[cofe]

ours has just died at home. can anyone recommend one?

[Jim]

I used to have this one and this with it.
Passed it on to the inlaws as I couldn't use it with O2 broadband as they don't use user names and passwords so am just using the one they sent me. Apart from that it was good

[slackline]

Are you bothered about 802.11n (the ~100Mbps protocol)?

If not then I'd recommend getting your hands on an old, but good Linksys WRT54g, they are the mutz nuts of routers.

Otherwise Linksys/Belkin/NetGear are all good brands that shouldn't see you right.

[cofe]

is 802.11n important?

what is difference between N and G? One that has died is G (Netgear) and I have the USB thingy for it so could just buy another.

[slackline]

Speed 802.11g == ~54Mbps whilst 802.11n == ~100Mbps

The standard was recently ratified by the IEEE so everything thats produced now should conform to it, but many companies were selling routers and wireless cards way before this was finialsed and risked the protocol changing and their products being rendered useless.

Unless your current laptops have 802.11n wireless cards in them you won't notice any difference, but it may  be a wise investment for the future.

[cofe]

It's just a desktop, and an old EEpc that's bust at the moment. Does N or G affect speed in house? And does 54mbpes or 100mbps affected by ISP? It's just bog standard plusnet which is fine.

[slackline]

Doubt you'd have any immediate benefit then at the moment.

It won't make any difference to your browsing on either computer (even when you have a  laptop with n) as the bottleneck will still be the connection from your router/modem to the internet from your ISP, which untill fibre optic is widely available isn't going to be that great.

Can't really recommend any of the current ones as I've no experience of anything other than the WRT54g, but they're very good (providing you get the right model) as you can (yes you guessed it) replace the firmware (which is linux anyway) with some beefed up versions of Linux that turn a £50 router into something that has the functionality of a piece of kit that would normally cost you £300.

But thats probably overkill/not of interest.

Jims suggestion looks good, and is reasonably priced, as are most of those at eBuyer from the brands I mentioned.

Getting the longer aerial as Jim has done improves the strength of the signal, so is worth doing.  Some routers only have one aerial, others (the WRT54g for example) have two which can also help improve the signal/coverage a bit.

[Tris]

Are you bothered about 802.11n (the ~100Mbps protocol)?

If not then I'd recommend getting your hands on an old, but good Linksys WRT54g, they are the mutz nuts of routers.

Otherwise Linksys/Belkin/NetGear are all good brands that shouldn't see you right.

  with the Linksys comment, however we have had many Belkin and (also D-link failures), also 3com wireless stuff is pants.

I would only buy Linksys and then Netgear if I couldn't afford Linksys. We only use 'proper' Cisco now for work, but they is muchos expensive!!!

[slackline]

Cisco bought Linksys a while back, although obviously they keep their industry and home user hardware separate as they're different markets.

[cofe]

sorted. thanks guys.

[Tris]

Cisco bought Linksys a while back, although obviously they keep their industry and home user hardware separate as they're different markets.

Indeed, hence the 'proper' comment I made above. For home networking, I can't see any better brand currently so I totally agree with your WRT54g comment. Can't fault them for the cash...

[tomtom]

Aldi/Netto had one for less than £20 a couple of weeks back.. may still be some there..?

[cofe]

I used to have this one and this with it.
Passed it on to the inlaws as I couldn't use it with O2 broadband as they don't use user names and passwords so am just using the one they sent me. Apart from that it was good

bloody hell ken. didn't realise the extra antenna was a mile long! louis armstrong has been logging on from the moon. all works anyway. nice one.

[Jim]

the extra antenna is 'OPTIONAL'

[cofe]

made sense to get it cos computer is two floors above router. just had to drill a hole in the ceiling so i could stand it upright.

[Tris]

made sense to get it cos computer is two floors above router. just had to drill a hole in the ceiling so i could stand it upright.

Frickin hell - how big is that mutha? 

[dontfollowme]

made sense to get it cos computer is two floors above router. just had to drill a hole in the ceiling so i could stand it upright.

Frickin hell - how big is that mutha? 

Don't think he was serious Tris.

[Tris]

Ahh - thought he may have got one of these bad boys, connect to your own wireless from China

[tomtom]

[geek mode]

Ever seen the pages on making a wifi antenna from pringles tins etc...? Can get quite a long range (several Km's...)



[/geek mode]

[slackline]

[geek mode]

Ever seen the pages on making a wifi antenna from pringles tins etc...? Can get quite a long range (several Km's...)
[/geek mode]

 

[tomtom]

[geek mode]

Ever seen the pages on making a wifi antenna from pringles tins etc...? Can get quite a long range (several Km's...)
[/geek mode]

 

Nearly did this when I lived in Aber, and could see my office from my house (5km away) and at the time could not get broadband. Was going to set up an antenna at work and one at home... I foolishly mentioned it to a chap in the IT dept I knew well and thought would like the idea, but it broke all sorts of rules and that was the end of it...

[Tris]

Do you have to eat the Pringles first?