Hello everyone, I need to get a wireless router for when I come home from school since both my sister and I have laptops and no wireless network in our house. She has a new macbook with the 802.11n network adapter, and I have a dell with the 802.11g. I was wondering what was the best router to get? Are there any compatability issues with 802.11n working with an older router? Also i'll have to buy a network adapter for my desktop in the house right now. So summary: best wireless router for our 2 laptops (price to performace ratio or something like that) and a compatable network adapter for the desktop. Thank you, -will

I think the 'n' adapter can use 802.11g, so I would suggest getting a router that supports 802.11g, and not 802.11n as it is still in draft and may not work with future 'n' adapters. Also don't worry about the top speed because you will not always achieve it and your internet connection will be much slower than the wireless.

I have a Netgear WGT624v3 (has 'super-g') and don't have any complaints. I don't know how much it costs now but most routers are in the $60US range.

As for the desktop, I suggest getting a wired Ethernet card and using that instead of the wireless.

If you do decide to go for Wireless G, the Linksys WRT54G is a pretty sweet linux based router. People have done some pretty crazy things with them. I have also used a D-Link WBR-2310, although I don't really use the wireless on it. It was only $50 CDN, so it was pretty cheap.

As far as I know, most Wireless N adapters are generally backwards compatable with Wireless B/G. I haven't used any myself though.

Quote: Original post by Moe
If you do decide to go for Wireless G, the Linksys WRT54G is a pretty sweet linux based router. People have done some pretty crazy things with them.

Beware: the new v5/6 WRT54G's don't really support Linux all that well. If you can find an early model (version 4 or below), it'll work fine. If you don't know the version, assume it's not usable. The alternative is to get a WRT54GL, which is essentially a WRT54Gv4 that costs an extra $10.

I use a WRT54Gv2 and a WRT54GL with a WDS setup (both running dd-wrt v23SP2) and I absolutely love it. I never get too much trouble from the setup, and the network supports the 10 people living in my house (average 7 computers online, max is probably around 16-18).

Thanks guys. The desktop computer has a wired ethernet card right now. Is it possible to have a wireless router for use with the laptops, and still have the desktop plugged in with the ethernet cord?(i.e, have a wireless and non-wireless network up in the house) I thought the ethernet cord would have to plug into the router thus rendering the computer without one. Would I need 2 cords? Or am I assuming wrong things..

-will

Most wireless routers will also have your standard ether net plug for hard wired connections. All the common home ones I've ever seen have 4 wireless ports, and 4 wired ports.