Need a wireless router, please help?

[darcyhart]

hey i am getting a laptop and want wire free internet, i do not really know what type of router i need as ive heard there are some for phone lines and others for cable? i havnt got a clue whats going on, if you could please guide me in picking a wireless router out then that would be great! my ISP is NTL:/Virgin Media, could you please tell me why and how in picking out a W. router please. thanks v much, cheers!
ps. i dont want to buy the one that NTL might supply and i need the router to also connect to my desktop
incase you need to know, i have a normal NTL modem right now.
thanks again

 

[JustAGuy51]

Since you are asking general, here is the general answer. Depends!

Different Perspectives:

Security: you'll want the one with WPA2 security (means WPA2 Personal) or at least WPA. You don't want the ones with WEP; TKIP is a little better but falls in same category as WEP. If you get WPA2 router, you also need WPA2 (personal) capable WiFi card.

Range: for SoHo models, they won't indicate this: the more power (measured in dBi) the better signal receptions/transmission. What you can do is to look for the one with multiple antennas (I don't own one but guessing), hoping that it will do better reception.

Brand: Its hard since I don't own any SoHo models but I do know that LinkSys "Business Class" models are always better but expensive. If you care about putting more work into it, buy Cisco models. For pure access point, try AIR-AP1232AG-A-K9 (in this case, you'll need additional wired router to hook this AP to). For combined with wired side, try Cisco 871W models. You can get them on ebay.

 

[JustAGuy51]

I took one point back: unless you are technically comfortable, don't buy Cisco devices. It will be more trouble and frustrations for you.

 

[Guest]

I think you are, being admittedly not experienced, a little unwise to reject the Virgin supplied wireless router which should be set up to work with their service straight out of the box -- and be supported by them.

I believe the Virgin routers are a Netgear model with customised firmware -- there's nothing wrong with Netgear as a brand in my experience.

 

[darcyhart]

I think you are, being admittedly not experienced, a little unwise to reject the Virgin supplied wireless router which should be set up to work with their service straight out of the box -- and be supported by them.

I believe the Virgin routers are a Netgear model with customised firmware -- there's nothing wrong with Netgear as a brand in my experience.

hey, i bought a netgear in the end, i just wanted to go for something a lil better, made sure its compatible and should work with my laptop when lappy turns up, cheers guys!