hello there!!

im back at uni in sept, in a house with 5 others. We have a desktop and 4 laptops which we all wanna be on the internet with.
(all are either windows XP/ME/2000)

i was just wondering if anybody had any first hand advice on what brand routers are reliable and a decent ISP?

i was originally doing it with AOL and use a reccommended router, Netgear, but after reading in here, AOL is ginda crap!!

Also does any body have any advice on a wireless with using PCI or using USB, i know the difference but was wondering if anyone could say if ones better than the other in terms of reliability or any advantages of one or the other??

im new to the wireless home networking so any advice would be helpful

Thanks for your time
Emily

I like Linksys routers a lot. Easy configuartion and great management tools and reliabilty.

Go to this site for a great deal of info on networking basics. :

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

Larry

I am currently using a Linksys router, it has forfilled my needs for the past 7 months. I also use AOL it connects through the router to SBC networks. I dont care what people say it is the exact same just with a AOL name on your IP hex.
I recommened Linksys!

Why won't it ever work!

I use Netgears at home and work and they are great. Not too fond of Dlink and Belkin shouldn't be in the market.

I've had reliability problems with Linksys in the past, but they seem better now. I still tend to trust Netgear a bit more.

I haven't had reliability problems with DLink...only compatibility issues with older cable modems.

As for wireless go, I find Netgears have a much better range. I would definitely use the same brand NIC's and router together. It makes for easy setup of security features. Make sure you setup MAC address filtering and WEP.

DEFINITELY go PCI on your NIC's! USB NIC's slow your system down significantly!

MCSE, MCSA Messaging, baby!

I use mostly Linksys, never had any problems (well, none that couldn't be traced back to my own ignorance).
Only ISP I can recommend is the only one I've ever had (since I got broadband): Charter. Only thing I don't like is that they block ports 80 and 21 >-(
I don't know about USB NICs slowing down your system - we have two (although neither are wireless), and they're of no consequence to system speed or resources. However, USB NICs would probably be easier to install and transport...

Emily,

Check out thread:

http://www.computing.net/networking/wwwboard/forum/21547.html

and other related topics on this board.

NetGear is more secure and more reliable that LinkSys and costs the same money, so invest wisely.

Unless you are really technical do not try networking with both USB and ethernet, because you'll go crazy trying to solve the problems. Not even if you find a hub supporting both.

Each has it's own set of technical problems and you will not know which side of the network is bogis, when problems arise.

Additionally wireless is an even more complicated mess and you show that you will have three different OSs and even though all "Windows" you will find they don't like each other and don't work well together unless you learned enough to have your "supertech" degree.

I think you stated it well saying "im new to the wireless home networking so any advice would be helpful". Stick to basics, keep it simple and standardize.

OMR

"Unless you are really technical do not try networking with both USB and ethernet, because you'll go crazy trying to solve the problems. Not even if you find a hub supporting both."
??? Find a hub supporting both?
The (wireless) hub doesn't differentiate between interfaces; that is, it doesn't matter if you're connecting thru USB or PCI, from the router's point of view.
Again, I have no idea about prices, but USB would probably be easier to set up, and as a bonus would be more portable.

And I don't know that it's *that* difficult to setup a wireless network. I set mine up without any difficulties...

thanks everyone if i have anymore queries no doubt ill come here, you be helpful!!

Emily

Em,

All the bravado won't save you the problems. I have done this commercially and some installs just run right through and others (allotted one hour to do them in) six hours later, still banging both the keyboard and my head.

That is why simple is best, really

OMR