[Veltliner]

After Time-Warner replaced a bad modem( a ton of error messages) with a brand quality one (Motorola)...

...the internet connection stays slow.

This time, it's my wireless router.

I tried it out. Connected directly to my Ethernet port, and could watch streaming video.

Reconnected the WBR-1310 router (version B), and the connection gets dropped after less than a minute, sometimes even after a few seconds.

Is the WBR-1310 router junk (because it should handle 5MB/sec)?

(I'm still planning to move to Dsl, but I'm going to use up the time I already paid for with cable. And: if the router is bad, it will be bad for dsl, too)

What do you recommend me to do? Get an Apple Airport express? Or is there a chance to check the router? In the manual it says, you could switch to another "channel". No idea where the channels are on this thing...

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

After Time-Warner replaced a bad modem( a ton of error messages) with a brand quality one (Motorola)...

...the internet connection stays slow.

This time, it's my wireless router.

I tried it out. Connected directly to my Ethernet port, and could watch streaming video.

Reconnected the WBR-1310 router (version B), and the connection gets dropped after less than a minute, sometimes even after a few seconds.

Is the WBR-1310 router junk (because it should handle 5MB/sec)?

It sounds like it's junk. And the fact that it only has a two star rating on Amazon after 52 reviews pretty much confirms to me that is indeed junk. I know my d-link was a piece of crap. Besides that, if you've had it for a while, routers don't last all that long anyway. If you get more than a couple of years of use out of one, you're probably doing pretty well.

(I'm still planning to move to Dsl, but I'm going to use up the time I already paid for with cable. And: if the router is bad, it will be bad for dsl, too)

Correct.

What do you recommend me to do? Get an Apple Airport express? Or is there a chance to check the router? In the manual it says, you could switch to another "channel". No idea where the channels are on this thing...

I'm not a big fan of Apple routers. I'd recommend either Linksys or Netgear. Now you could try troubleshooting the router you have, but if it's giving you such poor performance right now it may not be worth it. Btw, switching channels is a software-based solution to router interference you can try through the configuration web pages of your router. It may help a bit for some, but usually it helps a lot more to get a more reliable router. It wouldn't help at all given the information you've provided, although there's a chance that your router is very improperly configured.

[Veltliner]

I went to Amazon, and saw 32 out of 52 reviews used the word "garbage" in the title line and gave the d-link crapper (router was a bit of a misnomer) one star only.

I will not bother with this any longer. Thanks for the direct hint.

One Amazon reviewer mentioned the Linksys WRT54G.

I will check out routers of the two companies you recommended.

Can you recommend a particular model? I will, sooner or later (if it's available, right now) get FIOS, which is faster (7mbs) even on its lowest speed (which will be fine with me). Can you recommend a model?

Thanks again.

PS: I was relieved that I was not the only one who spent hours on the phone trying to synchronize misinformation from different tech support lines. It must be in the nature of tech support: big promise, and there you are in the desert, thirsty, and no glass of water's in your reach.

I just wonder why companies always give you junk modems and routers when you sign up for service...

[Big Mac]

I have the WRT54Gv2 and have been very happy with it. It replaced my piece of junk d-link. I also have a netgear, but I turn off its wireless transmitter and only use it as a wired device.

[Veltliner]

Sounds great.

I found the GT.

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Cisco-...087&sr=1-2

58$, and it looks like it can handle anything, cable, FIOS, DSL, and is something modern.

It's WPA(2) compatible.

It's actually closer to what you have the v1-v4.

The v5 of the G, which can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT54G...087&sr=1-1

... seems to be a reduced version of the older model. One reviewer called the GL " what the G used to be".

[Veltliner]

What I also found: looks like even good routers reduce the data throughput, and cannot compare to a direct line into ethernet port-connection.

Is this true, or was someone just saying things...?

[Big Mac]

The similar product numbers can be confusing. I'm sorry I screwed up before - mine is the WRT54G2 (four stars, $45 on Amazon):

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT54G.../dp/B0014J07R2

[Veltliner]

That one sounds very good.

There are so many models out there... This one sounds very similar to the GL, except for the body.

Do you use the linksys firmware or did you put tomato or wrt on it?

[Big Mac]

Yeah, a lot of very similar models are out there. The new Linksys consumer models like the WRT54G2 are antenna-less, which some people don't like. Personally, I've found the range of this model to exceed the range of any previous router I've owned. I use the Linksys firmware on it because there's no compelling reason for me to use anything else, but they just released a third party firmware version that is compatible with this model.

[ghporter]

If you have everything set up properly, you should be able to get 5-6Mbps through a quality consumer router. My venerable Linksys BEFSR41 (it's my second one) is capable of handling that quite nicely. The important part is to make sure that all the settings are correct. For example, your router's MTU setting can adversely affect speed-really badly in fact. For cable, the MTU should be 1500 (which should be the default setting on every router), while for DSL it should be no more than 1492. Now your Mac will figure this out and automatically select the right MTU at the LAN level, but it can't make up for the router being improperly set.

[Veltliner]

Thanks.

Those details how to set up routers properly - are they in the manuals? The d-link's manual certainly didn't tell you anything.

What would be the next step up? If I go FIOS, I'd get 7mbs, and I'd better have a router that handles that. It's not only that buying another one is expensive, you have to again learn how to set it up.

Because, if FIOS is available, it costs the same as Roadrunner, but I heard it's much more reliable.

I read that the Linksys have a good interface.


----

Generally I learned from the hours I lost with the d-link junk, that buying low-end networking gear can drive you to the asylum faster than an ambulance.

(How did I get it? When you sign up with Roadrunner, they offer you a "free" router, which in the end cost 30$ as they trick you with shipping costs and invalid mail-in rebates.)

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

If I go FIOS, I'd get 7mbs, and I'd better have a router that handles that.

Any 802.11 g or n router will be fine. Get one with n capability if you can (and if your computer(s) support it) if you think you'll transfer files or media over wifi from one device or computer to another.

Linksys and Netgear have decent interfaces. Many folks on these boards have lots of experience configuring them using their interfaces so we can help if you have questions.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Any 802.11 g or n router will be fine. Get one with n capability if you can (and if your computer(s) support it) if you think you'll transfer files or media over wifi from one device or computer to another.

Linksys and Netgear have decent interfaces. Many folks on these boards have lots of experience configuring them using their interfaces so we can help if you have questions.

Thanks a lot! I guess I'll get the one that Big Mac recommended. But it doesn't have 802.11n capability, so I'll have a look into that (looks like the n capability cannot be found in this price class. All those Linksys WRT54G2 or GL are 802.11g.). But maybe one can overdo it with future proofing one's equipment, especially when you can get a good unit for under 50$).

[Big Mac]

Yeah, n seems to be overrated at this point. If it were that essential it would have filtered down the lines by now. If you plan to pay up for a router, go n, but g is good enough for me. Btw, I do slightly prefer Netgear's administration web page interface over the Linksys style because it's prettier and a bit friendlier as far as the layout is concerned, but only by a very small amount.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Yeah, n seems to be overrated at this point. If it were that essential it would have filtered down the lines by now. If you plan to pay up for a router, go n, but g is good enough for me. Btw, I do slightly prefer Netgear's administration web page interface over the Linksys style because it's prettier and a bit friendlier as far as the layout is concerned, but only by a very small amount.

This is a Netgear 802.11n router that costs the same as the Linksys g router.

http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-WNR200...611&sr=1-8

It has four stars, but the ratings are distorted by the fake "Amazon Vine" reviews (the reviewers getting something in return for reviewing).

[CharlesS]

I had trouble a year or two ago with getting iChat's AV features to work with a Netgear router. An audio or video chat would work for about one second, then drop the connection. A little Googling around revealed that the culprit was a bug in Netgear's UPnP implementation for which I wasn't able to find a suitable workaround. Replacing the router with a Linksys cured the problem.

Of course, it's likely that they may have fixed that particular bug by now, I wouldn't know, but I'd still trust Linksys over Netgear.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

I had trouble a year or two ago with getting iChat's AV features to work with a Netgear router. An audio or video chat would work for about one second, then drop the connection. A little Googling around revealed that the culprit was a bug in Netgear's UPnP implementation for which I wasn't able to find a suitable workaround. Replacing the router with a Linksys cured the problem.

Of course, it's likely that they may have fixed that particular bug by now, I wouldn't know, but I'd still trust Linksys over Netgear.

Thanks for this one. Amazon reviewers mentioned more trouble with Netgear's routers than with Linksys'.

I decided to actually buy the WRT54GL which is more like the original WRT54G (downgrades happened in the G v5 model, which is why the original G isn't recommended any longer.

The WRT54G2 is also very good, but I found, that users are more content with the GL model, which seems to be rock solid (and costs only 12$ more than the G2).

I also decided to not get an n router, as I don't need it in foreseeable future.

[ghporter]

I think the GL is the one with the faster processor and more RAM and flash-ROM...both of which make for a more capable and less troublesome product.

I'm with you on N at the moment. I only have one computer with an N card, and that's my iMac sitting a couple of feet from my wired router. Why bother?

[Veltliner]

Update:

I bought the Linksys WRT-54GL.

Works. I have not seen since the "you're not connected to the internet" message that I always got with the pice of s junk cr))U˙∆∆˙ˆ of a D-link.

No interruptions when viewing streaming video.

Faster data transfer.

I recommend it, and also underline to not buy one of the lesser Linksys.

Only downside: the set-up assistant is Doors/Windows only, so you have to punch in the routers address and change everything using the interface.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Veltliner 

Update:

I bought the Linksys WRT-54GL.

Works. I have not seen since the "you're not connected to the internet" message that I always got with the pice of s junk cr))U˙∆∆˙ˆ of a D-link.

No interruptions when viewing streaming video.

Faster data transfer.

I recommend it, and also underline to not buy one of the lesser Linksys.

Only downside: the set-up assistant is Doors/Windows only, so you have to punch in the routers address and change everything using the interface.

The WRT-54GL is well regarded, due to its processor and relatively larger RAM and PROM compared to other -54s. You should also have problems swamping the router with too much traffic, since it has more computing power to handle multiple connections better.

And here's a secret: NOBODY "needs" the setup wizard stuff. It's for Windows users that should be evaluated for how well they can independently tie their shoes before being allowed to use knives at the table... Really, that wizard stuff is only good for making your router exactly like all the other Linksys routers in your building and letting you interfere like crazy with each other. Manually configuring is simple and almost completely painless.

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

that wizard stuff is only good for making your router exactly like all the other Linksys routers in your building and letting you interfere like crazy with each other.

That reminds me of the movie, where Jack Lemmon changes Walter Matthau's TV channel with his remote - away from the sports game he is eager to watch to some cheesy melodrama.

PS: Absolutely agree regarding your set-up "wizard" comments. I generally dislike all "automatic" things. I like to know how to use my stuff and what settings I use. That comment about the wizard was more for the general reader.

[Big Mac]

Glad to see you're satisfied with the Linksys, Veltliner!

[Veltliner]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Glad to see you're satisfied with the Linksys, Veltliner!

Yes, it's just the pure joy when something just works!