What wi-fi G Router do you recommend the most, and why?

Answer 1

The Linksys WRT54G wireless router. Linksys is owned by Cisco, the market leader. Linksys typically wins most of the time in terms of reliability, ease of use, support, and features. Pick up a PC Magazine or similar mag that has test results and/or a comparison. Linksys is usually the editor's choice. I have used Linksys, NetGear and Dlink and I prefer Linksys myself.

Regardless of brand, you must make sure it is "WiFi Certified" and supports the latest encryption standard (WPA2, 802.11i) and beyond that it's mostly marketing hype. Don't believe everything you read online, some folks will say brand "X" is excellent and some will say it stinks. When in doubt, pick up a magazine and read the reviews.

Also, don't get sucked into the new 802.11n access points just yet. These cost more and supposedly give much better range and much higher throughput, but real world tests on Pre-N gear have been disappointing, and when the standard is finalized sometime next year, it may become useless, because the standard is a moving target right now.