Going wireless... Help me decide....

[DJ-phYre]

OK I am fixing to go off to college and have my first cable modem \

*I have lived in the middle of nowhere all my life*

My friend and I are sharing a suite with 2 dorms connected by 1 bathroom in the middle. I have decided to go wireless instead of running wires. Right now I am trying to decide on a router and I think I have it narrowed down to 2:

Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G broadband router

http://reviews.cnet.com/Linksys_WRT...outer/4505-3265_7-30825185.html?tag=pdtl-list

D-Link DI-624 AirPlus Xtreme G router

http://reviews.cnet.com/D_Link_DI_6...outer/4505-3319_7-20817312.html?tag=pdtl-list

Does anyone else no anything else about these... just let me know what you think...

 

[Sazar]

the dlink looks delish

 

[LeeJend]

My buddy got the Dlink 2 weeks ago. I remote asisted him with it for a while since he was having trouble setting it up by hand. I finally made him use the wizard...

He has complained about problems with the number of servers he finds in games dropping by about half. That doesn't sound like the router to me but since it's the only problem he had I thought I'd mention it.

The Dlink is feature rich to the point of driving you nuts. If you don't have kids (or wireless dorm hackers) to set up firewalls and restrictions for it might be less troublesome to go with a simpler router like the Linksys.

The Dlink equipment is selling discounted with 50% or more off after rebates.

PS If you have any trouble with the wireless getting through the bathroom walls and fixtures check out the thread in here about making your own directional antenna. Some foam rubber and an empty potato chip can and you have a significant boot.

http://forum.osnn.net/showthread.php?t=39088&highlight=antenna

 

[Henyman]

linksys rule :d

it will get through wall easy

 

[leedogg]

My college, Carnegie Mellon, had a campus wireless network. You might want to see if this is available at your college.

 

[LeeJend]

With what Carnegie Mellon charges they can afford to give away broadband, lol.

So you're rich Leedog?

 

[leedogg]

not after going to CMU

We have a little joke here on campus:

Hows going to CMU like f*ing a virgin?

Its hard to get in, and nine months later you'd wish you'd never came.

 

[NetRyder]

Haha, good one leedogg

@LeeJend: It's not really the case only with expensive universities anymore. More and more univs are setting up campus-wide wireless networks. I'm a CS student at UCLA, and in addition to a wired residential network, there are also lots of wireless access points all over campus.
Very convenient

 

[PseudoKiller]

I am running a totally wireless house... Linksys Router WRT54g No problems.

 

[allbusiness]

I own both routers. The WRT54G has given me a few bumps, yes, but overall I love the router's capability and ease of use. One warning is that I needed a wireless bridge to go through a bunch of walls (maybe my house sucks). But after that purchase it was well worth the money. It's hosted several LAN parties also =)

The 624 has given me a lot of problems. Sometimes it decides to create random issues with my laptop where I can't connect to the net. But the signal is much better than the Linksys, in my experience.

In the end, I'd probably give the Linksys my thumbs up.

 

[DJ-phYre]

It shouldn't be a problem going through the bathroom, plus it will be my buddies laptop.. not my stuff which will be wired lol....

My college is poor, all we get is free dial-up account w/ the college, but you get free everything else and all you gotta pay is $120/semester to time warner for cable internet

 

[DJ-phYre]

um has anyone heard of the Blitz Firewall Super G Router

 

[Henyman]

nope

 

[Admiral Michael]

Linksys is the best IMO!

 

[muzikool]

DJ, have you checked with the school about its network policies? At the university I attended (and worked at), we had both Ethernet and wireless available, but connecting a router in a dormroom would mess up the network for the entire hall because they would be receiving router IPs instead of campus IPs. It mainly depends on the network infrastructure and policies... be sure to check on that before buying yourself something.

 

[Admiral Michael]

DJ, have you checked with the school about its network policies? At the university I attended (and worked at), we had both Ethernet and wireless available, but connecting a router in a dormroom would mess up the network for the entire hall because they would be receiving router IPs instead of campus IPs. It mainly depends on the network infrastructure and policies... be sure to check on that before buying yourself something.

If the school network is connected theu the WAN post then this shouldnt happen. But you'll want to use the uplink port and thenall you would need to do is disable DHCP in the router's config, and problem solved.

 

[muzikool]

It's not even so much about if it will create problems as it is about what the policies are. My school would pull you off of the network for 2-4 weeks for plugging in a router, amongst other things.

 

[DJ-phYre]

my school's network policy is free dial-up access... you have to PAY for cable access per semester w/ the cable company

 

[muzikool]

OK, so the broadband connection is not part of the campus network. There shouldn't be a problem with using a router then. I'd go with Linksys.