What kind of router do I need ?

Question

I dont know what kind I need I have no clue what a wireless or 4 port means when its attached to a router, I just need to be able to hook up 3 things to my internet. My comp. xbox. and Tivo. They are all within 20 ft of each other. Could someone reccommend a good or fair model with a fair price ? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Yeah, I use a D-Link router I got for about $40. My use is mainly for 3 computers, also, the router is wireless along with four ports for things to plug into. So far, I never had a problem with it yet. It is probably the lowest price router I've seen. You will have to buy Ethernet cables separately if some of those things are not wireless just like every other router.

Here's links to find one:

http://www.target.com/D-Link-Wireless-Ro...

http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-WBR-2310-Ra...

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid...

Answer 2

You will be VERY happy with a Linksys!  

www.linksys.com

They are made by Cisco.

Try to get something that supports 802.11 a/b/g and possibly n

That way it will last you.

The ports are for things like a network printer or a desktop that you want to connect via cable.

I have been VERY happy with the WRT54G model.  However, if you cannot find that one, the latest for home would be the WRT150N

Answer 3

you could get a wireless router cheapest being wireless it will reach al thetings you need to connect but you might need to buy wireless adapters for your 360 and tivo (if it has one) or you could buy a wired router but you will have buy expensive CAT6 cable that are 25ft. long but a wired router may be cheaper

Answer 4

Any wireless router should work fine.  Almost all wireless routers have 4 "wired" ports in addition to the wireless capabilities. If you want to hook all your items up with cable instead of wireless, I would still recommend getting a wireless router and turning off the wireless, the cost for a wireless is only a few dollars more than a non-wireless router, and it leaves your options open for future use.

Linksys makes reasonably priced, generally reliable routers.  My personal preference is buffalo, but they are not able to sell in North America at the moment due to some frivolous IP law suit... you can find them on ebay, but they cost twice as much as they should.

You should be able to pick up a Linksys WRT54G for around $40-50  If you can find a WRT54GL, spend the extra $5-10 and get it, it keeps your options open if you want to install an open-source firmware such as dd-wrt (http://www.dd-wrt.com) for increased functionality and performance.  (You can install the micro version, on most WRT54G models, but the GL can handle the standard and OpenVPN versions also, and guarantee's compatibility.)

There are some dd-wrt compatible routers from d-link and other manufacturers, but the ones that are compatible are usually in the $100+ range, and the default firmware/hardware on these companies $40-$75 routers can suck really bad.  The netgear equipment I've used has been really flaky, often requiring rebooting every few days or weeks.  My $35 buffalo with dd-wrt was up and running without a reboot for over 14 months before I moved it to my office, and replaced it at home with a WRT54G-TM (also flashed with dd-wrt "mega" build)  Both have now been up for 3 months, no problem.  I have a client using a pair of buffalo routers with dd-wrt that provide VPN between two of their offices that were up for nearly a year before I rebooted them, only to upgrade to the final V24 version of the dd-wrt firmware a couple months ago.  This same client was having to reboot some mid-priced netgear routers at least once a week due to lock-ups.  I haven't had any recent experience with d-link, so I won't comment on their reliability, but you should expect a well designed wireless router to be able to "just run" for months and months on end, never needed to be rebooted or power cycled to "fix" a problem.