Wireless modem and router or just router best?

[danielsuperchef]

Hi all,
Is there a general rule of thumb that a stand alone wireless nrouter is better than a wireless router with built in modem?
So THIS
vs THIS

all other things being equal like both including dongle and both the same 'N' spec etc..

thanks

 

[Guest]

For simplicity's sake get a wireless router with built-in modem. Cheaper too -- because that's what most people buy including ISPs who buy them by the thousand.

 

[danielsuperchef]

For simplicity's sake get a wireless router with built-in modem. Cheaper too -- because that's what most people buy including ISPs who buy them by the thousand.

can you reccomend a good one, what about the netgear in the OP?

 

[Psychoteddy]

They're both terrible pieces of equipment. I've seen them both in action and have worked on them in the field and they've all been nothing but garbage. The built-in modem router especially. It has more overheating issues than you can shake a stick at. You can sit the thing on top of a box fan and it will still drop IPs and remain hot as an oven.

Go with one of the new updated Motorola Modems and a nice Cisco e2000 or e3000 and you can't go wrong.

 

[danielsuperchef]

For simplicity's sake get a wireless router with built-in modem. Cheaper too -- because that's what most people buy including ISPs who buy them by the thousand.

can you reccomend a good one?
What about the netgeat above??

 

[danielsuperchef]

p.s. I was going to get 2, one for me one for family member, as we both already have modems I was going to just get a good router, nut thought it maay be more difficult to set up 'inline'?

 

[danielsuperchef]

its not letting me edit, so have to keep posting
wot about THIS one??

 

[Psychoteddy]

its not letting me edit, so have to keep posting
wot about THIS one??

Hell. To. The. No.

Belkin is even worse than Netgear.

Trust me, you get what you pay for.

 

[danielsuperchef]

muchos gracias!!

 

[Psychoteddy]

muchos gracias!!

np, just doin my part to help.

I've been a network tech professionally for about 5 years now so I can tell you all of this from personal experience of working with these routers and seeing how they hold up to normal and heavy use. Belkin and Netgear simply do not cut it. I'd go for D-Link or Cisco/Linksys. Both make great networking equipment (albeit at a premium). However, let me say that just about any router under $80 is not going to be worth your time or money. Below that price point corners have to be cut and sacrifices have to be made. Again, you get what you pay for.

 

[Guest]

Netgear stuff can overheat if you don't locate it sensibly -- the older models (DG834GT etc) had silly feet added to try to get round that issue. But our Netgear DG834GT at home has been running without interruption for nearly 5 years and a second one I installed 3 years ago elsewhere has been equally trouble free.

I'd agree mostly on D-Link, though one model seemed to have gross security issues (like I broke into my neighbour's WPA protected router entirely by accident). D-Link offers more features than Netgear but at the cost of complexity in setting up.

 

[Psychoteddy]

Netgear stuff can overheat if you don't locate it sensibly -- the older models (DG834GT etc) had silly feet added to try to get round that issue. But our Netgear DG834GT at home has been running without interruption for nearly 5 years and a second one I installed 3 years ago elsewhere has been equally trouble free.

I'd agree mostly on D-Link, though one model seemed to have gross security issues (like I broke into my neighbour's WPA protected router entirely by accident). D-Link offers more features than Netgear but at the cost of complexity in setting up.

Well, let me caveat my previous statement by saying that the higher end Netgear stuff is alright. It's not great in my book, but it's alright. Heating issues aren't nearly as bad on their new vertical design, but they still exist.