Router replacement question

I see the model number of the Dell. It would seem this card was offered as an alternative: http://www.amazon.com/Intel-4965AGN-Next-Gen-Wireless-N-Network/dp/B000RFPBQQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t
This card supports the n specs

This is the manual that shows how to do those things:ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_vostro_notebook/vostro-1510_service%20manual_en-us.pdf
Pages 38 & 39 show how to get to the wireless card and replace it. It is not that difficult to do.

As far as the router replacement, most of the modern units will work just fine with your existing Wireless "g" module and it will not require changing out the module if you wish to leave it as is. It will still run as a "g", no problem. Sorry if I confused the situation. I was just suggesting changing the wireless module to take advantage of the faster "n" speeds, but it will still work as a "g" the way it is.

Lacsr:

When you mentioned the wireless "g" card currently inside my Dell Vostro 1510 laptop with Windows Vista being much slower than the more modern "N" card what exactly did you mean? I would receive the data at a much faster speed if my laptop had a wireless "N" card than my current wireless "g" card? Is it like comparing a slow DSL speed to a higher DSL speed?

I currently have AT&T's Extreme 6.0 DSL speed which is AT&T's fastest DSL speed but AT&T has been trying to get me to switch to something else they have called Uverse 12.0 which they claim would be twice as fast as my current 6.0 DSL speed but that's a question for another day. They did tell me if I did switch from their DSL to Uverse I would have to purchase a new modem from them but the new modem would also have a router built into it.




Big Steve
05/23/13

Grif:

Besides the Linksys WRT54GS which is the replacement router for my old one; model WRT54G which supports the slower "g" speed are there any other brands of routers I should be looking at? I was reading user reviews last night on Linksys' Facebook page and most of what I read was not giving Linksys very high marks and they were also bashing their customer service and tech support. In the 7 years that I've had my Linksys WRT54G router I think I've called Linksys tech support 3 times.

Facebook users were posting comments like Linksys makes cr*p to the routers they make now are junk, etc. So if I was going to configure and buy a new laptop computer from Dell which I'm not your advice would be to configure one with a wireless "N" card instead of a wireless "g" card? Which level of security should I make sure a new router has? WEP? WPA? WXYZ? Finally didn't CNET have a wireless networking forum here at one time or not?


Big Steve
05/23/13

Ideally, don't use WEP.. It's the oldest and the easiest to crack.. Currently, WPA2 is the best security protocol, but it's not perfect as someone who really wants to access your network, can do so.. Unfortunately, some of the older wireless adapters (old computers) don't have drivers which support WPA2.. Most newer ones do.... so it's not a problem unless you need to get an older machine connected to the network. According to the link below, the Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card, DOES have WPA2-PSK support but you won't know for sure till you set up the router and attempt to connect using the wireless adapter.

http://reviews.cnet.com/adapters-nics/dell-wireless-1395-802/4507-3380_7-33142065.html

As to which brand of router to use, for me, it's a toss-up.. I've used Linksys, Dlink, Netgear, Belkin, plus residential gateways which include routers like 2Wire, ActionTek, Westlink, and a couple of others.. In my experience, if you read the specifications of the router, you should be able to determine its limitations as to setup, security, speed, and reception. I've never purchased and extremely expensive one, although I've worked on a few, and much like you I generally don't need to contact their customer service reps.. Online documents and support work for me..

Hope this helps.

Grif

Grif:

The Dell laptop I have is a 4 year old Vostro 1510 which has Windows Vista. My other computer is a 7 year old Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC which has Windows Home XP. The reason I mentioned the other computer is because two cables from the back of my Linksys WRT54G wireless router are connected to the back of the Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC's tower; a bright yellow cable with a large modular plug called an ethernet I think and a bright blue one with a smaller modular plug. So I need to narrow my search down to purchasing another wireless router that will support "g" and also WPA2; not WPA. I did check out Dell's accessories for a Vostro 1510 last night on Dell.com and the only replacement wireless card they still sell on Dell.com for a Vostro 1510 is a wireless "g" card; no "N" card was listed.



Big Steve
05/24/13

Grif:

I need to make a correction to something I said in my previous post.

I said the following previously:

So I need to narrow my search down to purchasing another wireless router that will support "g" and also WPA2; not WPA. What I meant to say was support WPA2; not WEP.

Is there a function on this board that will allow you to go back and edit a post that's already been made if you spot an error in the post after it's been posted?


Big Steve
05/24/13

Sorry it took so long to get back to you.. I took a short trip over the Memorial Day holiday and just got back last night..

In regards to your question about your Vostra supporting wireless "g", and it's relationship to a new router, it should work fine with most any router you purchase.. Just make sure the router supports the "g" protocol, which most do, and you'll be fine.

Hope this helps.

Grif

Grif:

I can't turn the visual indicators on; has that been disabled because I like to post in bold print? As for the router I'll make sure whichever one I choose it will support wireless "g".

OT question: I turned my laptop on this morning and the speaker icon in my systray(sp?) in the lower right corner of my monitor screen is gone. I usually mute the speakers before bedtime to avoid hearing Avast's updater waking me up during the night.

I was able to go to Control Panel and turn my speakers back on but what do I need to do to put the speaker icon back in my systray(sp?)? Now I see my wireless signal is down; now it's back; is that a sign that I need to consider replacing my 7 year old Linksys WRT54G wireless router?


Big Steve
05/29/13

Did you try?

"Right Click on Taskbar > Properties > Notification Area tab > under system icons, check Volume."
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6122_102-2596262.html

Or..

"1. click start > run and type regedit to open the registry editor.
2. Search for "iconstreams"
3. Delete all keys with the name "iconstreams" and "pasticonstreams" until "iconstreams" cannot be found in the registry
4. Restart Vista
5. if the icon is not there at startup, right click the taskbar, click properties then notification area and enable the icon like normal."
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6122_102-2600994.html

Or...

If the icons in the notification area are routinely failing to show up, the Microsoft "FixIt" below might help also:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945011

Hope this helps.

Grif

Grif:

I'll check that out but now this is appearing in the lower right hand corner of my laptop monitor's screen; details below.

Windows Vista (TM)
Build 6002
This copy of Windows is not genuine

After Googling that I went to a Microsoft website; ran a utility tool to check and it determined that my copy of Windows Vista was in fact genuine; it should be since it came configured on this Dell computer directly from Dell.com 4 years ago.

I bet this has something to do with a quick scan I ran using Avast last night; after the quick scan was finished I was then prompted to do a ( boot time scan?) which I went ahead and did; it scanned for several hours so I cancelled that scan and that's when I saw the speaker icon was gone and now this message in the lower right hand corner of my monitor's screen saying my copy of Windows Vista is not genuine. Could Avast have hit me with some kind of a virus last night?



Big Steve
05/29/13

Grif:

This is now gone; it no longer appears on my computer's screen:

Windows Vista (TM)
Build 6002
This copy of Windows is not genuine

I still haven't figured out a way to bring my speaker icon back but I'm working on it.


Big Steve
05/30/13