wireless router

Whats a good wireless router for these hi powered Asus gaming laptops?
thanks for the help

 

any G or N router will be good....the router is only half of it...you need to have a good internet speed to take full advantage of any wireless router

 

I have the Linksys WRT160NL and i've flashed it with the custom DD-WRT firmware. Works great and has a usb port to connect external storage.

Linksys WRT160NL Reviews

 

This is a good point.

What do you want to do with router? Game on-line? Or transfer large files between computers on your home network? Do you have interference from other 2.4ghz devices?

If all you do is game on-line, most any G router will do, but you can get a WRT54g for $50, it is considered by many to be the best G router there is, especially if you put DD-WRT on it like Voyager said. Since your internet is probably no faster than 10mbps, a 54mbps router is plenty fast enough, even if the thoughtput drops to half that.

If you stream HD movies from one computer to another, wireless N is the way to go. There are a bazillion to choose from.

If you get interference from other 2.4 ghz devices (I get interference from my baby monitor and microwave), then you'll need a 5ghz router. I use the WNDR-3700. It gets good reviews also, but it's expensive. A cheaper solution is a refurbished WNDR-3300 for $40.

I recommend finding out what you need, then searching techbargains.com for the best deals, good routers go on sale every week.

 

i would like to see some expanation here also about the Access points ?
access points vs routers
advantages , disadvantages

 

I know this is a 'no duh' comment, but don't forget about the other computer, as well. If it's wireless N, then you'll get better throughput. If the other computer is connected to the router via a 100Mb NIC (or if the router's switch is only 100Mb), then you should still see better throughput, but not wireless N speeds. If the computer's NIC is gigabit (or if you upgrade it), then make sure you have/get a router with a gigabit switch.

I hope I'm not misunderstanding your question, but a modern "home" router is really three devices in one: 1) Router, 2) Ethernet switch, and 3) Wireless Access Point.

In a "commercial" environment, your routers and switches don't typically come with any wireless capability. In most scenarios, you'd 'hang' a WAP off a switch in whatever location the users needed wireless access.

In the "home", most users don't deviate from the scenario of "ISP's Modem -> Router/Switch/WAP". For most home users, it's just easier (or more cost effective) to buy a new Linksys router, for instance, than purchase a separate WAP for N and plug it into the switch.

 

can the router recieve wireless connection and share wireless conection ???
and can you use 2 or more routers in bridge mode ?
and isn't the WAP signal better ?
the guys from my last internet provider left me an WAP and all i can say is wow it can do miracles ... lots of options and modes

 

Usually an WAP is better than an wireless router since (again usually) it is more expensive and it has to do one single thing: bring wireless into a wired network.

as Networc already said, most home users will be more than satisfied with a regular wireless router which offers router/switch/wap in a single package.

 

The "router" portion of a "home router" has one interface for the WAN (your ISP) and one on the LAN (it connects to your switch, but you can't physically see it). The router 'shares' access to the ISP's connection. Devices connected to the LAN/switch use the router's LAN interface as their default gateway. Any packet destined for an IP address not on the LAN is sent to the router's LAN interface which then sends it to the ISP. They deal with it.

The basic WAP functionality for most home router firmware is to bring wireless users into the LAN. Wireless users can communicate with other devices in your LAN and they can also access the web via the router (as described above).

Advanced features such as bridged mode are available in custom firmware (eg: DD-WRT). I'm not sure if home routers offer this function by default. They might - I'm still running a Linksys WRT54GS flashed with DD-WRT, so I haven't looked into it.

To caveat on this, I recommend testing your WAN throughput with both Speedtest.net and Speakeasy.net. Also, Pingtest.net is great for giving you a ballpark idea of your ISP's quality of service (QoS) which, IMO, is way more important than throughput for gaming. The inverse is (relatively) true for downloading large files.

You should try testing your connection with multiple destinations and at varying times. I find Speedtest to be more useful for providing lots of destinations, but I think that my results are too dependent on the destination servers' workload - Speakeasy is more reliable in this regard. Also, if you have DSL, then your throughput should rarely (if ever) drop below what your ISP is selling you. Cable should be where you see dips based on your neighbors' usage. This dip, though, shouldn't impact most games. I get a kick out of ISPs that advertise their top-tier throughput for gaming. The only game worth playing *cough-WoW-cough* uses a trickle of throughput during regular gaming. From a throughput perspective, it worked just fine tethered to my HTC Fuze in class...

PS - Give the Leatrix Latency "Fix" a try. It has the potential to cut your latency for TCP-based applications (like WoW) just about in half (it does for me).

 

i know that the WAP can do that , that's why i asked you about the router
i don't think it can do that like the WAP
like i said receive wireless connection and share wireless connection
but only with cable , am i right?
and routers can't connect eachoother
at least that's what i know

good thing in the WAP is when i have in some spot low signal i just put the WAP in that place and share the signal so i don't need to sit or stand on that place (that's why i love it)

extend the connection wirelessly

 

in case you asked that, there are some routers that are able to "receive/share" the wireless connection.
The option is called WDS, but since it is not standardized it is better to be used with same equipment from the same manufacturer.

 

exactly WDS
but does the home routers (cheap routers) have that option
if no WAP FTW

 

100mbps wired outperforms 300mbps wireless N in pretty much all circumstances.

But anyhow, the Asus RT-N56U is a great router. I'm perfectly happy with it. Might be a little beefier than what you need.

 

Aye, iirc there are some D-link routers that have the WDS option...

 

..And anything you can put DD-WRT on. So yeah, my "cheap" home router can do it, just not with the manufacturer's gimped firmware. I guess they saved that "technology" for their awesome WAP.