wireless router for Vaio F11

I wonder if someone might be able to give me some advice on choosing a wireless router to use exclusively with my F11 Vaio. For example, does it take advantage of dual band, etc. Do I need dual band if I am not streaming HD video?

My primary use is stock market trading, but the data volume is really not huge from it. Though speed and especially consistent connection are very important.

I would really appreciate any advice you might be able to give, experiences, etc. As I look at reviews of different units, it seems they are almost a poorly reviewed as HDTV tuners. With tuners, much of the problem is user error, not understanding HDTV signals, etc. So I don't know how to interpret the reviews for routers.

Thanks a bunch!

 

The US F's wireless adapter does not support 5Ghz so you don't even have that choice unless you use a different wireless card.

 

Thanks! I had a feeling that was the case, but was not sure.

 

Between various workplaces and homes, I've gone through quite a number of routers; LinkSys, Netgear, Buffalo, etc. Conservatively guessing, at least a dozen over the span of these 15 years.

The one I've deployed now is the DLink DIR-655. It's an 802.11n router that offers far more features than I know to tinker with but with an easy setup. It offers an entirely seperate (encryptable) "guest" signal if you wanted to offer broadband to visitors without risk of them meandering around your own personal network (network drives, printers, devices).

There's nothing about the VAIO F11 that requires any uber-fancy/expensive router. HD streaming from Netflix/YouTube/Vimeo works perfectly fine with the bandwidth offered by any N-spec router... I can even go as far as saying that the older G-spec (802.11g) routers work fine too.

Having said that, you can configure this router to work exclusively in N, G, or B signal mode.

The ethernet ports in back are all gigabit ports (1000mbps). There's no way you can fault this router for being the bottleneck in your setup. If anything, DSL or even Cable would be a more likely culprit.

In the home, the DIR-655 feeds broadband goodness to two computers, one HTPC, two WiFi gadgets, one connected Blu-ray player, and two network cameras. The HTPC pulls episodic TV off the web continuously, at least one of the computers gets used frequently to watch high-def video on Vimeo/YouTube, and the Blu-ray player contains a Netflix app so it's often used to stream HD movies. All these tasks put on this router for the last two years and it hasn't done as much as hiccup.

It's been working so well, I've deployed it in two other locations and again it's been very much a set-it-and-forget-it affair.

The few negative reviews are from folks who got the initial version with the green LED lights. ALL the DIR-655 sold now are the blue-LED revised version. All three of mine purchased over these several years are the blue-LED revised versions. One of my three routers sits in a back office that reaches into the 80's on hot summer days and it's still continued to chug along fine.

DLink's product page:

D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router

Under the Support Section, there's a link labeled "Emulators" to virtually show you the config screens inside their product. Check out the features for yourself.

 

The D-Link routers used to come with the SecureSpot trojan built into the firmware which caused grief for lots of people. It would monitor and filter your internet traffic silently for the first month and then start hijacking your browser to serve up ads for itself. It's supposedly there to protect you, but keep in mind that it's also a piece of spyware. D-Link announced they will discontinue SecureSpot just a few days ago, but I would not buy a D-Link router until you can confirm a firmware update is available that eliminates it. Personally, I wouldn't trust a company that builds spyware into their routers.

And to answer your original question, I've been getting stable, reliable connections between my F11 and a Netgear N300 at 250-300Mbit depending on range. Actual sustained throughput is 1/3 to 1/2 of the connection speed which is typical for a good wireless N network. No hassles so far.

Before this, I had a Linksys WRT54G which was bulletproof but the reviews of the Cisco/Linksys wireless-N routers have been less favorable.

 

Thanks, all! I stumbled across a Netgear N300 on sale at Walmart today - $60, lifetime warranty - and picked one up.

After a little fight to get Vaio's wireless switch to work again, all is working fine.