[Dave52]

I was thinking of purchasing a wireless router. The only problem is that I haven't purchased a wireless router before and I'm not sure which one I should choose.

I live in a two-storey house and I need to connect a wireless printer to the router which complicates things even more.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which one would best serve my use?

[ibook_steve]

Any router with a USB port would suffice. The Airport Extreme is nice and easy to configure, but it can't be configured through a web browser, which is annoying. Netgear, Linksys, Belkin, they're all decent.

Steve

[Simon]

AirPort Extreme.
It makes printer sharing easy. It has range. It's fast. And it's a piece of cake to set up.

The AP Express is cheaper. But its range isn't quite as good and it offers no extra LAN ports. Refurbs start at $85.

[mduell]

Since your printer is wireless any router will do; you don't need one with a USB port.

If you just need 802.11g, you can't beat the Linksys WRT54G.
If you want 802.11n, the Linksys WRT310N is about $100 new.
If you need high performance 802.11n along with 802.11b/g for legacy clients, the Linksys WRT610N has two radios.
They all have multiple ports for your local area network.

I'm not a fan of Apple's Airport line. The "oh so easy" configuration tool is maddening, the units tend to forget their configuration, and their range is generally poor.

[Simon]

The AirPort Express' range is limited due to its design. The Extreme's range is excellent.

AP Utility has it's quirks no doubt, but its Mac-like GUI is much nicer to use than crappy browser-based config tools that look like they were hacked together by a 12 year old in some chinese labor camp.

[Cold Warrior]

I just upgraded my home network this evening with the latest Airport Extreme — the one that does n and b/g simultaneously and offers a guest network option. I set up all three and it's working great.

[turtle777]

Time to bump this thread. I'm in the market for a new router.

Min. requirements:

• 802.11n
• a couple of ethernet ports

Nice to have:

• SPI
• VPN (but for a smal fee)

What I absolutely need is reliability. I hate how my old routers (among others, Linksys BEFW11S4, Linksys RT31P2) needed power cycling all the time.

I'm very tempted to give Apple's Airport Extreme a shot. The only drawback for me is the lack of SPI, which would be nice to have.

Comments ? Suggestions ?

-t

[Simon]

IMHO when it comes to stability Apple's AP Extreme is top notch. I never reboot my AP Extreme. I never have to screw around with my AP Extreme settings. I never see unexpected drop-outs with my AP Extreme. It just works.

[turtle777]

Great, to me, that's worth more than SPI.

-t

[Simon]

That's why I went with Apple's AP Extreme. To me a router is something I want to set up once and then throw in a corner and forget. It's just one of those devices I don't want to have to screw around with. It has to work just like that. And stay that way. And Apple clearly delivers that.

As long as it stays that way I'll gladly pay a couple of $ extra.

[turtle777]

Took the plunge, gots me an Airport Extreme.

Happy so far. Noticed, however, that Comcast service is unreliable. I had several drop outs lasting from 3 - 60 seconds. Previously, I had issues, but they were partially related to my old routers. Now I know it's Crapcast.

-t

[ghporter]

Not to cast aspersions on the folks who have posted in this thread, but I think a lot of (other) people's "intermittent and unreliable" router issues come not as much from the hardware itself as how and where they set the hardware up. A LOT of people seem to stash their router INSIDE some cubby or cranny in a desk or bookcase, and not give the slightest thought to how the device will be able to provide radio coverage, nor how it will handle being tucked away without the possibility of airflow for cooling. The Extreme, on the other hand, seems to be something that people like to set out, sort of "on display," so it doesn't have the "blocked signal" or overheating challenges other hardware does. It's clearly an outstanding device, don't get me wrong, but I think too many people think that most other brands are "crap because they drop out and fail" when in fact the users CAUSE this situation themselves.

Turtle, I've heard stories of Comcast being "less than reliable" from a number of people in diverse locations. Where are you and your "unreliable" cable system?

[mduell]

With Comcast are you having the send/receive/data lights on the modem go out, or just not being able to reach the internet?

I never had either issue with Comcast, but now I'm stuck with the worst thing ever, AKA Phonoscope. Weekly modem resets required.

We have a pair of APExtremes at work, and they're always doing the flashing amber light thing but they mostly kind of work (hard to tell, since the wireless speed is glacial even when signal strength appears strong).

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Turtle, I've heard stories of Comcast being "less than reliable" from a number of people in diverse locations. Where are you and your "unreliable" cable system?

Originally Posted by mduell 

With Comcast are you having the send/receive/data lights on the modem go out, or just not being able to reach the internet?

I never had either issue with Comcast, but now I'm stuck with the worst thing ever, AKA Phonoscope. Weekly modem resets required.

We have a pair of APExtremes at work, and they're always doing the flashing amber light thing but they mostly kind of work (hard to tell, since the wireless speed is glacial even when signal strength appears strong).

I haven't been able to see the modem lights, since the modem is underneath the desk not in plain visible sight.

However, when the signal gets lost, it sometimes even effects the able channels, which will blank out for a moment. The outages only last a few seconds, max a minute.

I'm gonna monitor the cable modem lights and see if they change when the connection gets lost.

-t