Suitable routers

so, i have decided that i will probably get a macbook, and up until now, i have very little experience with wireless internet in general. i will probably have my router connected to my pc, and i am wondering if there will be any problems with compatibility. also, does anyone have any good suggestions for a router?
thanks again.

 

There should not be an compatibility issues with a router sending a wireless connection to your PC and MacBook. I recommend DLink, Linksys, and some Belkin (the more expensive models). Apple also manufactures their Airport or something like that, but the price is usually more expensive than the other vendors. I recommend D-Link as I have 2 routers, both of which performs well.

 

Basically almost all routers will work fine with the MacBook. You do not need to get Apple's Airport Extreme.

 

I strongly recommend the Apple Airport Extreme. The new one has Gig-E port and 802.11n. It has incredible range and very simple setup. It also support Airport Disk and Printer Server functions. Not to mention it looks good sitting on your desk.
Yeah, it's a bit pricey, but it worths every penny to me.

 

out of the ones knp listed, which one would you guys suggest?

 

They're all great routers. I have no preference between them, they're all among the most popular in the industry.

 

ok, thanks again sam

 

over the last few weeks i've been to router hell and back. I got a D Link g router, it was real garbage so I went back and got a more expensive one (N) which was really low quality also (in terms of speed and range).

I finally got the apple one (got a good deal on the one w/out gbit ethernet as I don't need that function - only the wireless) and setup is a breeze and range is fantastic. go pick one up

 

Yeah, I've had bad experienced with D-Link. Though it was with an older model, the DI-624. That router would frequently drop connections and require a power cycle, but seemingly more often when connected to a Mac. With a PC it happened too, but much less frequently. It would happen daily with a Mac and maybe every other week with a PC.

 

I'd suggest the Netgear DG834N. I get great 'N' speeds and have had no problems. I have had it for almost 6 months now.

I did have a problem with a D-LINK G604T. The MBP can see the SSID but it doesn't seem to connect to it even with the wireless security turned off.

 

i've had a problem with dlink too. Had drop outs almost every 5 mins, thought it was something else that was wrong and bought another model from compusa and it did the same thing. Did some research and found out wireless devices like cell phones and stuff interfere with dlink internals (had the di-624/di-524/di-724GU) because its not properly shielded or something which causes the drop connections. Since then I decided i wouldnt touch another dlink product.
Currently have a netgear and a Zyxel router and havent had any problems. They replaced my rev 1 WRT54G and rev 1.1 WRT54GS linksys (both DD-WRT firmware)i had before, the revisions that were really good but I ended up increasing transmit power a bit too much and too long so kinda killed it.

If I were to get another router now I'd probably consider a buffalo since its capable of using free 3rd party firmwares like ddwrt like the old linksys ones. Also the airport extreme since i've heard nothing but good things about it and its supposedly very easy to setup.

 

See now that's funny cuz I have had problems with linksys routers and my dlink routers have been working infinitely better. I think either one you choose will have people with good and bad experiences. My suggestion is first narrow down the list of features you need. For instance:
Do you need Wireless a/b/g/g+/n ? If you are unsure, look at the wireless cards and they should indicate their speed. If you do not have wireless n cards you still might find the range beneficial. But do not buy a wireless N router thinking it wil be faster if you do not have the wireless cards capable of connecting to it at the faster speed.
Do you need gigabit ethernet? or will 10/100 suffice? (in other words do you have devices that have gigabit ethernet in them, and do you often trnasfer large files or large amounts of files over the network?)
Do you need QoS? (Do you have multiple computers connected, one posibly gaming or using bittorrent while the other computer needs bandwidth?
Do you need the range of N?
Do you need more than ethernet ports on it? (usb for printer sharing or HDD sharing)
Do you need more than 4 ethernet ports? (instead of buying a switch)

Other than that, the major brands all put out good models, compatibility is where the models sepparate themselves.

+1 for D-Link

 

I've never had problems with D-Link, but Linksys routers have given me trouble when networking PCs and Macs. Did you guys update your firmware?

 

i had the very first revisions of linksys routers which were almost indefinitely better than their newer revisions. Linksys tends to cheapen the design of their routers as they release newer revisions like stripping down the pcb or using a less powerful processor and using less ram. Its really irritating that they do that but its to be expected i think so i usually tend to stay away from linksys unless its a new model that just came out.
As for firmware, i was never fond of their own firmware so i used sveasoft 3rd party firmwares or ddwrt. The 3rd party firmwares enable so many more features than linksys ones so its highly customizable.

Basically as DeepShadow said, you should write down a list of features that you will need. Also if your able to, maybe try the different brands to see which will suit your needs and environment the best. They all use different setup methods or have different setup interfaces that you may like or dislike. I've personally have had bad luck with D-link but also heard many have had good luck with them so its all really subjective. To me its like sound and everyone's reviews are just their opinions and you have to try it yourself to see.

 

I'd recommend the Linksys WRT54GL. It's based off the older, more reliable WRT54 and thus does not have the problems the newer one does (WRT54G).
It is also open source, and plenty of ways to change to a different system on the router. With the different systems, you can actually get near commercial functionality with it.
I believe at least one of the pieces of software let you program it using RIP.

I've also had bad luck with D-links wireless routers. Wired are fine. But generally, when I deal with wired, I'm using CISCO routers/switches.

BTW, the WRT54GL is not N or Pre-n.