Wireless Router

[jschick88]

I am looking to buy a wireless router for my home. I currently have my pc and just bought a ps3. The pc I have is downstairs and the ps3 is upstairs. I don't really know to much about routers and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction on what type of router I should be buying that is good quality.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

[STAMPEDRED]

i just bought a new mac. I tried using Linksys but it was pretty tough to configure it to work with my Mac. So I returned it and went and bought the Airport wireless router. This should also work for the PC. It is great because you can hook up printers to the router and take the laptop anywhere in the house and print wireless! It also has excellent range. I have not once lost or become disconnected to the signal. I highly recommend it.

edit: About the Linksys, I had to turn my laptop on and off all the time to get it to find the signal and I would also lose the signal on a regular basis. Not good when playing online games that need to constantly stream

[Rathji]

If you game on both your PC and PS3, then my personal experience says to try and use a wired connection for both.

I assume that you probably thought of that and have decided it isn't a good option, but if you have cat 5(5e, 6) cable ran in your walls ( most homes 6-8? years old or less, and a few older have it) then you can easily put a TVTel box in and run wired through a router at your current access point.

If you dont have cat5 cables ran, you can run them pretty easy if you have an accessible attic and an interior wall (w/o insulation) near one or both of the points you are trying to wire. I won't go into detail as to how unless you want me to, but the hardest part is probably connecting to your box on each end.

Edit: If you want wireless for another reason ie Laptop, PDA, etc. Then you can still do this for your gaming connections. As Stampedred said, you dont want to be relying on flakey wireless if you are doing much gaming. That said, a well configured router can provide excellent wireless signal in the proper home ( not alot of magnetic interference from wiring etc)

[jschick88]

If you game on both your PC and PS3, then my personal experience says to try and use a wired connection for both.

I assume that you probably thought of that and have decided it isn't a good option, but if you have cat 5(5e, 6) cable ran in your walls ( most homes 6-8? years old or less, and a few older have it) then you can easily put a TVTel box in and run wired through a router at your current access point.

If you dont have cat5 cables ran, you can run them pretty easy if you have an accessible attic and an interior wall (w/o insulation) near one or both of the points you are trying to wire. I won't go into detail as to how unless you want me to, but the hardest part is probably connecting to your box on each end.

Edit: If you want wireless for another reason ie Laptop, PDA, etc. Then you can still do this for your gaming connections. As Stampedred said, you dont want to be relying on flakey wireless if you are doing much gaming. That said, a well configured router can provide excellent wireless signal in the proper home ( not alot of magnetic interference from wiring etc)

Actually what I am going to go with is wired connection. I was thinking about going wireless but I have been doing some reading and for the best gaming experience, they say go with a wired connection. I don't think I have cat4 cables running through my house, not a new house by any means. So my next question, what is the best router for a wired connection hook-up?

[llama64]

Actually what I am going to go with is wired connection. I was thinking about going wireless but I have been doing some reading and for the best gaming experience, they say go with a wired connection. I don't think I have cat4 cables running through my house, not a new house by any means. So my next question, what is the best router for a wired connection hook-up?

To be elitist: a PC running a specialized version of Linux.

To be helpful: DLink or Linksys routers work pretty good.

At my home I encountered the same problem as you did. I've setup my network so that my internet (cable) is routed through a DLink DIR 625 Draft N router. The XBox360 is plugged directly into the router using a LAN cable. However, all of our computers (2 laptops and a desktop) are no where near the TV, so they connected using the wireless antenna. I game on both the Xbox360 and my desktop (bout 50 feet away at 75% signal strength) and I haven't ever had any problems.

At draft N speeds I can stream hi-def movies from the desktop to the xbox360 without any lag or problems. This all said, I don't play many "twitch" games like Unreal Tournament or Call of Duty on my PC. Those types of games would require a wired connection to be optimal.

Get a router with a wireless antenna on it either way. They don't cost much more then normal routers and their utility is far greater.

[jschick88]

Thanks all for your help!!!! Greatly appreciated

[GoinAllTheWay]

I have had good luck with D-Link routers. I have the DI-524. Bought it YEARS ago and it's still going strong. It has a really good graphical interface and quite easy to work with once you get your head wrapped around it. Don't imagine they have done anything but improving them so any wireless d-link you buy today should do the job very nicely. Pretty sure all wireless routers still have at least 4 hard connections on them. I run 3 PC's (2 desktop and one laptop) a networked printer and my 360 (wired) all go through it no problem and all running at the same time. Tight little device for sure.

And as others have stated, if you have gaming platforms be it pc or PS, it is best if you can connect via cable.

[STAMPEDRED]

With the Mac airport router, it has 3 hard wire connections in it too. i have honestly run at 100% signal strength the whole time i have had it even on various floors. It cost $200 but well worth it. With this you still have an option to be wired or wireless and if you do have laptop you will really appreciate having the option!

[Dan02]

Had a DIR-615 previously and really liked it.

Then i went and bought the linksys WRT150N and it was a steaming pile of junk, infact i've had nothing but problems with the last 2 linksys routers i bought. Random connection drops both wired and wireless, router becoming inaccessible amoung other problems, seemed the wired ports would stop working after a period of time and you'd have to move your wired connection to a different port on the back of the router.

Anyways went and got another DIR-615 during the days of dell, had it 3 days now and not a single problem, even managed to come with the completely up to date drivers unlike the Linksys, further more setup and changing the router settings is 100 times easier with the Dlink then the Linksys. For some stupid reason I keep forgetting to learn from my mistakes and end up buying a Linksys to try when i need a new router. *thumps head on desk*

so to sum things up

Dlink DIR-615 >>>>>>>>> Linksys WRT150N:cool: