Wireless Router Question

[Thomas Williams]

I am replacing my PC with a laptop and want to get wireless router. Most of the ones that I have looked at require a PC to be hooked into the network. Is there a reasonably priced router available that will not need to be cabled to a PC? Any suggestions here? Thanks.

[Kevin Arceneaux]

?

From the wall to the computer

Wall >> Modem >> Wireless Router >> Laptop

That's it. you do not need another PC

[Dick Latshaw]

Kevin has it right. I have had good luck with my D-Link DIR-655. No dropped connections with either Windows or OS X. Amazon has it for $99.99 with free shipping.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I don't know if I've ever seen one that needed to be connected to a PC permanently - however, you might need a cabled connection to get it all set up. your laptop should also have a network port that you could use to do this - and afterwards, it should work wirelessly.

[glenn bradley]

Another vote for Kevin. That is how I run my old semi-worthless laptop in the garage. It boots up and goes straight to internet radio, the keyboard is shot ;-). I run a $40 D-link that came with a $40 rebate a few years ago. Couldn't beat the price. Runs WPA so that's secure enough from my neighbors (no offense guys).

[Brian Peters]

Oh and don't spend more than $50 on a router, they try to sell you more expensive ones at bestbuy. I have a wireless G runs hard and it is very fast with my cable connection. The next step up goes to around $100 for a wireless N. Most people don't need N and will never use its features, cheaper ones often serve well. And btw I dislike belkin products, had nothing but problems with their routers.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

A battery powered Routah?

[Mark Hix]

LOML and I both use our own laptops....no Desktop in the house. I like moving it to the garage, patio, dining room.....you get the idea....wireless G, simple password protection is all you need. Every once in a while I have to reboot it. You will love it.

[Dave Lehnert]

Just an FYI. My ISP gave me a router for free when I hooked up. Don't buy one till you find out if a free one is offered to you.

[Sean Gallagher]

when shopping for electronics i tend to use www.consumersearch.com. i took their advise a year or so ago and got a netgear 834. this was pre draft 2.0n. they suggest the dlink dir655 as best overall right now.

[Pat Germain]

Once you get the laptop configured and connected, it's a very good idea to turn off the "broadcast" feature. This feature advertises the name of your network. For example, if you name your wireless network "WoodTinker2", your router will by default broadcast this name.

When the router name is broadcasting, anyone within range can see the name. Your neighbors and someone parked in front of your house can boot up a computer and see "WoodTinker2". If your network is secured with password encryption, it's extremely unlikely anyone can hack it. However, I think it's best to not broadcast the name in the first place. This way, in case you accidentally turn off encryption, or temporarily disble it, you won't have anyone lilly-padding your network.

Once you connect your laptop to your network, it will remember the network name and connect automatically.

[Prashun Patel]

I am replacing my PC with a laptop and want to get wireless router. Most of the ones that I have looked at require a PC to be hooked into the network. Is there a reasonably priced router available that will not need to be cabled to a PC? Any suggestions here? Thanks.


FOrgive me if this has been answered already: The router has to be wired into your cable or dsl or satellite modem. But the several I've had from DLink or Linksys don't require a wired connection to any PC.

[Bill Huber]

As Pat stated, turn off broadcast and make sure you set the WEP. I would use 128 bit for the WEP, you will find this in the set up of your wireless router. You want to also change the password on the router form the default Admin to some you put in.

[Chuck Stewart]

Most wireless routers I've seen allow for both wired or wireless, for instance I have a Linksystem Wireless-G and connect my two desktops that are in the same room using wired and then the laptop which the wife uses in her scrapbook room goes wireless since I was too lazy to run the wire. All are networked together and they communicate well. Don't ask me how I got them to talk....couple hours of cursing I do remember. Nice interface that keeps track of IP addresses and gives you status of each computer. Once in awhile she gets a hiccup and I have to unplug and restart then all is well.

[Jim Becker]

Chuck is correct, pretty much all of the wireless routers have wired connections available and you must use a wired connection for the initial setup of the device when you buy it. Outside of that, there is no need for any device to be wired behind it for normal use. Your DSL or cable modem provides an Ethernet signal that connects to the "WAN" port of the router and from there, the router really doesn't care how you access it for normal network connectivity.

[Curt Harms]

As Pat stated, turn off broadcast and make sure you set the WEP. I would use 128 bit for the WEP, you will find this in the set up of your wireless router. You want to also change the password on the router form the default Admin to some you put in.

There are readily available tools to crack WEP access info. I've read where WEP enabled connections can be hacked in less than 5 minutes. WPA/WPA2 is supposed to be much more secure. Older hardware may only support WEP but any of the newer networking gear should support WPA. Disabling broadcasting of the SSID and changing default passwords are excellent suggestions.

[Jeff Caskie]

Will 'Disabling Broadcasting' allow your computer to 'find' the network when you want it to (assuming it was set up correctly to begin with)? Many times I have to switch back and forth between work/VPN, wireless/wired etc, turn on/off the wireless card. In instances where I turn off the card or disable wireless temporarily, I usually have to go back in and refresh the network list so it can find the network again. If broadcasting is turned off, would the 'refresh network list' have any affect since it can't see the hidden network?

Also- what about wireless cameras PS3/Wii etc? Are they able to find a non-broadcasting network?

[Jim Becker]

Jeff, once you configure the PC, it will find the network, even if the SSID is not broadcast. Set it up to auto-connect for your "known" networks, too, so you have seamless transition between work and home. I can't speak for other devices as I don't have any of them around here.

[Jeff Caskie]

Jeff, once you configure the PC, it will find the network, even if the SSID is not broadcast. Set it up to auto-connect for your "known" networks, too, so you have seamless transition between work and home. I can't speak for other devices as I don't have any of them around here.

Ok I will give it a try and see how it goes. It is one of those things that I have been meaning to get to. I also plan to go one step further and restrict to my known MAC addresses only.

one thing I am unsure about... is under the Security tab (Linksys wrt300n):

Internet Filter:
- Anonymous Requests
- Multicast
- NAT Redirection
- IDENT (Port 113)
Proxy/Java/ActiveX/Cookies

By Default, only Anonymous Requests and IDENT are checked. I'm not sure if I should check others...

Hopefully I am not hijacking the thread and these questions apply to others as well...

[Jeff Caskie]

btw- to the original poster... I have been very happy with the Linksys WRT300N. It is more expensive than most (due to wireless-N capability), but I like to think I am avoiding upgradeitis once N becomes finalized and more mainstream. However, there are many less expensive options that would provide Wireless-G just fine...

[Dave Lehnert]

'Disabling Broadcasting'

learning something new here. How do I 'Disabling Broadcasting'? I live next to a business that does government work and I can see their network. I know they can see my network and would have the know how to do ????

[Jim Becker]

Dave, there should be a setting in the router (you need to log into the administrative account on the router) that lets you disable the broadcast of the SSID. Where that is in the device menus is variable and depends upon the make and model of your router, but it's certainly in the same vicinity as all the other wireless settings.

[Dick Bringhurst]

I use a Belkin router and cannot recommend it. We are constantly interrupted
with their adds. You can't just close the add and continue on. You end up closing what ever you were doing without being able to save the work you've done to get rid of the darn thing. Emails to Belkin do no good. Dick B.

[Jim Becker]

A router adding ads? That's VERY strange, Dick. I've never, ever seen that happen in all my years as an IT and telcom professional. Are these for Belkin or for other entities? If the latter, I'd suspect that your PC has been invaded...

[Bill Huber]

I agree with Jim, I have never seen a router do anything like that. I have been working on this stuff for 25 years.

I think it has to be something in the PC, get a spyware checker like Spybot or Adaware and run it on your PC, I am sure you will find a bunch. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date also.

[Dick Bringhurst]

The adds are for Belkin features such as Parental Control. I repeat they won't go away without losing everything you're working on. My wife is a Graphic Artist and it causes her great pain. We have McAfee. Guess we'll have to try something else. It's a very aggravating issue. Dick B.

[Guy Germaine]

That's strange. I've been using a Belkin router for about 6 months, and have never seen anything like that.

[Jim Becker]

Dick, by any chance did you run any software off a CDROM when you installed your Belkin router for the first time? If so, go into the Windows Control Panel and enter the section labeled Add/Remove Programs. Scroll down and see if there is any Belkin software installed on your PC. If so...it might be the root of your problem.

[Matt Meiser]

I've had good luck with both D-Link and Linksys. I have a rather complex network that uses two Linksys and one D-Link router. The D-Link and one of the Linksys routers (running an open-source firmware) are creating a wireless link between the house and my shop which are about 80' apart. I use a couple of higher-gain antennas on those but the connection is very reliable.

I have seen problems with disabling the SSID. Most of the time it won't be a problem but I had a Stinkpad from my old job that would NOT connect to my network with the SSID disabled. And it wasn't just me. They had the SSID disabled on the office network and had to turn it back on so the Stinkpad users could connect. And that was one of the minor issues with those things. Man I hated that computer...

[Curt Harms]

I have seen problems with disabling the SSID. Most of the time it won't be a problem but I had a Stinkpad from my old job that would NOT connect to my network with the SSID disabled. And it wasn't just me. They had the SSID disabled on the office network and had to turn it back on so the Stinkpad users could connect. And that was one of the minor issues with those things. Man I hated that computer...

I had a similar problem with Win98 & Win2K which don't have native WIFI support, I had to do a manual setup entering the SSDI & WPA key. It took some monkeyin' but I got it to work. WinXP using Windows native software (don't use the network device CD) has worked fine on R51 & R61 thinkpads.

Curt

[Curt Doles]

I've been using Linksys routers for probably 10 years with minimal problems. My early DSL connection (prior to PPOE) would require the router to be reconfigured every time the power went off, so I UPS'D it.

I have no direct connects in my current config but every so often, I'll hook up a notebook to the router to troubleshoot my internet connection.

I'm using a 54G router and my workshop, which is 100 ft from the house doesn't get a very solid connection.

Do the N routers have the increased range they claim to have?

A less lazy individual would just pull a cable!


Curt

[Matt Meiser]

I had a similar problem with Win98 & Win2K which don't have native WIFI support, I had to do a manual setup entering the SSDI & WPA key. It took some monkeyin' but I got it to work. WinXP using Windows native software (don't use the network device CD) has worked fine on R51 & R61 thinkpads.

Curt

This was worse. I could connect with the SSID enabled. But as soon as you turned it off the laptop would lose the connection and wouldn't reconnect no matter what until the SSID was re-enabled. Then it was almost immediate. Man I hated that computer...

[Brad Wood]

I've had Netgear, D-Link, and Linksys. I think Linksys is the best. I don't know the model I have off the top of my head, it has two antenae.
Sitting in the same spot as my D-Link, I get much better signal strength downstairs on the Linksys.
The stupid D-link would completely shutdown its eithernet ports about once every three times that I would connect to work using the Cisco VPN software. I'd have to shut it down for five minutes before it would start back up and allow any PC on my home network to get to the internet.

[Jeff Caskie]

I ran across an article today that I found interesting... relating to router security and other things mentioned in this thread...

Here is the last page that talks about some of the things that are not quite as secure as I once thought:
www dot smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30278/98/1/6/

[Eric DeSilva]

The other alternative is renaming your router something like... say... "SPAM_INFECTOR" or "VIRUS_TROLL". I don't find any foreign IP addresses when I poll my DHCP.

I should note that my wireless LAN is really for guests, so it sits outside my secure network anyway. ;)

[Neal Clayton]

I've been using Linksys routers for probably 10 years with minimal problems. My early DSL connection (prior to PPOE) would require the router to be reconfigured every time the power went off, so I UPS'D it.

I have no direct connects in my current config but every so often, I'll hook up a notebook to the router to troubleshoot my internet connection.

I'm using a 54G router and my workshop, which is 100 ft from the house doesn't get a very solid connection.

Do the N routers have the increased range they claim to have?

A less lazy individual would just pull a cable!


Curt

some do, some don't, some of the ones that do have insufficient heatsinks and burn themselves up after a few months as well (netgear is bad about this). how they get better signal range isn't rocket science, it's just more voltage.

a better solution might be to get a repeater and drop it somewhere in between.

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=wireless+repeater&price1=&price2=29.00&lnk=prsugg

[Mike Henderson]

how they get better signal range isn't rocket science, it's just more voltage.
That's not quite true. The output power on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands the 802.11 systems operate in is quite limited. The 802.11n uses MIMO and channel bonding to get the higher speed and greater range.

The advantages gained in 802.11n come from advances in algorithms (being smarter) and not in transmitting more power. The algorithms can be implemented because of advances in digital signal processing and the ability to put more logic on a chip (smaller geometry).

Mike