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Wireless Router

groovit

groovit

Oct 12, 2004
135
0
New Hampsha
#1
I need to get a wireless router for my home network. Here's my current setup. I have a DSL gateway, plus a workgroup switch, on the third floor of my house. I have an office there, with computer, shared printer, and a laptop. I have a hardwired Cat5 cable running down to my first floor, where I have another computer on the network. What I'm looking for is a wireless router that I can set up either in the office or downstairs that will give me reliable coverage throughout my house.

I have been using a Netgear wireless router that sucks completely. Incidentally, when I use the Netgear router, I can't access my workgroup. I can still get on the Internet, but I can't see the hardwired office computer when my downstairs computer is connected wirelessly.

My switch has a wireless access point, so I should be able to set it up. I have a G adapter on my downstairs comp, and a G card on the notebook. OS's are XP Home, Pro, 2kPro. I am also going to be adding another computer on the 2nd floor, which is one of the main reasons that I want a good wireless router. That one triple boots to Fedora Core Linux, XP Pro, and 2000 Pro. And, as if that wasn't enough, I may add a Mac to the mix as well...

So, what's a good router?
 
#2
Netgear is very good.
I think your problem is going from third floor to first floor, there's probably too much interference. I get half bars in my house and the wireless router and computer are as far apart as possible.

I can help you out. Email me or PM me so I can get more details and layout of your house and I have the o'reilly book on wireless networking.

BTW, right now belkin routers are $10 after rebates at Best Buy. Maybe get another router and bridge the two to give more coverage....
 
#3
I've been using Linksys routers, wired and wireless, for years at work. Never had a single problem.

I've got a D-Link wireless router at home. Bought it because it had a good rebate. Total mistake. It does work, but for some reason it has to be power cycled every 4 or 5 hours. It just stops working. Unplug it for a few seconds, plug it back in, and it works. Irritating. I'm going to replace it with a Linksys; I just haven't gotten frustrated enough to smash it yet. But it'll happen.
 
#5
Which Netgear router?

I was using a Netgear MR314 for a few years with no problems. One computer upstairs, and my Son's laptop wherever he wanted to go......upstairs, downstairs with no problems getting reception.

We recently switched to a Netgear MR814 v2 because my Son wanted to be able to hook up his Xbox to the internet and still have his laptop online at the same time.
 
#7
I've got a WGR614v4 that is located downstairs. Sometimes I can't even connect from 10 feet away, and other times I can connect up on the third floor. There are no heating ducts between the router and the third floor, it's forced hot water heating...Electrical, I'm not sure about....

Should I get one router and put it in the third floor for that floor then get another on for the 1st floor? Or a range extender? I don't really want to pay the same price for a range extender as an actual router, but if that's what it takes....
 
#8
Like I said, the belkin router is only $10 at Best Buy after rebates right now. If you live in the US.

If you get another Access Point you can bridge access points together to act as one network. There should be a bridging option/menu in your router's setup pages.

If you can get a router more centrally located within the house that would help.

>>Sometimes I can't even connect from 10 feet away, and other times I can connect up on the third floor.

This could be your wireless NIC card too.
 
#9
Funny you should mention that. On the laptop, there's an onboard G adapter, which, when I use it to connect to the network, will connect me to the internet, but will not allow me to see the other workgroup computers. I also have a Linksys G expansion card for the laptop, which, when I use it for the network, lets me see the other workgroup computers, but will not let me connect to the internet. I checked IP, DHCP, subnet mask, and default gateway values, and they are all the same.
 
#10
I wonder what chipset they are using. Should look it up. Hopefully an Orinoco set.

Can you ping the each other computer/router using either card? If so it's microsoft networking setup. Probably missed a checkbox or something with one of the cards.
Try pinging both ways making sure everything can see everything else. If so then they should see each other's files.

When you say "but will not allow me to see the other workgroup computers" you mean in network neighbohood? Can you put in your explorer bar \\computer name and/or \\IPADDRESS and browse the computer's shares.
 
#11
I set up a network for a friend and his family. I used the same stuff I have at my house, which works trouble free, and he had constant issues. After tormenting myself for two weeks it dawned on me that cordless phone and wireless routers generally use the same frequency (2.4 Ghz). Turns out his teenage daughter has a Ph.D in cordless phone usage. So basic equation looks like this.
Cordless Phone + Distance = Major Problems.
Look into getting a signal booster or use the CAT5 line you hardwired downstairs add an access point to that.
Also, you should be more interested in signal strength that speed. DSL is can really only get, on a good day, 1.5Mbps. So, 802.11b is 11 Mpbs and 802.11g is 54 Mbps.
Good luck. Aren't computers great.
 
#13
lwleaver said:
I set up a network for a friend and his family. I used the same stuff I have at my house, which works trouble free, and he had constant issues. After tormenting myself for two weeks it dawned on me that cordless phone and wireless routers generally use the same frequency (2.4 Ghz). Turns out his teenage daughter has a Ph.D in cordless phone usage. So basic equation looks like this.
Cordless Phone + Distance = Major Problems.
Click to expand...

Yep, that can happen. Also, a lot of elecricity meters have wireless transmitters built in to them these days so that the meter reader doesn't have to go through neighborhoods hopping fences to check all the meters. We've got one desk at work where the electricity meters are right on the other side of the wall, and you can't get a wireless connection there at all. It's not the current causing it, because you can get a signal just fine standing right next to the breaker boxes just a few feet away. I guess the transmitters in the meters emit a constant signal.
 

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