OT: Best wireless router for Dell laptops (Virgin BB UK)

Hi,

Apologies that this is slightly off-topic, but just wondering what the best value wireless router is that works well with Dell laptops and Virgin Broadband UK (Cable).

The important things for me are reliability, speed and range (in that order), but it doesn't need to be top of the range/latest model.

Thanks

 

dlink make good routers

 

I have a Buffalo Airstation router thats exactly like th one in the link below. If you read the reviews in the link so will see that it is even better than all the other brands and it still offers faster spped and reliability than other brands. I get 5 bars every where in my house. It was also very easy to set up (on my windows XP desktop as it took less than 5 mins bu using the CD that came with the router)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buffalo-Air...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199316219&sr=8-2

 

wpn824 hands down handles my 20mb connection perfectly

google it

 

Thanks... I'm considering this one. But do you require a Buffalo netword card to get the high speeds? Or does it still have high speeds with any network card?

Also, I notice this is quite an old model - do you think it's still OK for today (security, bandwidth speed, etc).

Thanks.

 

make sure u google fro reviews, i have tried 10 routers and the wpn is great

 

alo virgin bb will be upgrading to 50mb soon so 54mbs will not be close to enough so i would actually try a wireless N router, infact definately do that

 

I looked at the reviews of the WPN and the buffalo - Buffalo seemed to get high reviews (expert reviews and user reviews). But as always, pros and cons with each... hmmm decisions, decisions.

Have you tried the Buffalo router mentioned above?

 

well as u can see above wireless n is probably the way to go, or go with the buffalo now as its cheap then later upgrade to a really fast router

 

Another vote for WPN824v2. Solid connection, throughput, and has never (yes, never) dropped a connection since I got it in 2006. To the technically minded, it's the MIMO technology they got the license to manufacture from Ruckus wireless. Like neilnpatel said, Google it.

The v2 is the model you want so you can turn off the ridiculous flashing LED.

Regards,
Paolo

 

lol yh, when i was reeading reviews i was liek surely those silly leds will be distacting when say wathcing a movie, but yh i got v2

 

OK so you've convinced me, I'll got for the Netgear instead. But how do I know whether it's a v2? I can't find anything on any of the UK retailer pages - is it an American only thing? Eg: see the following link - how do I know if it's v2 or not?

http://www.techstore.co.uk/browse.php?a=p&prodLineID=64405

Thanks.

 

Whatever you get, get one that will take the DD-WRT firmware from http://www.dd-wrt.com/

I bought a Buffalo 802.11g router and loaded DD-WRT on it and have never looked back. It's about a million times better than any factory firmware available.

It will load onto Linksys, Buffalo, and a ton of other routers.

 

wait before you buy tell me what conenction you have and what you plan on getting in the future. (The future max is 50mb btw ) Say whether u have XL , L, or M

 

Good God, are you daft? Don't waste time with Netgear... Ugh! Every time I get something from Netgear I wind up burned by sub-par performance or a product that goes tango-uniform right after the 90 day warranty.

See my post above...

Your absolute BEST BET is to get a Buffalo or Linksys and load DD-WRT on it. You will never, ever have problems with wireless again. My $55US Buffalo router with DD-WRT at home has been online without a reboot since last June. I never have problems associating any device with it. I have my laptop, my Wii, my cell phone, my Nokia tablet, and my Squeezebox on it.

I had a Netgear Wireless-N "gigabit edition" router at home. Every single change in the interface required a reboot of the thing, and it would require manual reboots about every 5-10 days. Sometimes things wouldn't associate right, either. Firmware updates did not help. I swapped it for a new one and it had the same problems.

I also have owned three Linksys products (going back to 2000, the 802.11b standard) and two D-Link. These all were flaky, although not as bad as the Netgear. Problems were typically related to wireless disconnects (my devices would just suddenly disconnect from wifi) and various timeouts to mandatory weekly reboots.

Since I got the Buffalo and went with the DD-WRT firmware, it's been about eight months now. From the second I configured the router/password/WPA2 and associated my laptop, it's been on-line. Never a disconnect, never a failed association, and never a reboot. It works like a goddang Swiss watch!

http://www.dd-wrt.com/

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices

There are two Netgear routers that can load the DD-WRT firmware:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Netgear

etc.

Drink the Kool-Aid, my friend, and you'll LOVE IT!

 

Belkin routers work very well, and i never have to rest it all the time and its never broken, whatever you do dont by cisco systems, they always break and there is no vents for cooling on some of them!

 

At the moment I have the L package, I will probably stick with that for another 6-12 months or so then *maybe* upgrade.

I'm going to buy a Dell M1330 soon and it comes with a MIMO netword card so wanted a router that would work well with it. I've heard some routers only work at high speed with the right network cards, and I don't want to go changing any cards.

I also want to connect the router to my desktop PC (wired) as I want to be able to remote desktop into the desktop PC from the laptop from around the house.

Thanks again for your help Neil.

 

So which one would your recommend then? Linksys or Buffalo - and which models? Thanks for pointing out the DD-WRT thing, I had no idea about that. I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to these sorts of things!

 

i say netgear v2 but at the same time the buffalo is cheaper and will probbaly do a good enough job ,and later on i would upgrade to a full N router