Which router, what router. No clue where to start searching!

Okay, so I have no clue where to start!

Let's see.

I want to buy a router, and I currently have a HP dv5215 [Turion].
I don't know which routers would be the most compatible with this laptop, or if there is such a thing as laptop-router compatality.

Which routers would you all reccommend for a economical price and, dully speaking, for a "fast" connection wirelessly?

 

Linksys, Netgear and D-Link make the best routers. Your dv5125 probably has a wireless b/g card. So you should get a router compatible with b/g networking standards.

 

Yes, it does have a wireless b/g card.
Are these sold at stores or are they ordered specially online?
Oh, and I'm guessing that there isn't just one type of a "Linksys", a "Netgear" or a "D-Link" router. Which would be the most compatible for my laptop?

 

how to approach it:

1. know your budget. i would say you don't need to spend more than 50-70 dollars

2. within your budget, buy the "best" router you can. like jetstar says, i would go with a namebrand

3. read the user manual

4. note that your wifi connection to your router is going to be faster than your internet connection, so you shouldn't worry too much about speed since you will be bottlenecked by the internet connection.

good luck.

EDIT: you can buy in a store or online

 

Hm, would you mind explaining 4?

Well, I've found some online that go at speeds of "54mbps". What does this stand for? The internet connection?

What else should I look for in the components of the router?


--

D-LINK

NetGear

LinkSys

Found three example products.

 

Perhaps you will find this guide helpful.

The D-Link router you mentioned, is way too costly. Like drumfu said, $50 - $70 is a good price. The other two are pretty good.

 

Thanks.

Okay, so which of these is the most reccommend by you guys:

802.11n
TBD TBD 2.4GHz; high Unavailable TBD TBD
802.11b
5Mbps 150 feet 2.4GHz; high Excellent Moderate Low
802.11a
22Mbps 100 feet 5GHz: low Poor High High
802.11g
20Mbps 150 feet 2.4GHz; high Excellent Moderate Moderate
Dual band
22Mbps 150 feet 2.4GHz 5GHz; varies Excellent Moderate High
Bluetooth
500Kbps 30 feet 2.4GHz; high Poor Low Moderate

and what exactly is this about

pretty cheap?

 

I wouldnt recommend the $2 Belkin. It uses the b networking standard, which is kinda outdated. "g" is the most popular by far. "n" has just been introduced and there are just a few routers that have them, and those will be expensive ($100 plus). Go for an a/b/g or b/g router.

 

I would recommend an 802.11n router. They are supposed to be quicker. As the guide said, they are the standard of the future.

Matt

 

Basically, the theoretical maximum speed for an 802.11g connection is 54 megabits (not bytes, there are 8 bits per byte) per second. Your average broadband internet connection is probably going to be between 0.5-3.0 megabits per second. If you do the math, that leaves you with 51 megabits of "excess" bandwidth in the connection between your computer and the router (the LAN), which goes unused because it is limited by the bandwidth of your internet connection.

If I were to recommend a router, probably either a Linksys WRT54G or D-Link DI-524. Both are cheap and widely used. I wouldn't recommend an 802.11n router, since your laptop can't make use of that standard, since you only have an 802.11b/g card, and they're going to be expensive ($100+)

 

I would say to get a Linksys Wireless G Router.

I have the WRT54GS model, i've had it for over a year. Its great, excellent signal strength everywhere in my house and it supplies a good, steady connection. I do not think I have ever lost it before, maybe only once.

I highly recommend a Linksys.

 

as previously noted, don't get an N router since you don't have an N card. also, it's new enough to be unreliable right now.

a G or B/G router is what you're looking for.

 

^ ding ding ding winnar !!

however, you get -5 for being a kawasaki guy

 

That's interesting. Thanks!

Another question that really doesn't have to deal with this.

How does my current internet connection [cable] affect the connection and speed of that of the router-laptop, if there is any effect.

 

there is no [negative] effect.

what BigV was explaining is that the connection speed between your notebook and your router is faster than your cable connection; i.e., "G" speed is theoretically 54Mbps while your cable connection is significantly slower, probably at most 6-6.5 Mbps.

so, think of it this way...

if you're browsing the internet, your speeds will be whatever you cable speed is. however, if you're transfering data between computers on your home LAN, you can transfer files at 54Mbps assuming all the computers are equipped with "G" speed wifi cards or faster (like a wired ethernet connection)

 

If cost has anything to do with your shopping, try tigerdirect. I picked up a Netgear 624 for $24.99 and just setup last night. Running like a dream and keeping up with a wired broadband connection speed within 5-10feet. I was skeptical...but for $30 I took a chance. WOW.... why spend $100 when you don't really need to.

 

you haven't even run the router for 24 hours which means you are nowhere near qualified to comment on it's quality/reliability.

 

Hour 1-12
Working flawlessly. No hiccups and more importantly no interference from portable or cell phones. I have RoadRunner thru my Netgear 624 and at a distance of about 20-25 feet Speakeasy has my download rate at 717kbps and my upload at 344kbps. If I knew how to take a snapshot I'd post one.

 

after you've the run router for 30/60/90/120 days, then you can post on its reliability.

 

Mine is a v3,

I've set them up before. Maybe it's just a blessing, plug it in and type in the address of the router and it;s all cake. Sometimes we can complicate the process but one step at a time will normally solve the problem. They do make defective equipment but most of the time it is Operator Error.

 

Does the stability of the router connection [to the internet or downloading speed, for example] have anything to do with the processor or any other internal devices of the laptop?

Oh, and I'm down between a few mainframes for a router....

Linksys WRT54GS

or

Netgear WPN824

or

Netgear WGR614

or

Netgear WGT624

or

ZyXel XtremeMIMO X-550

I'm not sure how reliable a single G router would do compared to it being B/G, etc., and what a "MIMO" router is.

 

Hm, yeah, I've read on various forums that if you chose to make it run on only G, it may increase performance.

I have been wondering, as well, what kind of router, possibly one from those above, will maximize downloading/uploading performance for P2P programs, etc? I'm very big on this, spending much time on it daily.

 

all of them should be roughly equal, since you won't have a linksys speedbooster card or a netgear "super GTM" card or an XtremeMIMO (it's X-TREME!@$@!$OMGZORZ!!!!) card in your laptop. paying extra for these "speed boosting" features is WASTING YOUR MONEY.

I say just get the WGR614, possibly the WPN824 for the multi-antenna action. The limiting factor with any router you buy is the internet connection. as previously mentioned it will be FAR FAR FAR slower than what any basic 802.11g router is capable of doing - you'll probably have on the order of 10 times extra capacity within the router.

 

LinksysWRT54G

After the initial configuration where I had to "bridge the ethernet" on the Westel modem and change a few other settings (answers found on dslreports) in 6 months, I've only have a few hiccups where it dropped a siginal then immediately reconnected. (a DSL problem?) I've also reset the connections (powered down modem & router) when my connection speed slowed

Additional info: I got the router on sale for $39.99 at Officemax