Hi guys,

I recently bought a new MacBook and am looking to finally go wireless! However, I've been looking around and I don't have the slightest clue to which sort of router I should be getting. So here's the questions:

- Should I get an all-in-one modem/router to replace my current fixed line ADSL modem? or should I just buy a router?
- BRANDS! Everyone has their opinions and I've heard a lot today. "Linksys are the best!" "Linksys are crap" "Ring up your isp and get their one." So if anyone can offer their opinion to what brand or model I should get to add to this frustration it would be much appreciated haha!

I don't want to spend too much, but I want something decent. So far a lot of people are recommending this one:

www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=5090

thoughts?

cheers,

kznefkt

(Insert fake american accent)..Oh my god! I was logging in to *totally* ask the same question!!

OK, in my case, the advice I'm after is slightly different. After nagging the folks to move to broadband for years, they've completely ignored their 3 sons and finally listened to a very switched on pensioner friend of theirs who is online and a Mac users....so they want to go on broadband!!

In my case, I'm thinking of giving them my US Robotics wireless router and upgrading....so I'm looking at a modem router that will handle ADSL2+ and even if possible, 802.11n (using all the mod terms but not knowing what they mean).

I had looked at this....
www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/en/product/XH9759

...but I then looked at the reviews for that and they're not that good.

So maybe a few posts on ones that suit kznefkt and I would be appreciated?

Cheers, Phil

Well, how ironic! I've just been asking myself these very same questions.

I have looked at these two:

www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=372080 (unable to find any reviews)

www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=364368 (reviews seem to indicate that its not that great a performer in the wireless area)

My preference, finances permitting (maybe my wife will buy me one for my 40th!), would be to stick with my current ADSL 2+ router (a Dynalink RTA1025W which is pretty good), and disable it's on-board Wireless G and plug a Wireless N router in to replace it. (thereby just using the Dynalink as purely an ADSL router with no wireless functionality)
The newer model Airport Extreme appeals due to its dual band wireless support which as I read it means that Wireless G devices will not affect the performance of the Wireless N devices (if you run them both the performance of N is normally severely degraded as soon as any G devices connect to the wireless infrastructure).
The other advantage is that it support 5GHz wireless N (with compatible clients, of which the iMac should be one) and as this is outside the already over-crowded 2.4GHz spectrum higher throughput can be obtained due to substantially less interference.

The above is based on my understandings as listed, if anyone would care to correct me or offer any further advise I would appreciate it.

Cheers,

Jamie

Googling, I've found that first product is known also as "F5D8236-4" (minus the au part) so "review belkin F5D8236-4" brings up quite a few.

Phil

I currently have the standard Dynalink modem that came with my Orcon account and have an Airport Extreme as my router. While this setup is more expensive it is guaranteed to work with the setup I need and certainly guaranteed to work with any Mac setup and unlike most of the other modems and routers it's dead easy to setup. You may not need the Extreme so I would recommend the Airport Express which is around $220.

The beauty of the Express is that it has features like remote speakers so you can wirelessly send your music from iTunes to your stereo. You can also share your printer across the network.

As for modem+router brands it's hard to say. D-Link are generally very good but as with anything they have good models and bad. Linksys I think are pretty good and they've got the benefit of being made by Cisco who are among the world leaders in networking. Dynalink are a good brand and being New Zealand there's a bit more local support.

The reason I am looking at the Airport Extreme is that I already have and Airport Express acting as wireless repeater (?) in the lounge which has my Xbox plugged in to it (so that it can access shared network drives in the "office") and it would seem logical to put something in my office that will not only act as a (high-speed) wireless AP but will also allow me to free up USB ports on my Mac by having my printer and TimeMachine USB drive plugged in to it. Does this sort of set up sound logical?

Hmmm...now you've got me thinking. I might look at an Extreme or Express (can't look on the Apple Store to see which is which at the moment) for the wireless part too!! And of course, I'd be supporting that nice NZMac.com site if I bought via my signature

Phil

DragonFire wrote:
will also allow me to free up USB ports on my Mac by having my printer and TimeMachine USB drive plugged in to it.

OK, now I'm more curious. The Extreme has only one USB port doesn't it? So how would you have a printer and a USB drive plugged into it?

If it is possible, does this mean I could take this.....
www.nzmac.com/reviews/hardware/voyager-q.html
...which I currently have attached direct to my Mac under Firewire 800 and have it attached to the extreme? This would mean that when I bought my laptop home from work, Time Machine would kick in for that also...would it?

Phil

DragonFire, your thoughts are valid. That's essentially how it works. You boost the network by making the more powerful of the two the main router (Extreme) and make the lesser the expander (Express).

The USB thing is interesting. It may be possible to have a hub connected to the Extreme but it would make more sense to do something like have the drive connected to the Express and the printer connected to the Extreme. I recommend this because it is most likely that the Extreme would be put in a place where easy access to the ethernet ports can be done. Say an office. As such you would also have the printer in a readily accessible place... the office. The drive can sit anywhere because it doesn't need to be accessed (except in Phil's case).

The big problem is whether or not the Express is N spec. If it was purchased within this year then you'll be fine but if not then you could be running on G spec which will slow down the wireless network, especially with the XBox.

Phil, the Voyager Q can be connected. Because it sits on an Airport network then Apple will let any drive connected to it be used under Time Machine. The only problem is that it can only be under USB 2.0 so you'll never get the speed benefits of FireWire but it will work. The great thing about this is that you don't need to eject the disk so you can just swap drives a lot quicker.

I just wish the costs weren't so high for the Apple stuff (weirdly, you get $50 for the extreme at education price, but nothing off for the express)....so I'm starting to think about this....

www.linksysbycisco.com/ANZ/en/products/WAG160N

Reviews...
www.pcpro.co.uk/labs/212307/linksys-wag160n.html
www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/networking...nksys/wag160n/255596

And I could get it quite cheaply from the same place I got my 2 hard drives that go with my Voyager Q....
pconlineshop.co.nz/pcshop/

Phil