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Wi-fi router purchase advise needed

Just want to add something about the router reaching the shop. I'm set up that way, and I did it mostly to stream internet radio to my stereo. But it works so well I'm able to get on my favorite woodworking forums during the day (I'm retired, so in the shop a lot) as well as check some financial stuff, and just do some perusing.My shop is only 20 feet or so away from the house, but the router is one the far end of the house and my shop computer is about 1/2 way across the shop, maybe 100 feet between them (it is a relatively clear line through a window). Works great! this is the Mac Airpoirt extreme and the shop computer is a Mac mini. All that, and I can listen to the music I really want instead of what the local stations want to feed me.
 
Now if you really need to reach out and touch a router, you can get something like this...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PFQX7K/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01

Darren turned me on to that little gem and I used it to get my greenhouse camera on line.

It's got to be going 500' through the entire house and works like a charm. Very strong signal.

When I was setting it up, it was bizarre seeing all of the various routers in the valley I could see.
 
Thanks guys for ALL the suggestions. I will say one thing about the replies. While some of the information given here is indeed "over my head" that is the purpose for asking. Yes I could go out and just ask the high school kid working at Best Buy (which I did) but I was trying to gain more information than "these are the new ones". Everyone has different levels of education and information. Unless I'm in a huge hurry (which in this case I am not) I enjoy researching and learning which product to buy and why. I know people who just go buy the most expensive items they can afford and call it good. I however will research for many days if it will save me a few dollars.....not because I'm cheap (ok... I am) but mainly so that I know I made the right choice.

The only Linksys Cisco unit I could find here locally is the Cisco N600 combo unit at Sams Club. It is a combo package with a USB adapter for $70.00. I'll look online tonight for better deals.
 
I went through this last year. I wanted to spend less than 50.00. I got a Buffalo B-G-N Unit from Amazon I think, for about 45 bucks. It is one with two antennas. Worked good in the far reaches of the house, great in the other parts. In the shop with my laptop, I could get on, but signal strength went in and out. Installed 2 higher gain antennas, (read that as bigger :wave:) and gained a bar in the shop on signal strength. Moved the unit to the middle of the house which got some electronics out of my wife's studio, and I get great signal throughout the house. In the shop, a little better, there are 3 walls between and about 110 feet away, but still low signal. Got a USB plug in antenna for the laptop from NewEgg and I've got full signal in the shop. I can stream shows and movies without having it stop and buffer. So all in all I spent about 80 bucks and I couldn't be happier. Just a thought. Jim.
 
Paul Gallian said:
I think you should keep it simple -- If you do not talk the geek language some wifi routers can be a real bear to setup. Example "it was able to be flashed with some 3rd party firmware (dd-wrt)that adds some incredible functionality to what is otherwise a pretty inexpensive router." Not really plug and play like some products that others have suggested for you -- http://store.apple.com/us/search?find=router
Click to expand...

Well, I can't recommend what I haven't used, so left that up to those that have to provide more information as to the specifics of what Tom was asking. To me the Cisco was a very easy setup and just wanted to make sure Tom got what he was needing to know. I've heard the apples were pretty reliable, but even at the refurb price they look to cost more than the Cicso I bought.

Jim O'Dell said:
I went through this last year. I wanted to spend less than 50.00. I got a Buffalo B-G-N Unit from Amazon I think, for about 45 bucks. It is one with two antennas. Worked good in the far reaches of the house, great in the other parts. In the shop with my laptop, I could get on, but signal strength went in and out. Installed 2 higher gain antennas, (read that as bigger :wave:) and gained a bar in the shop on signal strength. Moved the unit to the middle of the house which got some electronics out of my wife's studio, and I get great signal throughout the house. In the shop, a little better, there are 3 walls between and about 110 feet away, but still low signal. Got a USB plug in antenna for the laptop from NewEgg and I've got full signal in the shop. I can stream shows and movies without having it stop and buffer. So all in all I spent about 80 bucks and I couldn't be happier. Just a thought. Jim.
Click to expand...

Jim, what USB antenna did you get? I'm looking for one to put on my parents place to extend from their clubhouse across the street. Mom has an air card, but they worry about the data usage, though it's more than they'll ever use. The wifi at the club house is free, so they'd be apt to be online more often if it was accessible from their place.
 
Let me offer the following thoughts on this issue.

Any router pulled off the shelf can/will work for you needs as stated. Simple wifi in the house. However, if you wish to connect outside of the house. (Shop) Then I offer this advice. A router with an external antenna should be given some serious consideration to. Reason: if you are having an issue with distance, you can purchase an external antenna that will allow you to "amplify" the signal. I know this sounds a little unbelievable, but you can get an antenna with a "gain" of upto 3db. (3db gain doubles signal strength). Without getting overly technical, this basically means better antenna, better range.

I personally like the Linksys/Cisco routers.

As with all things digital, register with manufacturer and check for updates. (Quarterly)

Remember, you get what you pay for. Spend a little more upfront, and you will be happier and safer in the long run.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
 
Marc Hall said:
Let me offer the following thoughts on this issue.

Any router pulled off the shelf can/will work for you needs as stated. Simple wifi in the house. However, if you wish to connect outside of the house. (Shop) Then I offer this advice. A router with an external antenna should be given some serious consideration to. Reason: if you are having an issue with distance, you can purchase an external antenna that will allow you to "amplify" the signal. I know this sounds a little unbelievable, but you can get an antenna with a "gain" of upto 3db. (3db gain doubles signal strength). Without getting overly technical, this basically means better antenna, better range.

I personally like the Linksys/Cisco routers.

As with all things digital, register with manufacturer and check for updates. (Quarterly)

Remember, you get what you pay for. Spend a little more upfront, and you will be happier and safer in the long run.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

Welcome Marc!

Good advice and I just have to say, I like your choice of tablet... I was an early adopter on the TF101... :thumb:
 
One other thing, no matter what router you get, make sure you setup the security on it. Don't be tempted to leave it open just because it is 'easy'.
 
Thanks for the reminder, Brent. We changed ISPs at our house in LA a bit more than a week ago (in fact the cable guys were at the house when I left to come back to NM), and your post prompted me to remote into my desktop in LA and change the WiFi router Admin password to something other than "password". :rolleyes: At least the installation guy got the router name - Virus Factory :D - and security key right, but he left the Admin console password set as the default. I didn't discover until last night that he hadn't gotten my wife's laptop online, even though I had asked him to do it. (She doesn't get online much, and hadn't tried since the new router was installed. Her laptop and my desktop were still trying to talk to the old router, which is now connected to a non-working DSL line.)
 
I have a Lynksys which has been working fine for nine years.
(BTW: Rennie, we now know the password. :rolleyes: )
But, when using our iPhones they do not pick up the wire less. Sure would help our bill, especially with wife's usage.
 
Frank Fusco said:
I have a Lynksys which has been working fine for nine years.
(BTW: Rennie, we now know the password. :rolleyes: )
But, when using our iPhones they do not pick up the wire less. Sure would help our bill, especially with wife's usage.
Click to expand...

Frank, the iPhone possibly hasn't been connected to the WiFi router. If you go into the Wireless option (Settings > Wi-Fi) does the router show up in the listing? Or perhaps, at 9 years old, it's using an older wireless technology that the iPhone doesn't support. (I'm just guessing on that...I'll let one of the wireless experts here confirm or deny that.)
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
Frank, the iPhone possibly hasn't been connected to the WiFi router. If you go into the Wireless option (Settings > Wi-Fi) does the router show up in the listing? Or perhaps, at 9 years old, it's using an older wireless technology that the iPhone doesn't support. (I'm just guessing on that...I'll let one of the wireless experts here confirm or deny that.)
Click to expand...

OK, yes it does show up. But with options I don't understand. e.g. DHCP; BootP; Static. At the bottom: off, manual, auto. I'll try auto and see what happens.
OK, it went from "3G" to a little signal thingy.
 
Frank Fusco said:
OK, yes it does show up. But with options I don't understand. e.g. DHCP; BootP; Static. At the bottom: off, manual, auto. I'll try auto and see what happens.
OK, it went from "3G" to a little signal thingy.
Click to expand...

Cool! You're on the WiFi. :thumb:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Guys, I have another question.....Am I correct to understand that the main purpose of the router is to simply "divide" up the signal to all the devices plugged into it? So in reality the router has nothing to do with the speed of the transmission unless you have so many devices going at the same time that the signal gets divided up so much it becomes weak. In my home there would never be more that two devices online at any one time. So would this mean that I would not need a "premimum" router as they are advertised. If I'm understanding this correctly a "basic" router will send the same signal as a "premimum" router if only one device is connected.
The Linksys N300 is advertised as a "basic" router. On the back of that box it says it is best for <3 devices. The Linksys N600 is advertised as a better router and says it is best for <6 devices. If I will only ever have two devices at any one time am I wasting money if I go with the N600 router.

One more question...which I never thought about before but a guy I work with asked if my computer was wi-fi ready. :dunno: How do I check to see if it has a wi-fi card installed?
 
Tom Baugues said:
Guys, I have another question.....Am I correct to understand that the main purpose of the router is to simply "divide" up the signal to all the devices plugged into it? So in reality the router has nothing to do with the speed of the transmission unless you have so many devices going at the same time that the signal gets divided up so much it becomes weak. In my home there would never be more that two devices online at any one time. So would this mean that I would not need a "premimum" router as they are advertised. If I'm understanding this correctly a "basic" router will send the same signal as a "premimum" router if only one device is connected.
The Linksys N300 is advertised as a "basic" router. On the back of that box it says it is best for <3 devices. The Linksys N600 is advertised as a better router and says it is best for <6 devices. If I will only ever have two devices at any one time am I wasting money if I go with the N600 router.

One more question...which I never thought about before but a guy I work with asked if my computer was wi-fi ready. :dunno: How do I check to see if it has a wi-fi card installed?
Click to expand...

Probably not a reason to go with a faster router unless you're downloading/uploading a lot of media or large files. With that said, "You'll never need more than 64K of memory". :) I've always found I needed more eventually so I usually go for the best I can afford at the time.

Check the bios for the computer on startup to see if there is a hardware option for wifi if it's built onto the board, also check your device manager to see if one is listed. If you need further explanation, let me know, will be happy to elaborate.
 
I love my dual band Netgear N600. A few devices make great use of the higher band while one or two older products work great on the slower band. It was easy to set up and very reliable.
 
Tom i try to look at the tech stuff as making a choice to buy something i can grow into. I bet if you pause a moment and consider it, you never thought you would ever have a smart phone and do the things you will find yourself doing on it. This area of our life is not like a hammer or screwdriver where a hammer is a hammer. So like you have found with the phone. What you were happy with before has moved you on to something with way more potential.
Speed is the reason much of this tech has come about. If we never had broadband think back not that long ago then streaming videos off you tube was not viable.
With media going high definition and more as a basic standard one thing we never gonna have enough of is speed and bandwidth.

I would go with the higher end router were i you if you can swing the budget and it will be a long time coming before you need to upgrade or replace. ITs all a matter of what coin you can afford to layout.
 
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