wireless options

[Spiffs]

hi,
I need to buy a wireless router to connect from my connection to send a signal to 1.my new computer 2.the laptop 3.possibly my really old computer

but the main connection is for 1 and 2, and I was just wondering if there are any particular brands or specific types of routers that anyone is using which is effective with a decent price?

also, if it's possible to find one from one of these websites: canada computers (http://www.canadacomputers.com) or tiger direct (http://www.tigerdirect.ca)

- thanks,
-- Phil


oh and, I have a choice between these 2:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=628108&CatId=373
and
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2201278&CatId=373

I am still open for more suggestions though, do you think I should go for more speed?

[The Wise Monkey]

Go for the Linksys one - good quality brand.

[Spiffs]

thanks for the response, I'll take that advice and buy the linksys :)

[RickyTick]

The WRT54G is probably the most popular router around. Everyone seems to have one. I assume you have a 802.11g card in your laptop, and not a N.

Do yourself a favor and troll the Linksys forums for a couple of days. You'll find page after page after page of people with wireless router problems. Its not a Linksys problem, but rather a wireless router problem. These things just seem to be problematic.

If you game on the desktop, I would recommend hooking up your desktop directly to the router (hardwired, not wireless), and have the laptop wireless. It would eliminate any lag due to wireless issues.

And remember, WPA is more secure than WEP.

[Spiffs]

oh alright, and also how would I find out what connection my laptop has? (G or N or that stuff)

And I can't get a direct cable because I'm tight on money and my desktop has wifi anyways

[RickyTick]

If your laptop is more than a year old, its probably G. You should be able to look in your device manager and see for sure.

Where are you going to put the router? If its in the same room as the desktop, than running a cable from the router to the desktop shouldn't be a problem. It would be more reliable than going wireless.

[Spiffs]

we just got the laptop as a christmas gift so its very new, i'll try to find out what connection it is.

and my desktop is going to be in the basement with the router but all the way across the other side of the basement, so a cable might get in the way.
And also do you know how to find the connection specifically in the device manager?

[RickyTick]

Click Start>Computer>System Properties>Device Manager>Network Adapter>Right Click onthe adapter and click Properties. This is for Vista. XP is very similar.

[Spiffs]

I checked and the laptop can use G and so can my desktop adapter :)

Do you think that it will be a problem that my desktop is windows XP and the laptop is vista? I was reading some reviews that said the router had some issues with vista :(

[RickyTick]

No, shouldn't be a problem. When I first set up my network, my desktop was on XP, and the laptop was on Vista. It worked just fine. Then when I retired that old desktop (XP) and replaced it with my new Vista 64 bit gaming pc, it still worked great.

[Spiffs]

:) alright sounds good, I might get the router this week

[The Wise Monkey]

It really is worth using a cable with a desktop machine - I do a lot of online gaming, but was forced to use wireless because our router is on the ground floor and my room is on the 2nd floor. In the end, I bought a 25m cable instead. :D

Network cables are really cheap - the 25m cable cost me about $10.

[Spiffs]

oh lol

I'm probably going to get a cable later on :) , but for now I'll use the router