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Do I need a wireless router?

ripper said:
How would I test this to know what my network connection is?
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A. Find out what type of bandwidth your internet provider is allowing you through customer service.
B. Simply use an online speed test to get the current throughput speeds.

You can pay for faster internet speeds through your I.S.P.
I'm guessing around your house, unless you're using TripleBogieTim's wireless B stuff, you are just fine. LOL!

If you're not seeing a huge lag in gaming, laptops aren't going to see a huge gain unless you're transferring big files back and forth from CPU to CPU. Just browsing the internet doesn't take a lot of bandwith unless you view tons of videos or stream movies.

Wireless G is usually listed as up to 300Mbs. If the ISP only offers less than you'll only get what the max ISP allows.
 
OEM Kevin said:
You still want to get wireless N routers. All newer wireless devices are N now. Regardless of your internet speed you want your wireless to be as fast as it can be.
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Are you OEM'ing this thing now? Kev is correct, if you DO end up putting new equipment in, then certainly do not buy less than Wireless N. Agreed that you want the fastest you can get, but go about it the right way or you'll just be spending money and not getting the speed you seek.
 
ripper said:
How would I test this to know what my network connection is?
Click to expand...

Find the make and model of your current router and google it to see what it is if it doesn't list it on the back or bottom of the unit - probably G or N depending on how old it is. I probably wouldn't bother with anything other than wireless N, things change and if you upgrade your connection in the future or change ISPs or whatever a wireless G router is going to be less useful at that time. The difference in cost is not that great between the two.
 
If the wireless doesn't reach out to all corners of your place, you could setup a WiFi repeater. I setup an ASUS router that had repeater mode for my parents and they love it.
 
d_in_la said:
If the wireless doesn't reach out to all corners of your place, you could setup a WiFi repeater. I setup an ASUS router that had repeater mode for my parents and they love it.
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Linksys/Cisco makes routers that work as Access Points which allow you to extend the range of your wireless network. I've set some up here at work so we can use Wi-Fi iPads and Laptops all over our property.
 
d_in_la said:
If the wireless doesn't reach out to all corners of your place, you could setup a WiFi repeater. I setup an ASUS router that had repeater mode for my parents and they love it.
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2Shoes said:
Linksys/Cisco makes routers that work as Access Points which allow you to extend the range of your wireless network. I've set some up here at work so we can use Wi-Fi iPads and Laptops all over our property.
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This would have been good knowledge about 2 weeks ago...Oh well
 
d_in_la said:
If the wireless doesn't reach out to all corners of your place, you could setup a WiFi repeater. I setup an ASUS router that had repeater mode for my parents and they love it.
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I'd think you'd have to have a huge house or have a lot of concrete walls for it to be an issue. I have a great signal everywhere in my house, both floors. We don't have a huge house, but it's over 1500 square feet plus the garage. I have never tried my laptop in the garage. And our router is at the far end of the basement. Ideally it should be in the center of your house.
 
Smallville said:
I'd think you'd have to have a huge house or have a lot of concrete walls for it to be an issue. I have a great signal everywhere in my house, both floors. We don't have a huge house, but it's over 1500 square feet plus the garage. I have never tried my laptop in the garage. And our router is at the far end of the basement. Ideally it should be in the center of your house.
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You're right, not only does my router work all over + garage + out back, I can see 5 other routers in our neighborhood. Back in the day this was cool because if my internet (DSL) had a problem, I could hook up to my buddy's next door (cable modem) and keep on truckin' til mine came back. Haven't had that issue in years, + everybody has WPA or WEP set now.
 
2Shoes said:
You're right, not only does my router work all over + garage + out back, I can see 5 other routers in our neighborhood. Back in the day this was cool because if my internet (DSL) had a problem, I could hook up to my buddy's next door (cable modem) and keep on truckin' til mine came back. Haven't had that issue in years, + everybody has WPA or WEP set now.
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Can anyone see yours? Mine's invisible (not broadcast). I also set up MAC Address filtering.

Right now I see nine others, not including mine. And I am glad to say they all have encryption, so everyone has probably changed their default password.
 
Smallville said:
Can anyone see yours? Mine's invisible (not broadcast). I also set up MAC Address filtering.

Right now I see nine others, not including mine. And I am glad to say they all have encryption, so everyone has probably changed their default password.
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You would hope so. I bet $5 that they didn't change the default password for the router administration access.

Yes, you can see mine. I've got too many things going on (electronically) in my house. I've got a 17 & 16 year old sons who seem to drag buddies with macbooks, laptops, xbox, iPads, and so on in the house all the time. My daughter and her friends all have iPods and want to use the WiFi when at the house. I wouldn't want to have to go through all that every time somebody wanted to jump on my WiFi for the night. I do have it WPA and I'm the only one with the password, so everybody's got to come to me to get connected.
 
looks like you got the answers you need. As some have said about the speed with N and G what exactly is all that stuff? I just have a simple cheap Linksys wireless G router. I figure its basic since its cheap but i'd be interested in making my connection even faster what router should i look at getting?
 
UNCFan6 said:
looks like you got the answers you need. As some have said about the speed with N and G what exactly is all that stuff? I just have a simple cheap Linksys wireless G router. I figure its basic since its cheap but i'd be interested in making my connection even faster what router should i look at getting?
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Wireless G: More distance from router, faster than Wireless A and B, used different frequency than A & B.

Wireless N: Faster than Wireless G (@ up to 300 mbs), 4 antenna vs. 1, almost twice the distance of Wireless G (which was about twice the distance from Wireless A), and is also on the 5 GHz bandwidth rather than 2.4 GHz like Wireless A, B, & G; which also is used by almost everything wireless in your home and much less interference.

In short:
Wireless A & B = 4 cylinder
Wireless G = 6 cylinder
Wireless N = V8
 
2Shoes said:
Short version:
Wireless G: More distance from router, faster than Wireless A and B (@ 54 Mbs), used different frequency than A & B (about 11 Mbs).

Wireless N: Faster than Wireless G (@ up to 300 mbs), 4 antenna vs. 1, almost twice the distance of Wireless G, and is also on the 5 GHz bandwidth rather than 2.4 GHz like Wireless A, B, & G; which also is used by almost everything wireless in your home and much less interference.
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So if I get an N how much faster are we talking? We have Comcast high speed internet idk what the allowance is but ill do a speed test and post it in a minute.
 


Some of the worst results I've had ever doing this. Usually around 20mb download. either it got slower or computer is all slow.
 
UNCFan6 said:


Some of the worst results I've had ever doing this. Usually around 20mb download. either it got slower or computer is all slow.
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I'm guessing you're on a Cable Modem? If so, it will certainly vary depending on network traffic and you've tested at the beginning of Prime Time on the internet for your time zone. You can try again in a while and see a significant difference probably.
 
2Shoes said:
I'm guessing you're on a Cable Modem? If so, it will certainly vary depending on network traffic and you've tested at the beginning of Prime Time on the internet for your time zone. You can try again in a while and see a significant difference probably.
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Yea. Comcast Cable. Cable modem hooked up to Router. 360 hooked up to router with ethernet cable then desktop computer my grandparents have upstairs is wifi, my laptop is wifi, ps3 is wifi, and Droid is wifi.
 
UNCFan6 said:
Yea. Comcast Cable. Cable modem hooked up to Router. 360 hooked up to router with ethernet cable then desktop computer my grandparents have upstairs is wifi, my laptop is wifi, ps3 is wifi, and Droid is wifi.
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You need to understand that as a University of Kentucky Basketball fan, I should not even be speaking to a UNCFan6 person by rule; but since you don't have the word Duke in your name...you'd have to actually isolate the computer doing the test and have everything else offline while the test was underway to get a true accurate reading.
 
Smallville said:
I'd think you'd have to have a huge house or have a lot of concrete walls for it to be an issue. I have a great signal everywhere in my house, both floors. We don't have a huge house, but it's over 1500 square feet plus the garage. I have never tried my laptop in the garage. And our router is at the far end of the basement. Ideally it should be in the center of your house.
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Smalls, I couldn't agree with your more. When I walked in and saw where they installed the router (back corner) I knew the signal wasn't going to get to the bedroom in the front of the house. Think straight line diagonal, lots of old walls. And sure enough, with a meter, the signal dies as soon as that room is entered. All-in-all, that ASUS router/repeater was a pretty slick solution, though.
 
2Shoes said:
Nevermind...just saw OEM's speeds posted there....he should NEVER complain!!! LOL!
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LOL I figured out why it was so fast. That test was from Comcast's network at work to Comcast server at work. Speedtest.net uses a Comcast server so thats why the speed was crazy fast. When it was tested to a server off the Comcast network it was much slower.
 
OEM Kevin said:
LOL I figured out why it was so fast. That test was from Comcast's network at work to Comcast server at work. Speedtest.net uses a Comcast server so thats why the speed was crazy fast. When it was tested to a server off the Comcast network it was much slower.
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Thank you man...you just saved someone's life at AT&T tomorrow when I made them explain why I pay so much for business service, but can't get great speed.
 
Not to threadjack, but I have something like Ripper - a Wireless Gateway from my ISP.
We used a D-Link Router, and a Wireless G router for years, but we upgraded our internet to the new DSL and the router was acting like a restrictor plate so we put on this gateway.
It works, but I've already had to turn my airport on/off about 5 times to re-connect with the network.

Would hooking the old router into this gateway help? Or would it be better to buy a new (non-wireless) modem and router combo to properly boost the network?
 
RatFink said:
Not to threadjack, but I have something like Ripper - a Wireless Gateway from my ISP.
We used a D-Link Router, and a Wireless G router for years, but we upgraded our internet to the new DSL and the router was acting like a restrictor plate so we put on this gateway.
It works, but I've already had to turn my airport on/off about 5 times to re-connect with the network.

Would hooking the old router into this gateway help? Or would it be better to buy a new (non-wireless) modem and router combo to properly boost the network?
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Not sure I understand exactly what you're saying. A "gateway" is a function of the modem more that an object itself. I'd need to know more about the restrictions, how you know you're getting less throughput. There's lots of variables here which could be the cause of slower network traffic.

As far as the airport having to reconnect, tell me a little more about the "gateway" you installed, like brand, etc. A few years ago, I had a Linksys router begin to go out and it seemed I had to reboot the router because my devices had lost connectivity from time to time. (not saying that's correct in your case)
 
My ISP calls this thing a 'wireless gateway' it's just a modem/router all in one shell.
I unplugged it, and plugged it back in and it is working again... but I hope that this doesn't become a regular occurrence.

It is an Actiontec V1000H... I have never heard of the company before. I'd imagine it was just the lowest bidder.


2Shoes said:
Not sure I understand exactly what you're saying. A "gateway" is a function of the modem more that an object itself. I'd need to know more about the restrictions, how you know you're getting less throughput. There's lots of variables here which could be the cause of slower network traffic.

As far as the airport having to reconnect, tell me a little more about the "gateway" you installed, like brand, etc. A few years ago, I had a Linksys router begin to go out and it seemed I had to reboot the router because my devices had lost connectivity from time to time. (not saying that's correct in your case)
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