Iain Young

Hi folks,

My router seems to have died this morning, so I need to pop into PC World (shudder) on the way home from work tonight to get a new one. Any suggestions? From looking at the website, it seems the options are (note this is for a cable connection, not adsl)...

• Netgear Rangemax Dual Band Wireless N Cable Router
• Belkin N1 Vision
• D-Link DIR-635

From reading around the interweb, I've found glowing and damning reports for all of them

Unfortunately, I need the router tonight, so am limited to what I can get from the aforementioned establishment....

PC_World - Cable Routers


Thanks,
Iain

Tenby

iTrader: (1)

Got the NetGear one myself - I think anyhow, the white one.

MrNoisy

iTrader: (28)

Hi,

I have a Linksys rangebooster cable modem with wireless G router - I bought it in error from Play (I have ADSL and was after something with a better range than my NetGear but didn't read the description properly). It's never been used, still in the box etc - Play wouldn't exchange it as I'd removed the plastic wrapping on the box.

These cost £40 - you can have it for £20 mate - I just want shot of it!

mike1210

out of those i'd go for the Netgear, if I could wait till tomorrow though I'd go for a Draytek 2910 or 2930 depending on Budget (and G or N wireless) from Wireless Router, ADSL Modem/Router, Broadband/Cable Router, VoIP, NAS | Broadbandbuyer.co.uk. Does it really have to be tonight?

Iain Young

Unfortunately, I'm working from home tomorrow and have a meeting at 8am using live meeting and skype, so I need the interweb working by then (hence needing to get one tonight)....

Tenby

iTrader: (1)

Yep, just had a look - I have the Netgear one. Recommended by a friend who is a comp expert

Iain Young

Thanks. The problem is, the router that just died on me was a Netgear so I am a little wary about getting another. May have just been a bad one though...

stonejedi

iTrader: (51)

belkin routers are top notch and reliable and the range is very good i can be at the top of my garden and still get exellent coverage with no drop out in service.

Iain Young

I've read a few reports of the Belkin routers that say that the wireless connections keep dropping on a regular basis, especially when transferring large files etc. I presume you've not seen any problems like that?

mike1210

the older ones I used were utterly dire, haven't used a newer one though

Tenby

iTrader: (1)

Not sure if it is model related? Mine drops out the signal when on full belt downloading at times. Only happens when using dl software Revconnect so assumed it had something to do with that

stonejedi

iTrader: (51)

hello mate the belkin router i have is the n+ i think its fairly new and i have not had much experience with the older model routers so i cant really say much but the one i have is superb

kernel

Not tried the wireless on the Belkin N1 I have but for my use I wish I had looked harder. I have the ADSL one, it doesn't tell me how long the connection has been up, doesn't tell me the line noise figures and doesn't support Fixed DHCP/DHCP Reservations or whatever you want to call it. So useless for my laptop I need a local fixed IP for and a dynamic one when out and about. The good think is the trendy display telling me how much bandwidth I'm using.

Iain Young

Thanks Pete. I presume it works ok with the 360 (no dropouts etc?)

kernel

Only be running about a week Iain and apart from the NXE update I don't think the 360 has been on

MrNoisy

iTrader: (28)

In my experience, netgear are a bit flakey, and range isn't great.
Belkin range is worse.
Linksys I found to be most stable, but more complex to configure.
Hth

Removed.

Netgear

I had a Bell-end, I mean Belkin, before, it was a pile of sh1te and their support was worse than useless

I recommend Netgear to anyone that asks, and I've not been punched yet

Iain Young

Well, I went to PC World, and they only had the Belkin (N1 Vision) on the shelf (plus some second hand looking linksys boxes). Bought it, got it home, unpacked it, and it seemed to work ok. Did a firmware upgrade to the latest version (supposed to fix a lot of the issues), and the thing crashed while updating. Now it won't even turn on.

Borrowed a Netgear for tomorrow and that seems to be working fine. Won't be trying a Belkin again, that's for sure...

kbsub

I bought a Belkin a few years back on the strength of a mag review.... Never again

mike1210

PC Pro always seem to praise them for some reason but I feel the decision was based on wireless speed. The older ones I used refused to work with any wireless security, firewall was pants, you couldn't turn off the access point etc etc

spectrum48k

perhaps it's as simple as Belkin give them a better sales margin ?

Iain, it'll be interesting to note if your PS3 online 'experience' improves any with the new router.

Iain Young

I'll keep you posted

Removed.

That's exactly why i bought the bell-end POS that I did, PC Pro A list. I've read PC Pro since issue 1, and I think they're usually pretty good with reviews, but this may of been the exception that proves the rule!

kbsub

I'm pretty sure it was PC Pro that I read the review in, couple of years back now though. I have a D-Link out here, was only $50 and as been flawless in over 14 months. Although I always had Netgear in the UK and never had a problem with them .

GC8

I dont see whats wrong with PCWorld. People need to manage their expectations, which are usually far from sensible/realistic...

kbsub

I think the salesperson should know something about the product they are selling, not always the case with PC World

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Friend of mine sent her new PC back to PCW to be fixed after it overheated and spunked the CPU. She got it back with a smaller HD, all her data missing and half the ram was missing. Enough said.

spectrum48k

{PC World anecdotes activated}