Which brand & model of wireless router would be the best for my home network?

Question

I have 3 desktops ( 2 LAN - 1 WLAN ) & 1 laptop ( 802.11g ) built-in. 2 story house ( basement & main floor )

Answer 1

Get a Linksys Wireless G Router, and place a Range expander from Linksys at a strategic point.
If you have certain classes of insulation in the house, you might have a weak signal from the Wireless, and the Range Expander will help on getting full strength away from the router. Remember, also, that the router transmite on approx 2.4 Ghz... so if you have a land line phone, and a base unit for it, make sure you have a 5.8 Ghz phone, or the signal will conflict with the router.
Get the latest Model G routers. You should eventually get the N class, but not just yet since they are not stable.

Answer 2

Linksys and D-Link generally get the best recommendations from PC Magazine. For a two-story house, you may need some extended range, especially if the router is on one side and your bedroom or kitchen is on the other on another floor. In that case, go with an 802.11G variety instead of 802.11B. You could also use some of the new pre-N routers, but the grades on range are not so good, with many not having any better range than the 802.11Gs. Bandwidth may be better, but G should be plenty of bandwidth for most home computing needs. 802.11B is generally cheaper now, but only use that if you are sure that your router will be within 100 feet or so of every computer that needs to use it - otherwise, your download speed will trail off as you get to the fringes and more packets get dropped in the ether.

Answer 3

Scot - Until a month ago I would've told you Linksys (which is a division of Cisco, a huge internet hardware company). I use them myself and have installed them for numerous friends.

Well the WAN port on my Linksys recently went bad, and in its place I bought a - don't laugh - U.S. Robotics wireless router. It has greater range for my 2-story house, was set up in literally 7 minutes, and includes a wireless printer server. I can now print from any laptop or desktop in my house without any special wiring or high-end tech knowledge. Ever the WAP password authentication - which keeps your next-door neighbors from logging on to your wireless network, surfing the web on your connection, and destroying all your files and can be a real pain in the keister in WinXP - was a snap.

Best thing - it was at Fry's for just 49 bucks.

Answer 4

I have had very good experiences with the Linksys routers, any model will work fine.