Dave Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Hi all Sorry to sound thick but I really am clueless about Routers, as of tomorrow I wil hopefully have wireless internet, new laptop on its way, ofcourse I want to be wireless, which router would you reccomend and is there anything I should look out for? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I don't think there's much in it really. We have a Belkin, can't remember the model number. It's easy enough to set up, works nicely and was cheap. If you know what brand the network card is in the new laptop, it might be worth choosing a router to match that, as you may find they connect just that bit quicker than doing it across different brands, but it doesn't really matter that much. May also be worth ringing your ISP and asking them what they generally recommend, as you may want to get them to talk you through the setup if you aren't confident, and that will be easier if they know the details on the one you're using. Bear in mind that wireless is slower than wired - doesn't make much odds for internet access, but if you are backing up a pile of data from your laptop, it can be worth plugging it into a wired network to do that cos it's loads quicker for big wads of data. Though personally I am lazy about that, and just set my backup to run overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uke Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I like theLinksys WRT54G It's not too expensive, easy to set up and has a good range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godin Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 We also have a linksys but a different one from the one above and run this PC as a wired connection and then another PC and 2 laptops wireless without any probs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprogsbloke Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 We have a NetGear router here. Was initially easy to set-up. we did have problems with our internet connection and the wireless connection went squiffy but they have a fantastic support we got response quickly which was really easy to follow. Had problems with a Belkin in the past and they were not as helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 We have a NetGear router here. Was initially easy to set-up. we did have problems with our internet connection and the wireless connection went squiffy but they have a fantastic support we got response quickly which was really easy to follow. Had problems with a Belkin in the past and they were not as helpful. NetGear here too and a second for the fantastic support as I am a numpty at that sort of thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafrisk Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 dOg don't get me started on this subject... I bought a router yesterday, as most of you will know that Mum bought me a Wifi enabled laptop on Tuesday. It is a Peak router with 4 ports fast ethernet switch. I followed both the computer guy's advice on setting it up, and also the quick installation quide. To be honest, I have no idea if I am running thorugh it now on the home P.C, all I know is that I can't get 'tinternet on the laptop now The last message I got on the laptop about it was that there's a firewall between the two computers stopping a connection between the two computers. I've just sort of given up tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 Just got a belkin router, laptop here, cant get it to set up! Grrrr! HELP! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 14, 2007 Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 What are you doing and what error messages are you getting? (to both Dave & Superfrisk) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 right, its saying its connected, all the lights are on, set up but wont load any webpages? cant get the laptop up had a friend to look at it, and he got stuck, even though hes done it before, no hope for me then is there? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Dave I am going to move this to the help section as the techie bods here ( sadly not me ) tend to look there for this type of thing hope you get it sorted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafrisk Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I must ask, is it safe to post IP addresses? I have finally found how to get onto the router's connection wizard website but I must confess it is very daunting (and I'm worried about typing the wrong thing in!!) Someone told me it's better to have WPA than WEP - how do I set it up (obviously after I get it running and how do I configure it to allow access to my nintendo ds when using the internet browser?) Just to add, I would copy and paste the connection wizard here for you lot to see but obviously if it's got Ip addresses on it, then I'm not sure if that's safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I can't think of any reason that it would not be safe to post IP addresses. Anyone who owns a website that you visit, for example, can know your IP address. I can't think of anything scary that anyone could do with the data. Unless you are also using your IP address to look at porn, and someone here owns the porn website you are visiting. That way they will know who you are. But as they own a porn website, I'm guessing they will be pleased, not shocked... Ahem. There are 2 sorts of IP addresses we're likely to deal with here - internal and external. If you have got an external IP address, that means your router has managed to contact your ISP, because your ISP is the one that hands out external addresses. This is good news, because it means you are connected (actually, I'm guessing you must both be connected, as you have internet access? Or are you using modems to come on here?) , and you just need to set up your internal network. That can be a little headache, but at least you know that it's your own equipment that needs to be sorted out, not your ISP screwing up. If you are not sure if your router is connecting to the Internet, give your ISP a call. They should be able to do a quick check and tell you if your router is connected, but they probably won't be willing to help you with your internal network. Supafrisk, do not worry about typing the wrong thing in. It's really unlikely that you will break anything. The worst you will do is make it not work, and as you are already at that stage, that is nothing to worry about! The control panel should have a reset button which puts everything back to the factory settings. If you don't want to publish your settings here, you can send them tome by PM, if you prefer? Dave, when you say 'its saying its connected' - do you mean the router, or the laptop? Can you see the router control panel web page from the laptop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafrisk Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I am connected.. and typing off my lappy The thing that confuses me is WEP versus WPA and how to set it up. I was told WPA was the best option as WEP can s-l-o-w everything down but if I use WEP I can use my nintendo DS browser with it too. Just one more thing to add, I noticed while fixing the problem (It was cos I hadn't gone onto the IP address website and adjusted the time zone etc) that with the lappy sat next to the PC and connected by router that according to the lappy it was connected at only 37%. I thought at first it was still accessing someone else's connection but no, when I pulled the power lead out of the router, I lost my internet on the lappy so I'm a bit confused as to how someone round the corner has a better signal than me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2007 its saying its connected when I try to configure it on the Pc, all the lights are on, on the router, but It wont load a webpage even though it seems to be connected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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