O/T Routers ( the computer kind)

[Rags722]

OK, I need to know what you guys are using.  I had a Linksys BEFSR41 ( 4 port - wired) on my system to feed 3 hard wired computers in the house, but noticed it was cutting the download speed to a 1/3 of the cables rated speed. So, a friend tossed me a used Linksys WRT54GS (wired and wireless 4 port) and it worked like a charm.  Yesterday I unplugged power to move it and now it won't pass power-up self tests so I'm back on the old 4 port.  Nothing I own is wireless, and to be honest I'm not in love with the reliability I've gotten out of the 2 Linksys routers.  So, what are you guys using that works good?  All I need is a 4 port wired router, and don't need to spend $$$ for all the bells and whistles.

[HV]

OK, I need to know what you guys are using.  I had a Linksys BEFSR41 ( 4 port - wired) on my system to feed 3 hard wired computers in the house, but noticed it was cutting the download speed to a 1/3 of the cables rated speed. So, a friend tossed me a used Linksys WRT54GS (wired and wireless 4 port) and it worked like a charm.  Yesterday I unplugged power to move it and now it won't pass power-up self tests so I'm back on the old 4 port.  Nothing I own is wireless, and to be honest I'm not in love with the reliability I've gotten out of the 2 Linksys routers.  So, what are you guys using that works good?  All I need is a 4 port wired router, and don't need to spend $$$ for all the bells and whistles.

I use the WRT54GS too...and it works fine ...I un plug the power from time to time to re boot it... there is a re set switch on it ...you can try that ...I use the wireless all the time for my lap top

[jrflhr]

Belkin is what I use.
Had a Linksys and every time the power went off I had to reset it.The Belkin works flawlessly.never had a problem.

[maineultraclassic]

I am using a Netgear wireless router right now.............it handles 3 wireless laptops and 1 wired desktop computer fine. The laptop is conneced at 100mbps and the laptops are at 54mbps, that is all feeding off of a Roadrunner cable modem.

Steve

[Dennis The Menace]

Linksys still makes the BEFSR41 or you can go with the Linksys BEFSX41 or BEFVP41.

Linksys is good quality, been using them for 10 years for my wireless.  I had problems with my earlier products (like you have), but they are solid now that Cisco owns them.

Also, I use a Netgear Gigabit switch and uplink it via a single port to my wireless router. If you do much PC to PC or have a home network server (I do) then the added speed is nice.  Of course, this means that I am using a wired conenction, since wireless is slower.  But, its nice when I have big video or graphics files to store on my server, or when backing up our PC's.  And, work paid for it all!

menace

[Ed Y]

I've been using a Linksys WRT54G (both wired and wireless) for 3 years. I don't use the wireless feature at all. I power down every night (rural MS with unreliable power) and up most mornings. Never had a problem with it and have never had to reset it. (It is branded Cisco).

[jimrookie]

 I use the 2WIRE   we have 3 computers (one in the detached garage) and a Xbox Live running through it and it seems to work good

[Garry in AZ]

Between the shop and the house I have 4 Linksys units, no problems in 4 years, other than an occasional reset.

Garry

[BikerJim44]

I use a Belkin wired and wireless. I think it's a G or some such thing. Only problem I have had with it is it lost it's little mind the other day and I couldn't connect with the wireless laptops the other day. Got on the phone to Belkin and had it resolved in short order. Has never failed me except for that one time with no explination why but it was an easy fix and now I know how to repair it if it ever happens again. Nice thing about Belkin and I am sure Linksys is about the same but they offer free 24/7 technical support. Spidey.

[harleyjt]

I'm on a Westell Versa Link 327W.  Its a combination modem/router/wireless G router.  Its furnished by my provider, CenturyTel, and I pay a couple of bucks a month as I recall.  So far, no problems.  Seems to be working as it should. 
jt

[hotroadking]

Got a netgear that took a dump about 6 months or so into it's life

Have several Linksys, wireless and wired, work great

Have a Belkin at home, works fine.

It's all in the setup, get one that works wireless and wired, should be a router/switch, then if you have no
wireless, turn it off in the setup...

You never know you might get an Ipod or laptop and want to use the wireless, if you do be sure to setup the security...

[CraigArizona85248]

Linksys WRT54GL.  I just installed it last week.  Huge improvement over my 7 year old Linksys BEFSR41.  I replaced my 8-port switch too.  I now have 10/100/GBit throughout the house.  Makes transfering data between computers much faster.

-Craig

[Dennis The Menace]

For those who may not know, most wireless routers out of the box have the wireless network wide open. This means anyone with a wireless network adapter can conect to your network and use it, and potentially get inot your PCs and have a ball.

If you buy a wireless access point/router, one of the first things to do, is setup the wireless network requiring security, or turn it off if you do not use it.

This is extremely important, to keep others from getting to you Internet connection or to your PCs. 

I have been guilty of using others wide open connectons in the past to access the internet, but it is illegal.  So, it wont stop the criminals from doing some bad mojo to you or hijack your connection.

For example, I searched my local area and there are 9 wireless access points, and 1 was wide open.  So, I can connect to that access point and use thier Internet connection, and I can probably get to their PC at their house.  Yeah, its illegal, but that doesnt mean someone wont do it, happens every day.

menace

[seattledyna]

over the years we used Linksys routers but they had a habit of going TU after a year with no warning, we switched to Belkin and have had no problems, my shop is about 100 yards from the router in the house and the laptop out there works good and fast!

we really lucked out when we moved up in the hills where we are, they had just run high speed fiber optic DSL as part of a "tecnology advancement" in the area, they got only as far as our house on the highway and stopped...further up the road its just dial up hell

[CraigArizona85248]

For those who may not know, most wireless routers out of the box have the wireless network wide open. This means anyone with a wireless network adapter can conect to your network and use it, and potentially get inot your PCs and have a ball.

If you buy a wireless access point/router, one of the first things to do, is setup the wireless network requiring security, or turn it off if you do not use it.

This is extremely important, to keep others from getting to you Internet connection or to your PCs. 

I have been guilty of using others wide open connectons in the past to access the internet, but it is illegal.  So, it wont stop the criminals from doing some bad mojo to you or hijack your connection.

For example, I searched my local area and there are 9 wireless access points, and 1 was wide open.  So, I can connect to that access point and use thier Internet connection, and I can probably get to their PC at their house.  Yeah, its illegal, but that doesnt mean someone wont do it, happens every day.

menace

Good point Dennis.  You want to not only encrypt your data so that someone can't sniff it from out on the street, but you also want to use MAC address filtering so that ONLY the computers you have authorized can attempt to connect to your wireless router.  If you don't plan on using the wireless feature, enable MAC address filtering and add no MAC addresses to the list.

-Craig

[IndyHarley]

I have over the years found the two main problems arising from networking routers is failing to reset them once in awhile and also the compatibility between the router and the card you use in the PC (that is if they set up correctly in the 1st place). Many issues I have had to deal with on customers network was simply making sure the PC network card was the same brand as the router, i.e. router linksys use a linksys network card, belkin router use a belkin network card. Network cards are cheap compared to routers. I have been doing computer consulting for many years and this advice makes no sense to me either but as I stated it has happened many times - I just change the network card to the same manufacturer of the router and bingo it mysteriously has solved all problems of communicating between card and router.

[seattledyna]

having lived in Redmond WA just down the street from Microsoft of course we were hip to securing everything wireless in the house , peeps would drive around in vans just looking to mooch off of a leaky wireless system!

[Dennis The Menace]

Hey Mike, I resemble that remark  lol

I only hitched a few times when I needed access to my work network.  I know its illegal, but when ya got a multi-million dollar contract hanging in the balance, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.  but, I have never hacked anyones PC, or even attempted to.  I just needed a connection to my work net.  And, my VPN traffic is always encrypted, so its not like my traffics was at much risk.  lol

Indy, I agree.  I had some D-Link cards that never worked well with a Linksys AP.  Switched to Linksys and problems went away.  Probably some vendor specific implementation of 802.11b.  I have only use same vendor on my .11g net, so dont know about it.

menace

[lonegoosehonking]

Not trying to hijack the thread  but anyone have a suggestion for a mobile broadband router that works with the Huawei ec168. Only one that I have found is the cradlepoint mbr1000 and it
249 bucks quite pricey for this cheap mofo.

[Rags722]

I have over the years found the two main problems arising from networking routers is failing to reset them once in awhile and also the compatibility between the router and the card you use in the PC (that is if they set up correctly in the 1st place). Many issues I have had to deal with on customers network was simply making sure the PC network card was the same brand as the router, i.e. router linksys use a linksys network card, belkin router use a belkin network card. Network cards are cheap compared to routers. I have been doing computer consulting for many years and this advice makes no sense to me either but as I stated it has happened many times - I just change the network card to the same manufacturer of the router and bingo it mysteriously has solved all problems of communicating between card and router.

I understand what you are saying, but in this case, the wireless router was working just fine using only the wired ports.  I pulled the power to move the router about 6 inches, and after that it just kept cycling in Power-On test, with the power light blinking.  Now, here's the odd part.  If I disconnect all cables, after 10 min or so it will stabalize with the power light on solid, but if I then connect the PC's and Comcast modem to it, I can't get to the net.  Flip them back to the old router and they work fine.  Do a power off of everything, connect back to the wireless router and power back up and the router goes back into stupid mode in the power on self tests and will never come out of POST.  Also, if I power it up with nothing connected and once it stabalizes connect to the PC, I can ping the router.  Put in the router IP address and I can check all the settings and they all look good.  Just for S**ts and giggles, I may try reloading the firmware just to see if I clobbered that by turning off the power to the router.
Rags

[Ptroc]

Netgear just died on me in the last month.  Got a linksys.  no issues so far.  The netgear lasted 5 years or so.

P