[Pinebro]

I'm ready to purchase a wireless router. I don't want to spend the $179 for the Airport Extreme. I'm wondering if there is a alternative router for less that $100. I only have one iMac (intel version). I want to install the router on the second floor (Modem is located here) and temporarily move the mac to the first floor.
I'm getting close to buying, so quick help is needed.
Thanks.

[ghporter]

ANY standards-compliant wireless router will work for you. If it says "WiFi" and/or 802.11 compliant, then you're in business-and that means just about anything you can find on the shelf. If your iMac is one of those with an "N" WiFi card, you'll want to look at a router that supports the draft-N standard, but you can still get one for less than $100. Linksys' N routers tend to be a bit pricey, but D-Link has one that's going for about $90 as of this weekend at OfficeDepot (or is it Office Max?). Check out their sites for what the deal is. I'd stay away from Belkin only because of their relatively poor track record with routers.

[mduell]

If you want 802.11n, $70 TRENDnet TEW-631BRP

If you're happy with 802.11g, $45 Linksys WRT54G

[Pinebro]

Thanks to both of you. However, please explain "N" vs "G".
Any other recommendations, please advise.
Thanks.

[mduell]

G was the second (or third, depending on how you want to count) widespread wireless standard. Most every computer with wifi supports it.
N is the latest and greatest wifi standard; it's not quite complete yet, but various manufacturers are implementing it in draft form. The newest Macs and PCs have it, but most computers out there today don't.

If you don't really want N, I'd just go with G. The G router I linked to is better than the N router (to keep the price under $100).

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Pinebro 

Thanks to both of you. However, please explain "N" vs "G".
Any other recommendations, please advise.
Thanks.

There have been three versions of the 802.11 standard for WiFi that are aimed at customers - 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n - B, G, and N for short.

The "B" stands for oBsolete. This standard is old and Bad. I doubt that any stores will still be offering B routers these days, but just in case you see any, avoid them - they suck.

The "N" stands for Newest and Niftiest. It's insanely fast, and several times the speed of the "second best" standard, which I'll get to in a moment. However, it might be overkill because your Web browsing speed is going to be limited by the speed of your Internet connection anyway, and if what you have is a 3 Mbps DSL line, then you're not going to surf any faster than 3 Mbps, no matter how fast your router is. One thing that you want N for, though, is if you are planning to do wireless backups (à la Time Capsule). For stuff like that, you'll definitely see the difference with N. And of course, if American broadband speeds ever catch up to the rest of the civilized world and it becomes possible to get a faster connection than 55 Mbps, you'll be ready for it. Finally, N has a longer wireless range, so if you're going to need to operate equipment really far away from the router or you are in a building with really thick walls, you might have a better chance of getting a strong signal with N.

The "G" stands for Good Enough for most uses. It's 55 Mbps, which is usually quite a bit faster than your Internet connection, so if all you want to do is surf the Web, you might be able to save yourself a few bucks by going with G instead of N. G also has the advantage of being an officially released standard and not a draft - it's been around for a few years, it's time-tested, and it works.

(There's also an 802.11a standard, but all you need to know about it is that "A" stands for Ain't what you want.)

Oh, and get a Linksys. I've had all sorts of problems with things like iChat not working right with other models (including the 2Wire I'm stuck with right now, which sucks). Linksys routers always seem to work better. In particular, avoid Netgear - their UPnP implementation is broken, and iChat's AV features will not work at all. I've tried it...

[ginoledesma]

If you're just starting one, get an 802.11g wireless router -- they provide an excellent bang for the buck with their current price range. Among the recommended ones are the Linksys WRT54G and D-Link WBR-2310. They should be selling within the $40-$70 range. If you're spending close to the $70 range, though, you might want to opt for a Wireless 802.11n router instead (check for sales). I know D-Link DIR-615 has been sold in that price recently.

One thing to note is that, to take advantage of the maximum supported speed of the router, you'll need a matching card on the client side. That is, to take advantage of 802.11n speeds, you'll need an 802.11n-compatible card (e.g. recent Macs). Most computers sold in the past few years should speak 802.11g.

The speeds we're looking at are 11Mbps (b), 54Mbps (g), and 100-300Mbps (n). While all of them are faster than most broadband connections and therefore good enough for Internet access, the faster speeds make for file sharing between computers within your network much, much better (e.g. streaming video, copying files from one computer to another).

[CharlesS]

A couple of years ago I had trouble with a D-LINK's DHCP servers. For some reason or other, it was working fine with Windows machines, but wouldn't give the DNS servers to any of three Macs that I tried it with, unless the Macs had the ISP's DNS servers entered manually. I'm sure they've fixed that one by now, but who knows if there'll be some new weird bugs that weren't in the one I had to deal with.

I'd just go with Linksys. Their stuff actually works.

[Pinebro]

Wow, thanks all for the feedback. I think I understand more about the router differences. I just have to make a choice.

[Gamoe]

Any other recommendations? I'm in the same boat. I have an old 802.11b router and think it's time to upgrade, considering I have a new n-capable (but not incapable ) MacBook. How does the Airport Extreme Base Station (or the Time Capsule, for that matter) stack up against a comparably priced Linksys router? Any specific router model recommendations?

I know the Time Capsule is in another category altogether, but to me the router capabilities come first, and backup capabilities second (I already have a FW hard drive for backup, but having a Time Capsule would allow me to free it up for pure media storage). Same goes for the nifty, but secondary printer and external disk sharing functions. Cnet doesn't seem to think highly of the Time Capsule. Ars Technica recommends the AEBS when used in n-only 5 Ghz mode. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be possible for me, because I have a Mac mini as well.

I'm seriously considering the AEBS and the Time Capsule, but I'm not entirely sure the performance is what it should be on those, particularly considering the price and the other non-Apple options.

[tridentinecanon]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

There have been three versions of the 802.11 standard for WiFi that are aimed at customers - 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n - B, G, and N for short.

The "B" stands for oBsolete. This standard is old and Bad. I doubt that any stores will still be offering B routers these days, but just in case you see any, avoid them - they suck.

The "N" stands for Newest and Niftiest. It's insanely fast, and several times the speed of the "second best" standard, which I'll get to in a moment. However, it might be overkill because your Web browsing speed is going to be limited by the speed of your Internet connection anyway, and if what you have is a 3 Mbps DSL line, then you're not going to surf any faster than 3 Mbps, no matter how fast your router is. One thing that you want N for, though, is if you are planning to do wireless backups (à la Time Capsule). For stuff like that, you'll definitely see the difference with N. And of course, if American broadband speeds ever catch up to the rest of the civilized world and it becomes possible to get a faster connection than 55 Mbps, you'll be ready for it. Finally, N has a longer wireless range, so if you're going to need to operate equipment really far away from the router or you are in a building with really thick walls, you might have a better chance of getting a strong signal with N.

The "G" stands for Good Enough for most uses. It's 55 Mbps, which is usually quite a bit faster than your Internet connection, so if all you want to do is surf the Web, you might be able to save yourself a few bucks by going with G instead of N. G also has the advantage of being an officially released standard and not a draft - it's been around for a few years, it's time-tested, and it works.

(There's also an 802.11a standard, but all you need to know about it is that "A" stands for Ain't what you want.)

Oh, and get a Linksys. I've had all sorts of problems with things like iChat not working right with other models (including the 2Wire I'm stuck with right now, which sucks). Linksys routers always seem to work better. In particular, avoid Netgear - their UPnP implementation is broken, and iChat's AV features will not work at all. I've tried it...

You should post this on Wikipedia or something...