Which wireless router should I get for a small apartment with a laptop and desktop?

Question

Like what size or model and do I have to have it installed?

Answer 1

All of the major brands of routers are basicly the same. Get whichever one is "on sale" this week. The main difference is in how many ports the router has for attaching computers. If you only have two computers, then the standard 4 port is all you need. If your laptop has a wireless card, be sure to get a wireless router. (Cost about $10 more).

Installing a router is simple enough that most people can do it themselves. You unpluf the network cable from the back of your PC, and plug it into the router. You then run a second cable from the router to the desktop. Run the CD that comes with the router and you are done.

To attach the laptop, you then go to the control panel and run the Wireless Setup Wizard. (Or if you are not using wireless, simply run another cable from the laptop to the router.)

Answer 2

Find out which communication standards your laptops use. Usually B/G. If both use this buy a router that supports b/g. If even one of them uses A/G buy a router for this. The "A" part is a very fast and stable standard with transfer rates up to 108bps. The big plus is over the airwaves you will not be competing with cordless telephones which are within the B range and can cause competition problems. Mine is defaulted to use "A" and my wife can stream Media Centre recorded television to her PC without any trouble. No matter what you do...MAKE SURE you turn on WEP or WPA protection. What this means is in the router you setup a secret code. Only laptops with this code entered can access your router. (You only do it once). If you don't you are at a minimum allowing others to steal your signal, and at worst opening up your PC to hackers, if the wrong options for networking are available. My DLINK A/G has not failed in 4 months of use so far.

Answer 3

Any router will be just fine, save some money and just buy the least expensive. Very important to wire it to your laptop with a cat5 wire for setup and enable the encryption (Wireless password) on the wireless so other apartments can't use your wireless, unless you give them the password.

Answer 4

Any one will work, although I avoid Netgear products because of poor technical support. Right now, I'm using a Linksys WRT54G.

Setup is extremely simple. Just plug it in and configure a few options. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so.

Answer 5

use this with your modem and desktop:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8211071&type=product&id=1166234894847 (wireless router)

use either of these for your laptop:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8046287&type=product&id=1158104003729 (Wireless USB Adapter)
OR
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7806813&type=product&id=1142293514093 (Wireless Laptop PC Card)

if you have a modern printer that has or capable of Wi-Fi, you could get this:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8212819&type=product&id=1166236105907 (Wireless Print Server)

if you need more range for your network, use this:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6683314&type=product&id=1083711426745 (range expander)

you can use this:
http://www.bestbuy.com/olspage.jsp?guideID=1043363121208&categoryRep=abcat0500000&type=page&id=cat12077 (to help you configure your network)
or this
http://bestbuy-cnet.com.com/4352-13747_7-6589383.html (helps you configure and secure your network)