Wireless Router Advice

[Rich]

I have been using a Linksys WRT54G wireless router for a number of years and, although it works fine, I thought it would be time to upgrade to a newer model which might be faster and more user friendly. For instance, there is no way to allow a guest on my home network without giving them my WPA code. Does anyone have any recommendations? I've seen the Valet commercials, but have heard mixed reviews. The main floor of my house is about 2000 sq.ft., but we also use laptops and a Wii in my basement so I'd like to make sure it has extended coverage. We also tie in handheld devices (iPhones and Blackberries) to the WiFi so I want to make sure it has the capacity to handle multiple devices at one time.

[cspan37421]

Consider the Medialink Wireless N router. 988 reviews on Amazon.com, 4.5+ stars. My first one was defective, but the second one has been rock solid. My review:
here's my review of it:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3DY526IJW87OW

Also, they have real people for tech support stateside - not scripted, and competent. Very rare these days! Worth it for that alone.

In my review I noted that range seemed to drop off sharply for my old laptop, for which I had to buy a USB wireless N adapter as the internal b/g card wasn't compatible with n. I should note to you that I've received zero complaints from my wife & kids who use laptops, iPods, and so forth around the house, so I think the range problem was probably just my laptop and the adapter.

[Rich]

Consider the Medialink Wireless N router. 988 reviews on Amazon.com, 4.5+ stars. My first one was defective, but the second one has been rock solid. My review:
here's my review of it:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3DY526IJW87OW

Also, they have real people for tech support stateside - not scripted, and competent. Very rare these days! Worth it for that alone.

In my review I noted that range seemed to drop off sharply for my old laptop, for which I had to buy a USB wireless N adapter as the internal b/g card wasn't compatible with n. I should note to you that I've received zero complaints from my wife & kids who use laptops, iPods, and so forth around the house, so I think the range problem was probably just my laptop and the adapter.

Thanks cspan. The reviews are impressive. I assume it allows easy access for guest use on a home network? That's one of the problems I have with mine.

[cspan37421]

Thanks cspan. The reviews are impressive. I assume it allows easy access for guest use on a home network? That's one of the problems I have with mine.

I don't actually know; I just give my WPA2-PSK password to my dad or stepmom when they visit and I think their laptops just save it (hidden, I hope) as a password/network combination and don't have to re-enter it upon a second visit (unless I change the password, which I tend to do annually for all of mine that I care about). I only use the password, I don't hide the network, and I don't use any MAC filtering or other things that are easily defeated. Just a good password of random letters and numbers.

So in the "connectivity ease" sense they're not any more guests than my kids or wife, who use the WiFi in the same manner. I hope that answers your question - if not, try me again!

[Rich]

I don't actually know; I just give my WPA2-PSK password to my dad or stepmom when they visit and I think their laptops just save it (hidden, I hope) as a password/network combination and don't have to re-enter it upon a second visit (unless I change the password, which I tend to do annually for all of mine that I care about). I only use the password, I don't hide the network, and I don't use any MAC filtering or other things that are easily defeated. Just a good password of random letters and numbers.

So in the "connectivity ease" sense they're not any more guests than my kids or wife, who use the WiFi in the same manner. I hope that answers your question - if not, try me again!

I currently use WPA security which contains a string of 26 letters and numbers. It's a pain to keep changing that on all of my components. When I lost power recently I went to a friend's house and they were able to log me in as a guest without changing their password. It was basically a one-time thing, which is what I'm looking for. I called Mediabridge and they said the Medialink does not ahve that capability because it only has one antenna.

[UrinalCake]

One of the first decisions you'll have to make is whether to use the 2.4GHz band, the 5GHz band, or a dual-band router that supports both. Both bands have the same theoretical maximum transfer rate, but 5GHz is supposed to reflect off of walls better and provide greater range. In my experience though, I live in a house with plaster walls and I found that the 5GHz band attenuates faster through the walls, so I actually got better range out of the 2.4GHz. You'll almost definitely want a router that supports 802.11n (rather than g), which is pretty standard nowadays.

Approach any online product reviews with caution. With just about any product you'll get some people who say it's great and other who say it stinks. Sometimes it's an inexperienced user who didn't configure the thing properly, and conversely sometimes a person opens up the box and has never had anything like it before and thinks it's great but would consider anything to be great. I don't put too much stock into the overall average star rating that a product gets, but when you read individual reviews you can glean good information from the technically qualified reviewers.

I think that providing guest access is a pretty common feature, but you'd probably have to sift through the user's manual of a particular product to determine if it supports this (most user's manuals are freely available online). Another feature that you might consider is a USB port for attaching a network hard drive - though these are notoriously bad and have slow transfer rates. I wouldn't worry at all about having adequate "capacity" to handle multiple devices, this shouldn't be a problem at all for any router.

Good luck!

[-jk]

I've set up a couple clients on a Linksys E3000 (Cisco has since upgraded to E3200), with guest access and attached storage. Good throughput but a lousy setup interface. We set the guest access password to their home phone number for simplicity - we didn't want it wide open for any drive-by user, but weren't too worried about anyone hacking their way in to the guest network.

[Speaking of drive-by users and hacking: Never use WEP; that can be cracked in minutes - or less. Use WPA2 and make sure your password isn't common or uses the typical substitutions: $ for s, ! for 1 or i, 3 for E, etc. There are tools that automatically test those against a few captured packets - they don't even have to poke the router to test so you'll never see the traffic even if you looked. And hiding your SSID or requiring MAC addresses won't do a thing to help security.]

One other feature to look for is a router that supports both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz (frequently marketed as "dual band"). The 802.11n ("N") standard supports both, but manufacturers often don't include 5.0 GHz to cut costs. 2.4 GHz (used in 802.11b/g) penetrates farther, but many cordless phones and microwaves use the same wavelengths and cause interference, leading slowdowns or drops. 5.0 GHz (802.11a) won't travel as far through your house, but the signal will be more consistent.

For now there's a lot less competition on 5.0 GHz, especially if you live in or near apartments or townhouses. Of course, most WiFi devices (smart phones, etc.) use 2.4 GHz, but if you're going to stream HD video, I'd use 5.0 GHz.

Lastly, before you toss your Linksys WRT54G, check out the Tomato firmware. Very cool stuff there for geeks - it blows any consumer grade firmware out of the water, though they're just beginning to play with multiple (i.e. guest) SSIDs.

-jk

[Rich]

I've set up a couple clients on a Linksys E3000 (Cisco has since upgraded to E3200), with guest access and attached storage. Good throughput but a lousy setup interface. We set the guest access password to their home phone number for simplicity - we didn't want it wide open for any drive-by user, but weren't too worried about anyone hacking their way in to the guest network.

[Speaking of drive-by users and hacking: Never use WEP; that can be cracked in minutes - or less. Use WPA2 and make sure your password isn't common or uses the typical substitutions: $ for s, ! for 1 or i, 3 for E, etc. There are tools that automatically test those against a few captured packets - they don't even have to poke the router to test so you'll never see the traffic even if you looked. And hiding your SSID or requiring MAC addresses won't do a thing to help security.]

One other feature to look for is a router that supports both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz (frequently marketed as "dual band"). The 802.11n ("N") standard supports both, but manufacturers often don't include 5.0 GHz to cut costs. 2.4 GHz (used in 802.11b/g) penetrates farther, but many cordless phones and microwaves use the same wavelengths and cause interference, leading slowdowns or drops. 5.0 GHz (802.11a) won't travel as far through your house, but the signal will be more consistent.

For now there's a lot less competition on 5.0 GHz, especially if you live in or near apartments or townhouses. Of course, most WiFi devices (smart phones, etc.) use 2.4 GHz, but if you're going to stream HD video, I'd use 5.0 GHz.

Lastly, before you toss your Linksys WRT54G, check out the Tomato firmware. Very cool stuff there for geeks - it blows any consumer grade firmware out of the water, though they're just beginning to play with multiple (i.e. guest) SSIDs.

-jk

Thanks JK, that is very helpful. I was actually looking at the Linksys E2500 online when I saw your post. Regarding the Tomato firmware, though, I have no idea what you're talking about!

[duke74]

I am certainly not an expert on the matter, but I bought the Valet Plus a few months ago for one house and then another for a second in May. (Each is a multiple floor dwelling.)

I have had no signal strength issues and, probably best of all, the set-up was simple. Took me about 10 minutes to set up the networks. There is guest user capability as well if you prefer not to give out the password for your network.