DavidLewis

I've been putting this off for ages and I've got 5 days to sort it out.

Where's the best place to buy a cable router from. Been looking at Broadbandbuyer.com as they do next day delievery (and someone on here works there, don't they?) Is a LinkSys the best value for money or is there better for the same price.

P.S. Andy T. Has your cable crimper returned?

ChrisB

xDSL or Cable?

DavidLewis

Doh!

Cable

DavidLewis

Although this should have been enough info

HHxx

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk

Email: giles@broadbandbuyer.co.uk

Have used him in the past I also got a discount for being a scoobynet member

H

RoadrunnerV2

Our popular cable/dsl routers are the Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router or the 4 Port or the Netgear RP614 Cable Router. These routers are virtually 'plug'n'play' and are ideal for people looking to share their broadband connection and play online games.

BTW - Changed by user ID because I have lost my details for my roadrunner account and the email address goes back to a work email address that I can no longer access

RoadrunnerV2

5% discount for scoobynet members

DavidLewis

Roadrunner.
Is that 5% for Scoobynet plus members or just anyone that uses Scoobynet?
Do I ask for "RoadRunner" or do you have a real name?

BigGT3Fan

I have the Linksys 4 port cable/dsl and have been well pleased with it. There is also a comparable netgear which is just as good, by all accounts. One thing worth considering is wireless lan. If you want that now or in the future, it's worth buying one of the combined wireless routers from linksys, and they have just launched the new 802.11g 54k speed routers, so you might want to get one of them to further future proof yourself. If you don't want/need that speed/increased security, then the older 802.11b models will probably plummet in price now?

HTH,


Alex

DavidLewis

Alex,

I'm considering wireless (only because I don't fancy doing all the cabling) The cost isn't exactly prohibitive, but I can't see any extra value if your PC's are in fixed locations. Obviously, if you have a laptop, thats different.

Mark Underwood

I use a Belkin router. Dead simple to setup and to set the "clone mac addy". Added other computers and it just breezes along. Paid £45 from PC World.

BigGT3Fan

David,

Sure, the wireless is only useful when you have a laptop, or lots of wiring to do. I am considering it as I also want to hook up my PS2 shortly when that goes online, and my TiVo.

Apart from anything else, WLAN is a lot slower than the fixed alternatives, even with the new 802.11g standard.

If all you are doing is sharing a broadband connection (even if it is 1Meg) between PCs then that doesn't really matter as WLAN is only 1M, and fixed wire is either 10 or 100. The limiting factor is still the broadband link. However if you want to transfer lots of data around between PCs I'd go fixed, or use the 802.11g as that gives you more speed (up to 56 Mb I think).

Hope that's clear


Alex

carl

802.11g is 54 Mbps, but the standard is still a draft (not ratified yet).

See here for horror story about 'draft' 802.11g kit

Hanslow

I've just sorted myself out with the Netgear FM114P wireless router and it does the job. Over your budget I think but it also has 4 fixed connections on the back. I use the wireless for laptop surfing (and my missus can use it on her PC) and the wired for transferring data quickly.

Wasn't sure myself on which brand to buy, but had used netgear before with standard 4 port hub and had no problems so simply a case of stick with what you know for me.

There are some useful reviews and comparitive reviews for firewall routers here http://www.firewallguide.com/hardware.htm. If it's not quite what you are after, might mention general non-firewall info in the review that may be of use

carl

I've got one on order

BigGT3Fan

carl,

I'm fully aware that 802.11g is a draft, but it won't change that much, and the router is upgradeable. I generally find it's best to take everything you read on the reg with a very large pinch of salt, BTW.

As mentioned, what is good about the Linksys routers (don't know about Netgear or others) is that it is software upgradeable, so as the standard is ratified, you can upgrade. Also enables bugs etc to be fixed.

For example, my Linksys router didn't support Netmeeting video etc when I bought it, but since the introduction of UPnP support for XP Messenger, and the relevant firmware upgrade on the router, it now works.




Alex

carl

I so nearly went for the Linksys 802.11g one, but what swayed me was that the Netgear box is a router, stateful packet inspection firewall (not really needed with NAT, but nice to have), access point and print server in one box. And it's only £129, so when the 802.11g standard is ratified and more products are out I can junk it

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Dave,

All the bits should be in my garage! I'll check tonight!

Cheers
Andy

DavidLewis

I'm an impatient sod and for the sake of £15, my local Maplin store stocked the Linksys router, even had the cable (thanks Andy)

Installed, configured and up and running in 10 minutes (apart from routing the cable in a manner satisfactory to the missus)

All this just to put a 7 year old on the net

Thanks to all that provided input.

DavidLewis

.......and now I've got 4 days left to do whatever I want!!!