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Question

How do I choose a WIFI router

Oct 7, 2011 4:51AM PDT

How do I choose a WIFI router

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Re: WiFi router
Oct 7, 2011 4:59AM PDT

Practically speaking, any of the well-known makes (like Linksys, Belkin, Netgear) are quite satisfactory for the normal user.

A higher speed than g (54 Mbps) (than it's n) only is necessary if you have a very high speed broadband connection (such as the 120 Mbps that's offered here via the cable) or if the devices on your LAN support it.
A higher wired Ethernet speed (gigabit Ethernet in stead of the normal 100 Mbps) only makes sense for the LAN if it's supported by your devices.
But try to look ahead 5 years in the future.

Here my ISP gave a modem-router combination. So I had nothing to choose. That's easy!

Kees

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I hope you don't mean that Wireless N is only useful
Oct 7, 2011 9:26AM PDT

if your Internet speed is greater than 120Mbps.

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A bit out of date but agree with your conclusion
Oct 15, 2011 1:14AM PDT

In the UK, cable broadband at 200 Mbps is widely available from Virgin Media and 400 Mbps is in final trial. VM cable is all fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) then co-ax to the house. ADSL is up to about 80 Mbps and going higher as networks are updated.

I agree with you, though that internet speed is almost irrelevant, routing stuff around your home network is more important, especially if you use your computer as a media distribution centre or you backup your files to a server. Your router will likely last several computer generations, so I'd be inclined to go for the best available, currently 802.11N+ at 300 Mbps. Also important if you have a bigger house or you want to sit out in the garden with your laptop - N will reach, G won't.

As to brand, any of the majors, Linksys (Cisco), Netgear, D-Link, Belkin are fine. Belkin has a "lifetime warranty" on most of its gear and from personal experience, I can confirm they honour it - I had a power block fail on a Belkin Access point - they replaced the power block and upgraded my Access point to the latest mode, since the old one was no longer in production.

Popular wisdom is that its best to use routers and NICs from the same vendor but I've had no trouble mixing and matching.

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Answer
Hard to say, what do you want to do with it?
Oct 14, 2011 10:44AM PDT

That's a really big question, but basically depends on what your needs are. That should drive your choice. There's a nice web site that has lots of great reviews and user forums that talk about exactly this sort of thing, smallnetbuilder.com. If you read that for a while and see what's out there, and what kind of questions people ask, and what kind of problems that they have, you can start to see what's right for you. When you start to look at specific models, you can leverage the user reviews for them on Amazon, CNET, Newegg, etc. to get a sense of reliability, how easy each is to configure, etc.