Router Advice please

scl_2

Hi Folks

I'm in the market for a wired router
due to my USB modem dropping the ADSL too often

Main thing I wanted to know is are they all the same & should I just buy the cheapest I can find.
Or do I need the spend more money on a 'brand name' box to get something that wont cause any problems

Thanks.

ormus

whilst i would always go for a netgear, wired or wireless, ive also used the cheap ebuyer own brand ones and they have been ok.

if money is tight then go for the cheapy. the wired ones are really very cheap now. theres no real reason for anyone on BB, not to have a router these days.

bubblesbonbon

I had the same problem of dropping connections and took some advice from the thinkbroadband forum (good lads)and replaced my Speedtouch 330 modem with a netgear DG834 wired router.
Installation is easy but it would only work properly once I removed the Mcafee software firewall. (The router hardware firewall is better so don't worry)

I found that the connection speed varies but pages load quicker regardless. The router does drop the connection occasionally due to my noisy line but it reconnects much quicker than the modem.

One other point is if you are using a cheap telephone extension lead then it can really affect the signal stats if you have a weak line and I found a distinct improvement when I used a lead like this.

The DG834 wired router is less than £40 from Amazon.

Chippy_Minton

I think it's worth paying a bit extra for a popular brand name. For one thing they generally work better than 'little known' name routers and, if you do have problems, the online support - both official and unofficial via forums etc. - is far better because more people have the device so the problem is more likely to have been seen before.

And another vote for the Netgear DG834 - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/52754

bubblesbonbon wrote:

replaced my Speedtouch 330 modem with a netgear DG834 wired router.
Installation is easy but it would only work properly once I removed the Mcafee software firewall. (The router hardware firewall is better so don't worry)

I wouldn't rely on just the DG834's hardware firewall. By default it allows any program running on your computer to connect to the internet, so if you had a virus etc. which attempted to connect to the internet you wouldn't know about it. Configuring it to instead block all outgoing connections and only allow certain 'services' is ineffective if the virus uses the same port as one of the allowed services. You should therefore use a software firewall which will monitor both the port and program name.

scl_2

Thanks for the help
Just placed an order with Amazon