Wireless Router

Post by **Grimmie** » January 31st, 2010, 11:15

Basically my parents want to get my sister a wireless router.
I know nothing about wireless routers other than how to vaguely set up a network.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... ROUTER.htm

IS THIS GOOD?
Thankyou.

Edit:
Basically she's on Cable with Virgin Media, wants to wireless her shit up, and wants to spend < £50.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 31st, 2010, 11:27

Possibly.

I'm not really a fan of Belkin for no good reason, but I expect they're fine

Post by **Dog Pants** » January 31st, 2010, 11:28

Not a bad price that - a fiver cheaper than Amazon. Can't say about the router itself, but I've never had any problems with Belkin kit. Does this mean your neighbours get free internets then? :p

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » January 31st, 2010, 11:42

Seems fine.
Most of those reviews are useless though, mostly they're "My husband and I" or "I've no IT skills" and then give it 5 stars because it apparently works.

Post by **Joose** » January 31st, 2010, 13:37

That's actually the router I have. Its good: it has reasonable range, copes with the fact there are a few hundred wireless networks around here (something my old router did *not* like) and hasn't crashed once.

Post by **FatherJack** » January 31st, 2010, 19:35

I'd pick a router that's DD-WRT compatible, so if you wanted you could replace the firmware. Many older Belkins are cheaper and compatible, including c.£20 802.11g models, unless you must have 802.11n

It's probably not necessary (and not a little scary), but it's nice to have the option as one extremely useful feature it has is to boost the signal strength - which can widen the coverage significantly, which can be an issue depending how many walls it has to go through. In addition to making sure your signal is stronger than the neighbours (heh) it has a scanning feature so you can avoid using conflicting channels.

Generally 802.11n is a waste of money unless you need to transfer very large amounts of data between devices inside the home, or have a lot of devices. 802.11g's top speed of 54Mbps exceeds most broadband speeds, so it won't be any slower for external access and the corresponding wireless cards/dongles you'll need are cheaper, too.