New Wireless Router key to turning in WUs

C

Carnival Forces

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Messages
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hey all, i currently have a good-for-shit Netgear Wireless router (i can get the model number if necessary), but it won't really work -- it fails from connecting computers right next to it to connecting my computers upstairs to it.

it connects sporadically (as illustrated by me being able to post this) but not on a regular basis -- since i go to school i can't monitor it and i frequently end up having hours of "dead time" where my computers are on drawing electricity but not actually doing anything (since they've finished their WU)

i need you all to give me the best (price is not an issue, or so claims my father) wireless router available on the market. this router is critical to me being able to turn in WUs with maximum efficiency

to the mods: DR, Moose, please don't move this thread:
a) it has to do with folding -- hence the talk about WU turn in efficiency
b) i would post it in the Networking forum, but the all of three people who frequent it probably wouldn't notice my thread
c) i'll probably get better, more knowledgeable responses here, making this the "most approriate forum" (quoted from the Rules) for me to post in
d) we've had much more OT threads here than this one (though this one is not OT at all (k* hasn't posted yet)) :eek: :p

thanks in advance, everybody.
 
since you are going for the best, I suppose you should go with wireless G. Linksys usually have the best routers there is, just sometimes an ass to set up. Trust me once you get those working, it goes like a charm.

So getting back to point...

I recommend the Linksys WRT54G.

Also, for Wireless B, Linksys is having a $30 MIR on the BEFW11S4 which is THE wireless B router to get.

I now charge 1 borg in my name for this advice. :D

 
haha. maybe i'll through a WU your way (if your advice pans out, that is...)

thanks for the quick response :)
 
If the WRT54G is the router with the wireless G and the 4 physical CAT5 connections, then that is the router I'm looking at eventually getting. It looks to be really nice since you have both your wired and wireless connections which is what I'm wanting. I've also seen a lot of people that love their Linksys routers. I can't say I've seen the same love for Netgear and others. And let's just say the Netgear router my friend is using isn't exactly my favorite.

 
I have to second (third?) the Linksys WRT54G.

My little garden, which is running on Mages' Fold-Server, has worked flawlessly with the router. I don't run my machines wirelessly, but have had no trouble browsing the internet with my PDA which is only B not G.

I recently installed the same model at a friends house. And, she gets excellent signal throughout her two story house.

If you choose one of these, there are currently two versions available. The newer of which has a lighted push-button on the left side of the facing. The button is for "Secure Easy Setup". Don't ask me what it means... I haven't used it yet. :p I would post a link to the product page at Linksys, but it doesn't show the current product.

Actually, now that I check, even NewEgg doesn't show the current model. I picked mine up at Frys. They had both, so I just HAD to grab the newer one. Plus, there is currently a $10 MIR.

And yes, the WRT54G is the one with four CAT5 and the wireless.
 
I'll also vote for the WRG54G from Linksys. I know people that use them and they swear by them. Plus, you can get fancy-pants firmware for these puppies that will let you boost the signal strengh and stuff. I'm currently working on a project that will utilize two of these routers to bridge two cable internet connections and create a neighborhood wi-fi hotspot. Should be fun if/when we get it running. :)
 
Same vote for me, the Linksys is a sweet router. The WRT54G is a breeze to set up now too if that worries you. You drop the cd into the computer, and any idiot can set it up in like 6 steps, even you K* :p . I love the fact that it has both cat 5 and mixed wireless. My brother just got one for school and its working flawlessly, him and his roomie stream each other's music over itunes without any problems. Our network admin at the school i just graduated from recommended linksys to me as well, and he isn't some small time network admin, managing a college campus requires that you know your stuff. I would also suggest NOT EVER BUYING D-LINK, they suck.
 
GameALot said:
If you choose one of these, there are currently two versions available. The newer of which has a lighted push-button on the left side of the facing. The button is for "Secure Easy Setup". Don't ask me what it means... I haven't used it yet. :p I would post a link to the product page at Linksys, but it doesn't show the current product.

And yes, the WRT54G is the one with four CAT5 and the wireless.
Click to expand...

My brother's had that "easy button" thing on it too. THAT made it even easier to setup, assuming you had a newer linksys wireless card that supports it and you use their drivers. Basically you set up the router, press the "easy button" , go to the comp and it will already be configured to hop onto the wireless, even with a WEP key enabled, it was sweet! I had their wireless rolling in less than 5 minutes, it had to be some kind of record.
 
magnusvir said:
I recommend the Linksys WRT54G.
Click to expand...

QFT, that is singly the best G router out there. I've had Netgear and Belkin and neither one of them can touch the stability and connectivity that the Linksys provides.


 
Another vote for the WRT54G here. I bought a DLink 524 wireless router (on someone else's suggestion) to go with mym mom's new laptop and that thing sucked. It was constantly dropping connections on both the wired and wireless computers, even though signal strength and everything were good. I returned it, bought a WRT54G, and haven't had any problems since!
 
well you want the best, get cisco

but since you probably don't want to take out a small loan for one, I guess their little side business linksys will have to do the job.
 
thanks for all the replies, guys. it looks like the Linksys WRT54G is what i'll be getting.

that being said, the wireless NICs i have installed in my computers are Netgear WG311's (they're 802.11g), yeah sorry they're netgear, at the time i just got everything netgear and hoped it would work ( and now look at me -- :mad: )

do i need to get new NICs as well, or should those play fine with the WRT54G?

thanks!
 
okay, i looked up the Linksys WRT54G router on bestbuy, and i came up with four different models, which one should i get?

there's the WRT54GX (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...tCategoryId=pcmcat7000050002&id=1099384455676)


WRT54GS (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...tCategoryId=pcmcat7000050002&id=1074787298555)


WRT54G (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...tCategoryId=pcmcat7000050002&id=1051384663529)

and WRT54GC (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...tCategoryId=pcmcat7000050002&id=1108125259730)


as far as i can tell:
the "S" is for "SpeedBoost" (sounds good, but is it?)

and the "C" is for compact (which doesn't matter to me -- especially if it sacrifices performance).

the "X" one, i guess, is for SRX technology (which, linksys claims, increases the range by 3 times).

and the regular one is just, well, the regular one.


i'm so confused, i'm pretty sure i don't want the "C" one, but of the remaining three, which one should i get?
 
Carnival Forces said:
okay, i looked up the Linksys WRT54G router on bestbuy, and i came up with four different models, which one should i get?
Click to expand...
Don't get the GC. I've heard the range on it is stupidly short. I looked at a few reviews, and the consensus is that the GS and GX are better, but the speed/range boost is not worth the premium you'll pay for the router. This is particularly true if your house is less than...oh, say 6000 sq ft.

So it looks like the WRT54G is your best bet. Besides, there are 'third-party' firmwares out there (meaning people have hacked the original or written their own) that will boost your range and speed for free. I've heard that the hacked firmware is actually very good and very stable.

EDIT: It looks like you have two options: Sveasoft makes one that's $20/year here, or you can go the free and open-source route and take a look at wifi-box. Some slightly more detail here.
 
I agree that the straight WRT54G would be your best bet.

You may want to purchase it in person tho'. I did a little checking online, and BestBuy, NewEgg, CompUSA and Outpost (Frys), all seem to have the older model. Mine is v3.1 and has extra security features. WPA2 being the one I've noticed so far.

Sure, not all cards support WPA2. But, I figured that since they are the same price, I might as well get the newer one. ;)

The most obvious difference is that v3.1 has the Easy Setup button on the front.

Also, I wouldn't bother with the setup CD unless you have no idea of what you are doing. It assumes you are going to use Dynamic instead of Static ip's. Which of course doesn't play well with Fold-Server. It was an easy fix, but one easily avoided.
 
Also the G version, which I am running, has alot of 3rd party firmware available. So it is very easy to find something with all the features you want. I agree with everyone else, I have been running the G for over a year now, and it's been rock solid. They can get a bit warm, but I simply fixed that by attaching 4 water bottle lids to the feet, giving it another inch of height to help it breathe.

 
Linksys are good for the consumer market... CISCO is also really good, but they are more targeted for the corp market and come with a price tag to match.


 
Does any of the Linksys wireless cards have any Windows XP Pro x64 driver support yet?
 
A quick google search will answer your question, it's yes.

Can't argue Llinksys, they rock.

Luck
 
thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. my dad bought the "G" kind from Best Buy today, i'll install it when he gets back from work.

thanks! ^_^
 
www.portforward.com - has detailed instructions for most good stuff relating to such things for just about every router out there, worth remembering the address, even if you don't need it right now.
 
Carnival Forces said:
thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. my dad bought the "G" kind from Best Buy today, i'll install it when he gets back from work.

thanks! ^_^
Click to expand...

You owe me a borg or 1 work unit, preferebly a 600 pointer.:D
 
magnusvir said:
You owe me a borg or 1 work unit, preferebly a 600 pointer.:D
Click to expand...
heh. i guess i do. you'll have the first (tear!) WU out of my post-OC A64 (i got a new Mobo for it b/c the Chaintech one finally went to hardware hell (no, not heaven, i said "chaintech")).

it's installed and so far, working great!

EDIT: now to put it to the test... BitTorrent time! (time to serve Linux again!)
 
budec said:
Linksys are good for the consumer market... CISCO is also really good, but they are more targeted for the corp market and come with a price tag to match.
Click to expand...

Linksys is actually owned by Cisco now. Sure the WRT54G isnt a Cisco 870 wireless, but they've put their brains into the new linksys line. I have the wrt54g2p, the vonage version, and it works great....I can pick up open networks at the end of my apt complex....well over 500ft with standard antennae.
My only problem with this thing is it doesn't like their older wireless B usb adapters....oh well, why use B when G is so much faster :D

Carnival Forces said:
now to put it to the test... BitTorrent time! (time to serve Linux again!)
Click to expand...

Did you see that Linspire is giving away free d/l's of 5.0 this weekend......great speed on their bit-torrent link.
 
SpoogeMonkey said:
Did you see that Linspire is giving away free d/l's of 5.0 this weekend......great speed on their bit-torrent link.
Click to expand...
meh, from what i've heard Linspire isn't really worth the download...
 
yeah, when i tried it (back in the lindows days) the base version didn't have a C compiler. you had to download another CD for that. and i think that was back when i had dialup... so yeah. didn't keep that long.
 
SpoogeMonkey said:
Linksys is actually owned by Cisco now. Sure the WRT54G isnt a Cisco 870 wireless, but they've put their brains into the new linksys line. I have the wrt54g2p, the vonage version, and it works great....I can pick up open networks at the end of my apt complex....well over 500ft with standard antennae.
Click to expand...

hrm, I didn't know that :D Then again I'm not a network guy... the only thing I know is we have some CISCO wireless at work and that thing works in the next building over :eek:

I've never hard problems with linksys, just amazed at how good thoughput and range the CISCO's get at work.
 
yeah, my router says "CISCO" on the front (on the Easy Setup button -- which, btw, only works with other Linksys NICs (i think))

i have a "v4" one (so it says on the bottom), so i'm guessing that's good :D

haven't lost connectivity yet! :)
 
what with all this supposed "hacked firmware" floating about...

hey, unhappy_mage, can you make a Linux that'll let me fold timeless tinkers on my router?
 
Nope, sorry, it's ARM architecture not x86. You're not the first to ask, though... ;)

 
No, i know you can run Linux on it. That's not the problem. The issue is that the Stanford executable is an x86 executable. I'd have to disassemble it, convert the x86 function calls to ARM ones, reassemble, and debug. This is harder than it sounds. I know how to do half of one of those things, I think.

However, I still suggest you run a modified Linux firmware on the device. The advanced capabilities just blow the default firmware out of the water.

 
Just whatever you get stay away from the linksys WRK54G... it only works half the time for me and has brought my folding to a grinding halt and can't afford a new router....
 
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