Been on a wired connection all my life. Need help with wireless.

Kendro

Kendro

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I've been on wired Internet my entire life and would like to set up a wireless network because I plan on getting the next iPad. I currently have a desktop, notebook, and Xbox 360 and I simply replaced the Ethernet cord whenever I needed to. I've also been leeching off my neighbor's connection whenever I needed Wi-Fi for my iPhone. :bomb:

Anyways I've been doing some research and can't decide on G or N. My uses will primarily be for a 1 bedroom apartment and support for 2 computers, an iPad, and an Xbox 360.

This router has gotten amazing reviews for years however it is limited to G and I'm not sure if it is worth buying older technology.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190&cm_re=wrt54gl-_-33-124-190-_-Product

I've also been looking at this budget N router but the reviews haven't been as standout.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...85&cm_re=linksys_e1000-_-33-124-385-_-Product

Can anyone recommend a good router for around $50? Should I be okay with G since that router got such great reviews or should I look towards the future with N? I'm not sure if I should get a well equipped G for $50 or a bare bones N for the same price. I live in NY so I don't need coverage for a mansion. I thought about going for G since my Internet connection doesn't go faster than 54Mbps but my friend brought up a good point about having a faster connection for PC to PC file transfers.
 
Hey,

I also live in NYC and I will actually tell you from experience and from helping a great many friends and others with their wireless network...you will be having a lot of d/c issues depending where you live in the city...and just in general. I would not go all wireless but go combo for those devices that are wireless.

Personally, I still wired but I hid all my wires in the wall.

Also, the 86th Best Buy have a NON-ONLINE promotion were you get $20 off when you spend $100. There are flyer dudes handing the coupon out all over the area. You can combine that with any online promotion and/or bank reward program when it comes time for you make your purchase.

I know you said $50 for this device but perhaps you buying other things for the holidays.
 
[quote name='Kendro']I've been on wired Internet my entire life and would like to set up a wireless network because I plan on getting the next iPad. I currently have a desktop, notebook, and Xbox 360 and I simply replaced the Ethernet cord whenever I needed to. I've also been leeching off my neighbor's connection whenever I needed Wi-Fi for my iPhone. :bomb:

Anyways I've been doing some research and can't decide on G or N. My uses will primarily be for a 1 bedroom apartment and support for 2 computers, an iPad, and an Xbox 360.

This router has gotten amazing reviews for years however it is limited to G and I'm not sure if it is worth buying older technology.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190&cm_re=wrt54gl-_-33-124-190-_-Product

I've also been looking at this budget N router but the reviews haven't been as standout.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...85&cm_re=linksys_e1000-_-33-124-385-_-Product

Can anyone recommend a good router for around $50? Should I be okay with G since that router got such great reviews or should I look towards the future with N? I'm not sure if I should get a well equipped G for $50 or a bare bones N for the same price. I live in NY so I don't need coverage for a mansion. I thought about going for G since my Internet connection doesn't go faster than 54Mbps but my friend brought up a good point about having a faster connection for PC to PC file transfers.[/QUOTE]

I just moved my network from G to N and used similar routers that you listed. The WRT54G series are a workhorse and have been around a long time. I used Version 1.3 for almost 4 years maybe and it never had any problems. I switched to a Linksys E3000 for home and office which costs more than the E1000 but is pretty solid. My only gripe is using Cisco Connect which helps to setup the clients on the network. It's a little dicey when you change the password and can't really explain it since I haven't tried to do it again at my office yet, but it works well at home. I think most routers are pretty good now so just stick to the brands like Linksys, Netgear, Dlink, etc... and you should be fine.
 
[quote name='boneless']I just moved my network from G to N and used similar routers that you listed. The WRT54G series are a workhorse and have been around a long time. I used Version 1.3 for almost 4 years maybe and it never had any problems. I switched to a Linksys E3000 for home and office which costs more than the E1000 but is pretty solid. My only gripe is using Cisco Connect which helps to setup the clients on the network. It's a little dicey when you change the password and can't really explain it since I haven't tried to do it again at my office yet, but it works well at home. I think most routers are pretty good now so just stick to the brands like Linksys, Netgear, Dlink, etc... and you should be fine.[/QUOTE]

Is the speed difference noticeable as far as Wi-Fi? Now I'm thinking that I won't be networking multiple computers so the main use for the router would be connecting to the Internet with my 360, laptop, and iPad. Since my cable connection is roughly 20Mbps, is it safe to just go with the WRT54GL since it tops out at 54Mbps and I won't be approaching that kind of speed in the first place?
 
[quote name='Kendro']Is the speed difference noticeable as far as Wi-Fi? Now I'm thinking that I won't be networking multiple computers so the main use for the router would be connecting to the Internet with my 360, laptop, and iPad. Since my cable connection is roughly 20Mbps, is it safe to just go with the WRT54GL since it tops out at 54Mbps and I won't be approaching that kind of speed in the first place?[/QUOTE]

The only time I notice the slower speed on G is when I'm transferring files across the network. Also the range is definitely better with N. You should have no problem connecting those 3 items at the same time which you probably won't anyhow.

To put it in perspective, my setup includes;

wii, PS3, 360, WD livetv media streamer, 4 PC, Ipad, 3-4 iphones on wifi, 4 tivos

Keep in mind that maybe 4 devices will be accessing the internet while all others are just on the network but not using it concurrently. All this is on a 5Mbps.
 
You will only see the speed benefit of N if/when both ends of the connection consist of N devices.

If the majority of the devices on your network are not N then there's little to no point in going with an N spec router as most devices will be using B/G.

Or you could buy the N router and then upgrade the rest of your devices to N at your leisure but it can get expensive quickly if you have several non-N desktops/laptops. (or, more commonly, a bunch of non-upgradeable devices which are locked into B/G spec)

The extra cash for the N router won't be what gets ya...it'll be looking around your place and realizing that none of your shit is N and that they all need $50-100 NIC upgrades. *shakes fist in anger*
 
[quote name='Fell Open Ian']You will only see the speed benefit of N if/when both ends of the connection consist of N devices.

If the majority of the devices on your network are not N then there's little to no point in going with an N spec router as most devices will be using B/G.

Or you could buy the N router and then upgrade the rest of your devices to N at your leisure but it can get expensive quickly if you have several non-N desktops/laptops. (or, more commonly, a bunch of non-upgradeable devices which are locked into B/G spec)

The extra cash for the N router won't be what gets ya...it'll be looking around your place and realizing that none of your shit is N and that they all need $50-100 NIC upgrades. *shakes fist in anger*[/QUOTE]

+1

I forgot to mention that I had only 1 wireless computer upgraded to N and it felt much better for range and transfer speed to the other networked systems. Upgrading everything to N is a pain, but your 360 has n wireless adapters available and your laptop may or may not be. The ipad is G I believe.
 
G will be fine. I wouldn't shell out for N.
One bedroom apartment, I assume the Xbox is in the living room. You don't need N for that range.
For file transfers, N doesn't shave too much off your time unless you're transferring big amounts everyday.
Only shaves aboot 3 minutes off per GB (wired), 5 minutes off per GB (Wireless). Kinda varies depending on what's interfering with the signal and your router specs.

[quote name='Megazell']Hey,

I also live in NYC and I will actually tell you from experience and from helping a great many friends and others with their wireless network...you will be having a lot of d/c issues depending where you live in the city...and just in general. I would not go all wireless but go combo for those devices that are wireless.
[/QUOTE]

I've lived in several places in NYC and have had 6 room-mates sharing the same connection at one point. I don't see why you would get d/c issues unless someone was fiddling with your router settings. (Had it happen once, room-mate didn't know what UPnP did, he kept turning it on and off, each time the router applied or unapplied the setting, the network would be off for a few seconds)

I always keep my desktop wired, not because I'm worried aboot d/cs from WiFi but from d/cs from roomies. Every once in awhile there's a witch hunt on who is clogging the tubes with porn and gambling, no one ever admits to it. People on WiFi are kicked one by one until the culprit is found. My tubes are always used for CAGing and gaming so it's all dandy, I just don't want a random kick in case someone has the wrong device id highlighted.
 
[quote name='Blazncheetah']I've lived in several places in NYC and have had 6 room-mates sharing the same connection at one point. I don't see why you would get d/c issues unless someone was fiddling with your router settings. (Had it happen once, room-mate didn't know what UPnP did, he kept turning it on and off, each time the router applied or unapplied the setting, the network would be off for a few seconds)

I always keep my desktop wired, not because I'm worried aboot d/cs from WiFi but from d/cs from roomies. Every once in awhile there's a witch hunt on who is clogging the tubes with porn and gambling, no one ever admits to it. People on WiFi are kicked one by one until the culprit is found. My tubes are always used for CAGing and gaming so it's all dandy, I just don't want a random kick in case someone has the wrong device id highlighted.[/QUOTE]

There are some areas of Queens that have a high level of magnetic distortion from nearby.

For example I had a few friends that live about 1/2 a block from a Con Edison building that had all kinds of issues. Usually this is not the case but after some research we found some other people from CityData that had the same issue...so they had to go back to wires.

This was awhile back.
 
That models says it has 4x 10/100MB Ethernet Ports. So it does support up to four devices via Ethernet (Aka Wire).


And Gigabit Ethernet is basically just a term for a faster ethernet speed for that port. Not really a need for a home network user.
 
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I have the following devices on my home network:
Tivo S3
Tivo HD (x4)
Xbox 360 (x2)
PS3
Wii
HTPC
Networked laser printer
Networked MFC printer
Sony BluRay player
Laptops (x3)

The PS3, Wii, one of the 360s, the HTPC, the Sony BR player all connected via a wireless bridge, the Tivos and the other 360 were on wireless as, were the laptops. The printers were wired to the router. With this setup I was OK for a while though was starting to run into slow transfers between Tivos and simultaneous devices on the Internet.

The main bottleneck on any home network will usually be the speed of your Internet connection. 802.11N will give you some advantages if you're streaming large files such as HD video across your home network.

I just upgraded my network from 802.11G to 802.11N because I was getting throttled at my router when I switched from 3Mbps DSL to 18Mbps UVerse. I couldn't get faster than about 10Mbps on any device when I had 802.11G. Switching out to 802.11N fixed that issue.

I removed most of my wireless clients and put most of my devices on a combination of PoE (power over Ethernet) and MoCA (media over cable alliance), which are all wired connections. Once that was done, all of my issues disappeared.

Gigabit Ethernet is useful again for large file transfers or HD streaming, though I think it's worth spending the money on for future proofing to spend the money on it. Dual-band wireless-N is the same thing, though it'll cost you a bit more than 2.4GHz 802.11N.

This is one router I'd recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Technology-Nfiniti-Wireless-N-WZR-HP-G300NH/dp/B0028ACYEK/

It isn't dual-band 802.11N, though it does have Gigabit ports, as well as a USB port for adding in a hard drive to share over the network.
 
I say buy once buy right. At this point in the game, and starting from a zero hardware standpoint, there is no reason not to go with N.

I used to have a G network and then I purchased a new laptop with an N wifi card. At the same time I moved to an N router, and the intra-network speeds are definitely noticeably faster with N.
 
Everyone keep an eye on shrike for signs of turning into a data irradiated super mutant.

I forgot to mention that there are a ton of extensions and repeaters and all manner of cheaper odd and ends for extending/strengthening your signal if that becomes an issue. If that's the case though it'd be better to go with N and then see if you need stuff like that.

(I've setup a couple of home networks where the houses were neighbors that wanted to share one wireless network and it can be done on B/G with those kinds of devices and some planning but it's far easier to start with N and work from there...oh and I mean nice acre+ lots btw but that means nothing considering the level of interference you could face in a signal-dense city)
 
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