First time buying wireless router....need advice

S

Stevarian

Geek Trainee
Hey all,

I just ordered my first laptop, and so now I need to get a wireless router. I have never done any networking with my home computer, so this is all new to me. I have been going to different hardware sites, and there are a ton of wireless routers to chose from.

I will mainly be gaming on both my desktop and my laptop. I also have an Xbox 360 and PS3, which I have never bothered to connect to the internet, but will once I get a router. I do not know if I will do much in the way of media streaming thru these two machines, but may want to.

The router that seems to get good reviews is the Cisco Linksys E3000. I am pretty much a noob at networking, so need something easy to setup, and one that will offer fast connection speeds to my laptop. My house is single story, and only about 1300 square feet.

The laptop I ordered is an Alienware 11x, and I put together my desktop 2 years ago.

What routers would you recommend? Thanks in advance!

Steve
 
Welcome to HWF :)

To get the best speed possible, I'd suggest getting an 802.11n compatible wireless router. Most these days have 802.11n, so that should be fine. However both the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 use the 802.11g technology. This one is slower than 802.11n. It will work, but only at the slower speed. But when you're using the slower 802.11g devices, the router will completely switch off the fast 802.11n and only use the slower 802.11g because it can't use both at the same time. To prevent this from happening, I'd recommend an 802.11n dual-band router. These routers can run both the slower 802.11g and the fast 802.11n at the same time.

Some great examples of these are the Linksys E3000 and Netgear WNDR3700, which both have 802.11n and dual-band technology. You can find some reviews about wireless routers on the Cnet website :)

If you want to connect your desktop wirelessly, make sure you have an 802.11n wireless network adapter. But if possible, use an ethernet cable to connect your desktop to the router instead of wireless.
 
Thank you very much for the advice. I checked out both of those routers, and I believe I will order the Netgear.

What will I need to connect my PS3 or Xbox 360? Just an adapter?

Thanks again!

Steve

Ok, feel like a dummy....just did quick search, then turned no my PS3 and it has built in WIFI....so all I have to do is wait for the router and I can test it out. My XBOX 360 is not currently hooked up to the TV....and I haven't looked online for info....I think I recall seeing it needs a WIFI adapter.....thanks again!
 
the PS3 has built in wi-fi, so all you would do is search for wireless connection on your ps3, itll pick it up, and that should do it. Or you can connect an ethernet cable. The New Xbox 360's have wi-fi built in while the previous models don't.
 
make sure you use WPA-2 encryption with a good pass phrase. I perfer to use SHA1-hash or MD5 another algorithm as the password. check it out WhatsMyIP.org : Hash Generator calculate your passphrase into SHA-1 hash. makes it harder for hackers to guess your pass phrase using certian linux based OS's and rainbow tables or dictionaries whatever you wanna call them. dont use wep whatever you do hacked within 30 seconds. once a hacker is onto your internal network they can do what they want.
 
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