Wireless Modem/Router

[ratewhore]

I use a 3com officeconnect adsl modem/router http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=395K

No problems with it, I have 3 laptops and a USB wireless printer hub connected. Bear in mind that from time to time you will have to connect via ethernet as most of these products drop the wireless occasionally. Setup is straightforward and the expected security mechanisms are there. You can even set up a DMZ if thats your bag!!!

Any questions drop me a PM.

[Xenophon]

Hugely informative and helpful. Thank you kindly.

[The Lone Gunman]

You should not need to have a direct connection to do the setup, as Tony and I said above, the instructions will give you an IP address which you enter into your web browser which will show you a web page from the box to allow you to do set up.
You may need to know a few settings, but you can google for most of these and ADSLGUIDE is an excellent source of info. Dont get rid of your old kit till you have all the info you need.

Most wifi routers can cope with 20 or so attached devices depending on use, but you are slowing your connection down. normal ADSL is 540 with up to 4 times that from some ISPs. WIFi is normally around 54 though some products do much better like LMs Netgear item.

If you can hard wire then you can run at full speed. You wont notice much difference if you dont download a lot or you are not an online gamer, but if you are then get a 4 way ethernet and WiFi modem router then run an ethernet backbone and connect direct when you can.
I have a desk top and an xbox hard wired in and the wife uses the lap top to surf wirelessly.

[Xenophon]

Thanks all.

TLG - You are right. My router does indeed have an ADSL connector that goes to the wall socket via a micro filter. Got blimmin micro filters all over the place (Sky for example). The point I wanted to make (and I don't think it should make a difference) is that my setup will be:

Internet - ADSL Modem/Router - Wireless - Laptop

So no PC will be directly connected to the router - except during the setup process I presume. As I say I don't believe it will make a difference once the wireless network is setup - I just wanted to upgrade my kit and get some that made the process easier.

Tony - Yes I have an ethernet port on my laptop.

Thanks for the product advice Ladymuck. I have never had a problem with Netgear so may give that a go.

[BoredBloke]

My netgear one allows me to simply type the ip address into the IE address bar and goes straight to the router config. I assumed they all did this. So long as your wireless connection is set to use DHCP you should be ok. Do you not have an ethernet port of your laptop also?

My router was rubbish until I updated the firmwear and Netgear support is rubbish.

[The Lone Gunman]

I am not sure I understand the question.

How can the PC be before the modem? Surely the PC is after the modem.
Surely your router has an ADSL connector that goes to the micro filter then wall socket?
usualy you can set them up on the wifi band. There will be a web ident along the lines of 192.168.1.1. Set your browser to look at that page and you will be able to do the set up.


Any way, there are lots of wireless devices available. D/Link, Belkin and Netgear all do good ones.
I would suggest you buy a built in router/modem/wifi access point as matching boxes later is almost impossible (I know I have tried).

Have a look at the reviews in ADSLguide (google for it).

[ladymuck]

Try this, use it at home works a treat.

http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WGT624.php

[Xenophon]

At home I have an ADSL broadband connection that is wired to a desktop PC. I then have a wireless modem/router allowing me to pick up my broadband connection with my laptop by Wi-Fi.

I am in the process of disposing of my desktop PC and am moving to using just my laptop.

My current wireless modem/router does not have any instructions on how to set it up without using a desktop PC to hard-wire it to first. Has anyone got any wireless modem/router recommendations? I just need one which is usable with a laptop where no hard-wiring to a desktop PC is necessary.

Would be handy if it allowed a small number of other devices to be connected wirelessly also (Xbox 360 for example).

Thanks...