Advice please about wireless routers

Hi

My daughter wants a wireless router installed on our home computer (Windows XP Pro OS) so that she can connect to it, using her laptop which has a Vista OS, our broadband provider is Talk Talk, I am not up to speed with wireless routers and need advice for the following questions:

1. Will any wireless router work with my broadband provider, I mean do I have to stick to what they provide, reason being I've not heard anything good about the wireless routers that Talk Talk supply i.e. Huawei - SmartAX MT882 or the Echolife HG 520.

2. If any wireless router will work once set up, can someone please advise what is the easiest to set up and the most reliable to use and one that will work with both XP and Vista.

3. What are these plug type wireless devices, are they the same as a router and if so are they any good.

 

1. any router will work. Look for one with 802.11b/g/n compatability. the 'n' standard is newer and some routers may not have it, the ones that do cost a bit more. 'n' isn't a requirement but it's nice to be ready when 'n' becomes more widespread.
2. Again, any brand should be OK. Maybe your internet provider has some recommendations. Many people will say that brand 'x' is better than brand 'y' or whatever. I've used $30 routers, and I've used $130 routers. I couldn't tell the difference in speed. The more expensive ones had more features for security and whatnot, but the speed was essentially the same.
3. These plug type things are NOT routers. They are wireless adapters that plug into a PC and allow it to communicate with the router. The router plugs into a modem (supplied by your internet provider) and that plugs into a cable from the wall. The plug-in thingy connects to your PC (usually through a USB port) and is more-or-less the same as plugging a cable into the ethernet port, except there's no cable. And they work fine. With these, a brand name might be a good idea. Some of the cheaper ones seem to not get as good of speeds over a distance when compared to the name brand more expensive units. They also make PCI cards that go into a tower PC (you open the case and put it in a slot). These wifi adapters are also available with antennas so you can move it around a bit to get better reception.
Routers are not Windows dependent. This means that you can use one router and any PC regardless of the Windows version can connect. Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista PCs can all be in the same house and connect to the same router at the same time. The USB wifi adapters however are Windows dependent. The version of Windows that they are comaptible with will be listed in the product description and/or on the packaging. Most are compatible with all Windows versions; some are for Win2000/XP/Vista only.

 

Googling around I saw complaints about the routers supplied by Talk Talk.
I also found this

So just go to a computer shop and ask to see the wireless adsl routers. Go to a few stores because just maybe one store is having a sale and the same router might be cheaper.

 

Hi DLB & PLODR

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it, with regard to Talk Talk, I'm sure I read on their website that there are only about three routers that work with their software, the two I previously stated and a netgear, my brother in law has had trouvble with his own netgear so I was a bit loath to buy one, but if as you say any wireless router should work with Talk Talk, then I will have a look at whats available and of course get the latest model with the "N" standard, thanks once again.

Regards

Pozzy