Wireless Router recomendation Please.

[pwiles1968]

I am still using my Netgear Wireless ADSL Router That I got when I changed providers years back, it is a Netgear (huawei) ecolife HG-520, it is only Wireless G and I struggle getting good wireless round the house, specifically I get occasional dropouts on my airport express, I have mouved the router as close as I can to the express, I dont want to run CAT5 to the express as It would be really messy.

Can I improve Wireless performance without shelling out loads of cash? any recommendations for units ideally under £50. I don't get many drop-outs any more so I cant justify spending too much for net-book surfing and Music in the Dining Room.

 

[pwiles1968]

Umm been looking round and Quite like the idea of Dual Band Routers can keep the Express on a completely separate N channel to everything else, have also seen a couple of routers with USB ports in so you can sit a drive on there that you can acess from several devices that might be usefull - http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/belkin-play-f7d4402uk-wireless-adsl-router-06042905-pdt.html.

Anything else out there that would give me these features preferably closer to my £50 budget though I realise I am pushing that one a bit.

 

[professorhat]

Way over your budget I'm afraid, but I recently got this Billion router and have found the wireless network performance to be excellent.

 

[Anonymous]

Consider the following

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/wirelesstips.aspx

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=8583

 

[Anonymous]

I'd keep your current router as the modem - and hook it up to something like a

Linksys WRT320N (£62 at amazon) which will give u gigabit ports and the wireless performance of a £150+ all-in-1 wireless n+gigabit+adsl2 router for a fraction of the price.

 

[jcshutts]

just looking at a a couple of comments from other buyers of this product they have mixed views. It says it needs a modem - not sure I understand? My computer has a Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. Is this the modem built in?? just an interface? will it work with the Linksys? Any computer guys know???

 

[harveymt]

What about going down the home plug route?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HomePlug-Ethernet-Adapter-embedded-Wireless/dp/B000JP7A86/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1284328303&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solwise-Homeplug-Ethernet-Adapter-Single/dp/B000I7J85I/ref=pd_bxgy_ce_text_b

The second one gets plugged into your current router. The first then can be plugged in beside your airport express providing a wired connection to your Express. It also has wireless capabilites creating a G network that you could connect to in your lounge.

The ones above create a wired connection of 85Mb. That's more than enough for jut music. There are versions that go to 200Mb with N wireless but that'll go above your £50 limit. As you get more kit that has wireless such as a Blu Ray player you can buy another home plug to connect it should you wish.

 

[Anonymous]

Your realtek is a gigabit ethernet card. U plug that into the router, using an ethernet cat5e or cat6 cable -they're about £2 on ebay.

For your computer to access the internet it needs an adsl or preferably an adsl2 modem (if u want to go faster than 8Mb)

Some routers have the modem built in - others dont - so u buy a separate adsl/adsl2 modem and plug the modem into the WAN port on the router. In both instances u plug a microfilter into the telephone socket and connect the modem to the broadband socket on the microfilter.

Dont get confused between the old dialup modems - and the adsl/adsl2 modems u need for broadband.

 

[pwiles1968]

Just ordered the Belkin Play from Amazon for a little under £56, will post my opinion once it is set up and running.

 

[pwiles1968]

Doh ~@*!!!~#

It was the Cable version which is why it was so cheap, only said so in the last line of the tech details 2 pages down the description, luckily Amazon has a good returns policy.

 

[jcshutts]

Santa is bringing me the Billion 7800N, which I also intend plugging into some Home Plug Adapters (wired) in order to stream Love. Film Box office movies through. Will it work!!! I will let you know

 

[Anonymous]

JC - I would be interested in wether you got the homeplugs to work.

I also have just bought the billion 7800N router along with the billion homeplug starter kit (one 2173 R2 & one 2173N).

The router is great & I may be an isolated case, but I cannot get the homeplugs to work.

They sometimes sync but more often than not don't. Also when I run the set-up utility on the CD (only works on windows btw) it cant see the homeplugs at all unless I connect them to the laptop the CD is in via the ethernet cable.

Oh and its not really publicised but the homeplugs need their own dedicated power socket. I believe you can run them off an extension lead but it reduces coverage, or may not even work at all.

After a full day of trying everything I can think of I'm going to send them back.

 

[jcshutts]

santa did bring me a Billion 7800 N router modem and we watched our first streamed movie last night. Manchurian Candidate with Denzel (2004). It was very good. Interestingly the signal was lost just once - so I think I will pursue the plug in adapter options. Also on the first evening the picture quality was ok - watching on a 52" screen. The second evening of watching the final half of the film, the picture quality was excellent - I was really impressed. The only difference I can think of was I changed the HDMI leads from a 1.3 Chord to a Cinnamon Audioquest 1.4. The latter providing a remarkably better picture.

So was it the leads or just that the first night was a poor internet service night???

good router.

 

[Tonya]

Just upgraded my router actually, from a very good DLINK to an amazing NetGear RangeMax WNDR3700.
A bit tricky to set up initially, but it's dual band 2.4/5GHz, DLNA certified and faster than a greasy whippet!

A few good points about it : I set up three different wireless services, one for my streaming needs, one for the kids and a third for "visitors" so I can give them a simple access code without compromising my network security or speed.

Plugging in a 2TB drive to the back of the router made it available to the network users, my Sony Bluray & TV monitor.

Using a test site, I was easily obtaining a 16 Kbit/s speed on up/down which isn't too bad at all.
When testing it I was streaming a 720p movie to my laptop from the hard drive connected the router while playing some MP3 tracks to the Sony Bravia and it went just fine.

Paid equivalent of £96 for it yesterday.

 

[jcshutts]

thanks. Can you explain the HDD to the rear of the router? What is the purpose and how does it connect?

 

[Tonya]

Basically, you just connect an external HD to the rear USB port and it becomes available to any PC or laptop that is also in contact with the router, or DNLA certified equipment.

OK, real world scenario: I mounted a 2TB HD to the router, then that drive appears as an external network drive on my laptop.
So I can read/write to and from the drive as if it was physically connected to my laptop.
As I have a Sony BluRay player and TV set also connected to the router, I simply press the "home" button on either remote, then I can select the network HD from the menu, where I can then play photos, music or video files directly to the TV.
It's like having your entire media collection available on demand without having to have your PC on 24/7.
If my wife wants simply some background music, she just listend via the TV, for better quality she can just play the same files via the BluRay menu and out through the surround sound system.

Networking has of course been around for eons, but this is a true plug & play solution for people who are not so technical.
My wife sometimes wants to watch something on You Tube but hates the PC way, so by just turning on the BluRay player and the TV, she can simply select You Tube from the BluRay player and choose the video using the remote control, providing of course your BD player is Internet connected

Simples!

 

[jcshutts]

simple other than my router doesn't have a USB port! Billion 7800N Plenty of spare ETHERNET Ports but no USB's Doh. Never mind, thanks for the explanation though

 

[Tonya]

All is not lost, you can always go the Network Drive route!
Before I upgraded my router, I too had no USB socket on the old router, only Ethernet ports, so installed a Western Digital MyWorld external hard drive.
This simply connects to one of the several Ethernet ports on your router and then the hard drive appears as a network drive on your PC.
Using the Mio software provided with the drive, you also have the added bonus of being able to access your data wherever you are in the world via the the internet, as long as your router and HD are powered up of course!

 

[jcshutts]

I will start some research thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

To comment on some of the points raised:

1/ I now have 4 MSI 200Mb homeplugs (at 45 euro per pair), very happy with them (pc 3rd floor, XBOX360 for on line games of my son, digital cable receiver for its DLNA connection, + router of course), - it is cheaper than buying external wireless modules). I think this is the way to go if you have fixed places for your gear. Speed higher than wireless-n in my case (although not 200mbit), good enough for streaming, no drops-outs. I assume this depends a bit on your electricity circuits.

2/ I have the Netgear wndr3700 also. As a (wireless) router it is fine, although still no coverage of all floors. Its USB hd works, but do not expect high (NAS-like) speeds, FAT32 and EXT3 are ok-ish, NTFS is very slow. The mini-DLNA option of the router works but there are issues reported on forums. I use wireless-n for audio to my netbook (so my music is on a share on the USB HD of the router, accessed by MediaMonkey).

 

[jcshutts]

thanks Pete. Useful update to me. I have the adapters coming in the post for wired network and still trying to get my head around the options of the hard drive networked as opposed to through the PC.