Still Searching for a Wireless Router...

Well I was out-bid again (ya snooze ya lose) on ebay for a router. Maybe it's some sort of "sign", as I'm really not sure what the heck I'm doing anyway? I continue to find this stuff maddeningly baffling...

I know this much: I supposedly have this adapter in route --> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3173666&CatId=2704 ... and I was (am?) trying to mate it to a (reasonably-priced), well-suited router. I've been looking at all options, but have read (and tend to believe) that I should stick with the same (Belkin) brand for both the router and adapter (for the sake of compatibility).

Any suggestions? I've been looking at all of these --> http://www.bizrate.com/n-belkin-wireless-router/ ~~~ but still not sure what would best fit my need (for the money) with the aforementioned Belkin adapter, and a range of approximately 150 feet - from one unobstructed building to another (XP desktop to a Vista desktop)?

 

Thank you very much - great info.

I basically just need to access the net...not looking to stream or transfer files (at least not for now). - thanks again!

 

Here's a page full of pretty cheap routers, mostly brand name.

http://3btech.net/networking-routers.html

Best of all? Shipping is part of the price if it comes Ground.

 

Agreed with the Linksys - I've used/worked on them all: Belkin, BT, D-Link, Netgear, and pound-for-pound, the Linksys/Cisco reliability and support puts them #1 in my book...

 

Ok, so forgive me, I'm a li'l s-l-o-w. Though I will have an "N adapter" (card, "dongle", or whatever it's called), you're saying that a "G router" will serve me well enough (or just as well as an "N")? Range (distance) is my main concern here. I need it to go approx. 125-150 feet, from one building to another.

Speed is always nice, but it's a secondary concern in my proposed application here. I pretty much only need to check email (and access the net otherwise) - for now.

In fact, speed may even be third on my list, behind Security. And I'll be set-up in a very rural (isolated) place, so security may not even be an issue. There are "maybe" three houses (and businesses, etc.) within a mile of me here, and of those, one is occupied by people still living in the 19th century (!) - so I KNOW they won't be trying to hack my connection.

Thanks again - and in advance,
Glenn

 

If you're that far out, I gather you have either dial-up or sat internet? In either case, range is most important, because I know dial-up doesn't get anywhere near as fast as B. MIMO is also a good option for reliabilty if you've got a lot of walls to go through.

 

We actually have (the slowest) DSL (am only a mile out of town, where the ISP is located, but got a lot of w-i-d-e open space between here and there...

Thanks for the reply!

 

Beautiful. Was actually leaning toward Linksys before I bought that dongle/thing, but since you say it doesn't matter, I'll Google high-gain (booster) antennas for whatever Linksys router I decide on.

I may just wait and see how it works without a booster, though...no sense in tight-@$$ed Glenn dropping dimes he could use otherwise :-D

Thanks again,
Glenn

 

i found my refurbed Linksys WRT54G2 at Amazon for less than $20.00 USD plus shipping. even then, was cheaper than new. i only use mine for my iPhone so may not be what you need/want. just a thought.

i've pretty much stopped getting anything at eBay via bidding. i use Buy Now or get it at Amazon; whichever is cheaper. still too much mysterious "bid" bumping for my taste at eBay. last time i bid was on something that started at $1.99 and got to $40.00 real quick and wasn't an antique. needless to say, i didn't get sucked in.

 

Agree that Linksys is good choice. I use sites that have several options like this one:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCQQ8wIwAw#ps-sellers