" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_filtering) feature in conjunction with your preferred WEP,WPA/WPA2. Just be sure to specify that 'only addresses' on the MAC address filter list are permitted to connect. MAC addresses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address) are unique to specific network adapters, so by turning on MAC filtering you can limit network access to only your systems (or those you know about). Establishing a MAC address filter list prevents unknown devices, regardless of your WEP, WPA/WPA2 security settings, from connecting. Be aware that MAC addresses can be spoofed (imitated), but the majority of people don't know its even possible nor how to do it.

Not sure how to find out what your MAC address is? (http://www-dcn.fnal.gov/DCG-Docs/mac/index.html):
Windows = Go to the "Start" button, "Run", then type "cmd" or "command". Once the DOS CLI (command line interface) opens, type "ipconfig /all" and look for the wireless network device. The "Physical Address" is the MAC addy.

Mac (Apple)= open "Terminal", then type "ifconfig". The alphanumeric string to the right of "ether" is the MAC (the Airport is typically "en1:"). Or you can go to "System Preferences", "Network", highlight "Airport", select the "Advance". The "Airport ID" is the MAC address.

[mastacox]

I use WPA/TKIP encryption and a MAC filter on my linksys wireless router at home, works fine with no decrease in speed or anything. The cards we have on my fiance's laptop and desktop don't support WPA2 otherwise I'd use that (my computer stays plugged into the router through ethernet).

One of my friends that is an electrical engineer who works for an industrial supplier in Tempe showed me how easy it is to crack into a WEP encrypted network, it's kinda scary :confused: Definitely go with at a bare minimum a MAC filter, and WPA if you've got it. Also on the plus side, WEP uses a hex key that's hard to remember, whereas WPA uses a password.