Who know about wireless routers ?

[piglett]

OK guys here is the deal
I have been using a wireless card through Verizon for the last 5 years
it works well with my laptop & i am happy with it .....but
I am cheep & i just can't see spending $65 a month through the rip off cable company so i don't watch TV anymore ......like NEVER
instead i buy cheep used VHS tapes for $3
& used DVDs for $5 down town at little movie store that we have here.
i probably have over 200 movies & after i have not see 1 for a year or 2 i have been known to watch it again. Last month a co-worker turned me onto a site called Hulu which has full length TV shows & even movies which i thought was dam cool.
the site is even free so it all looked good far a while.
then i start to think, i think there is a 5GB limit on internet each month & if i go over it could get pricey .
Sure enough i was at 9.8GB for the month & i had to step from my normal $59.99 a month plan (+ taxes) to the $199 a month wireless plan.
to make the story short i decided rite then & there i will have to make some changes because i will not allow this BS to happen again.

both of my neighbors have wireless routers & i can sometimes pick up a week signal from one or the other. I told 1 neighbor that i was willing to buy a better ( longer range) router if he would let me use it & he said no problem.

here is the deal the guys house is about 200 feet from mine & i don't know jack about wireless routers. I was checking eBay & man O man do they have a bunch on there.
But i just don't have a clue what i am looking for.

does anyone here know anything about these dam things???


thanks
piglett

http://cgi.ebay.com/NETGEAR-WNDR3300-RangeMax-Dual-Band-Wireless-N-Router-/260345127428?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Networking&hash=item3c9dc76204#ht_8662wt_930

will this get it done?
do i need one this pricey?
  

[fathertime]

Hey piggglettt!

I am amazed how they rip you off out there in the stix...

I use a router but it would not work for 200 feet.

If you don't get a proper response on the public forum, you can try pm'ing soltero...he knows a little something about these things.and might be able to give you a good perspective.

Fathertime!

[thekfc]

http://cgi.ebay.com/NETGEAR-WNDR3300-RangeMax-Dual-Band-Wireless-N-Router-/260345127428?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Networking&hash=item3c9dc76204#ht_8662wt_930

That is a short range router - you need something with a longer range.

I am using the D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router - excellent router with good range (give you about 33Mbps at 200 feet) and it is not too expensive around $90 (I got mine for around $70 on sale).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127215

The Trendnet Wireless N-Draft TEW-631BR Router is another great long range.

[Jeff S]

i buy cheep used VHS tapes for $3

Damn dude - you can get used DVDs around here for $2. VHSs go for about a buck. You gotta hitchhike out here and stock up.

[fathertime]

Damn dude - you can get used DVDs around here for $2. VHSs go for about a buck. You gotta hitchhike out here and stock up.

actually Jeff, the going rate here is .50cents.  I am not exaggerating, I recently saw a collection of dvd's unopened including some like 'private ryan' all for 50cents... After a few more yard sales that was simply the going rate...funny thing was still nobody was buying very many!

Fathertime!

[Jeff S]

Cool. I was quoting Cypress swap meet prices. Have to cruise some garage sales.

[piglett]

Hey piggglettt!
I am amazed how they rip you off out there in the stix...
Fathertime!

i used to pay $12 a month in Maryland for bare bones basic cable.
here all bare bones gets you it the "alphabet" stations which i never watch so what is the point ? i like the discovery channel, the speed channel, & spike TV.
there mite be a few others too but you get the idea.
I don't give a rats flying furry @ss who gets voted of the stupid island, or who the next American idol is.


piglett   

[piglett]

That is a short range router - you need something with a longer range.

I am using the D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router - excellent router with good range (give you about 33Mbps at 200 feet) and it is not too expensive around $90 (I got mine for around $70 on sale).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127215

The Trendnet Wireless N-Draft TEW-631BR Router is another great long range.

hey thanks for the 411 KFC

how is the wife doing ?

piglett

[jm21-2]

You are getting ripped off. An extremely high speed connection in small town America typically costs $30-70 per month for at least one megabyte per second download and around 250gb of bandwith a month before they start bothering you. 5gb per month is what they use for wireless cards here in most places. If you want to answer e-mails from your sailboat it's a good deal, but for most it's not.

If you want movies, don't tell Ray I said this, but look into bit torrent. Download a client called utorrent and go to www.thepiratebay.org to find stuff.....

[thekfc]

hey thanks for the 411 KFC

how is the wife doing ?

piglett

The wife is doing good. We haven't chatted since I return because she was having internet connection problems - we text & talk on the phone. We chatted yesterday before typhoon Consoon came on shore. I think she may be without power as I didn't get any response from her this morning.  It will be a few days before we get to chat again - hopefully by the weekend.

Any word from your wife piglett? Have the storm affected her?

[robert angel]

For routers and modems--if you use cable and need a router or cable modem--chances are your puter has a telephone only modem already, newegg.com is a company that has always had pretty good prices and great service and for today has the:

Linksys WRT54GL IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G Broadband Router

for $55--I think that includes shipping and no tax outside of California.

Linksys and D link are said to be the best, but most of them are decent--we have a Belkin router that's pretty good.

I think that the better routers have much farther range. There's  B, G bands and the latest and greatest is supposedly N band. I am not sure if all computers are N band capable, but N band routers are almost always backwards compatible, having B & G capability as well. most are multi band.
You might try meritline.com, pcconnection.com and slickdeals.net and key in 'router' (or anything else you want a deal on @slickdeals)

Get wired, man! (or wireless, if you please...)
Our Belkin did go out once and get THIS--I called Belkin toll free customer service --it was in Cebu City, Philippines and the tech who  answered, 'Tony' was in the same computer engineering class (year) as my wife back when they were in college! Just for fun, I asked him about her. He told me how she was a really nice girl, that she didn't party or socialize outside of engineering social functions, that their class had a couple trips to the beach but that my wife didn't have dates which was suprising because she was so pretty and that she didn't even drink etc. Small world, huh? And I saved the $35 that 'bychoice' would've charged for a report on her true character! ( as if I was worried)

[Woody]

Linksys WRT54GL IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G Broadband Router

As a router, for anything heavy duty, it is terrible. It will be fine for what he normally does, but bit torrent will bring that one to it's knees.  Now, what makes it awesome is the ability to install DDWRT and open up all kinds of extras. He could use it to bridge the wired to wireless, or he could use it as a wireless repeater.

[robert angel]

Woody--Does a router's band normally have anything to do w/ range as they go down the alphabet from A to N band. Is something else in play on range ability

Sorry, if it's not a simple yes or no answer--but you're to the point as much as amyone here!

I don't know much or DL much, but it'd be nice to have that capability. I think Piglett's interested in possibly one that has pretty far range--I'd be interested in one that can use the pricey bandwith I pay the other 'pig'--Comcast for, as my ISP....

Probably going to upgrade my ancient motorola surfboard cable modem too, one of these days...

Hoping everythings still going great on your trip!

Thanks again,

Rob

[jm21-2]

Wireless isn't fast enough to really get the whole speed out of modern cable connections. I have a wireless router so I can use my laptop in the living/family room but my PC is hardwired to it with an ethernet cord so I can get good download speeds. It's an N band one but I don't think my wireless card supports the N band.

I don't think there's any wireless routers that get a decent signal at 200 feet....more like 30 feet for most.

Can't imagine who would have TV anymore...new shows come online a few minutes after they air and everything's pirated as well. Before it used to take forever to download something, but for example I downloaded 8 seasons of Penn & Teller: Bull[snip] in a matter of hours, and my internet connection only costs about $50/month. When I was in college my room mate and I opted for an ultra high speed internet connection: 90k/s for around $200/month. whoo-eee

[robert angel]

It's amazing what' avaible on in the internet regarding  network TV--Cable TV--all for free, from first run TV series to block buster movies not in the theaters yet to pay for view boxing and other events live as they begin live--it's all there, if you search...

[Capstone]

Can't imagine who would have TV anymore.

One word - SPORTS. I want to watch my football games on a big ass TV in real time - I get the College Football Gameplan package and nothing you can get streamed over the internet can compare  - ESPN360 blows!! I can continuously switch back and forth between multiple games and don't have to worry about if the streaming will keep up or not.

[piglett]

You are getting ripped off. An extremely high speed connection in small town America typically costs $30-70 per month for at least one megabyte per second download and around 250gb of bandwith a month before they start bothering you. 5gb per month is what they use for wireless cards here in most places. If you want to answer e-mails from your sailboat it's a good deal, but for most it's not.

If you want movies, don't tell Ray I said this, but look into bit torrent. Download a client called utorrent and go to www.thepiratebay.org to find stuff.....

that is what i have is a wireless card through Verizon.
i got it when i was running cross country & never had a problem with it....till now.
I watched some old episodes of ice road truckers over the last couple of nights & i now only have 1GB. left till the 8Th of next month. 

piglett

[piglett]

Any word from your wife piglett? Have the storm affected her?

Marily lost power yesterday but has it back now.
She said something about high water in the streets, not sure how deep though.
i sure am glad that storm didn't hit when i was there , it could have messes up my travel plans big time.

piglett

[piglett]

As a router, for anything heavy duty, it is terrible. It will be fine for what he normally does, but bit torrent will bring that one to it's knees.  Now, what makes it awesome is the ability to install DDWRT and open up all kinds of extras. He could use it to bridge the wired to wireless, or he could use it as a wireless repeater.

OK what DO i need then ?
can i watch my movies on Hulu on this or would a different type/kind be better?
i don't know what a "DDWRT" is ....not sure i have one of those

thanks
piglett

[Woody]

Well, turns out Buffalo is back in the US market and selling routers with DDWRT pre-installed(some Buffalo branding, but it is DDWRT).

This will do the trick: http://www.amazon.com/Nfiniti-Wireless-N-Router-Access-WZR-HP-G300NH/dp/B0028ACYEK

In WDS mode it will repeat the wireless signal from your neighbor. So, just place it somewhere in your house that gets signal and let it boost the signal for you.

[robert angel]

That info Woody has sounds good. Again, I don't know a lot about tech. but I have heard that Buffalo or stuff made by them is pretty good. If you can mooch free internet--that 79.99-w/ no tax, free shipping sounds more than fair and there are other sites to compare it to. You'd nake that money back in several months and then be making money based on savings--as long as nobody who's signal ur mooching from moves....

Again--I'm not sure, but I'm almost sure that that one would work w/ any cable modem.

Only draw back there  Piglett, is that one has a parental guidance chip in it that can't be reset or over ridden and you can only watch movies up to PG13  rated and none of the cage wrestling bouts we all know you love. (uh--that   means uma joking again...

Besides, those wabbit ears on that router look too cute to pass up--be sure to paint it pink or yellow...

[piglett]

Well, turns out Buffalo is back in the US market and selling routers with DDWRT pre-installed(some Buffalo branding, but it is DDWRT).

This will do the trick: http://www.amazon.com/Nfiniti-Wireless-N-Router-Access-WZR-HP-G300NH/dp/B0028ACYEK

In WDS mode it will repeat the wireless signal from your neighbor. So, just place it somewhere in your house that gets signal and let it boost the signal for you.

Here is the only problem i see Woody,the signal that i get now is hit & miss
so i mite need the one KFC suggested too i guess?
anything will be better than paying the bandits at Verizon about $70 a month with taxes. my neighbors internet is only about $50 a month with taxes so if all i have to do is pay 1/2 of that i don't really have much of a problem buying better equipment to get the job done. by the end of the year i will still come out winning.  


thanks
piglett

EDIT ok i ordered this baby with next day shipping
i'll see how it preforms & then go from there.

[robert angel]

Piglett-Amazon is awesome about most returns, so scope it out before too long--if it doesn't connect after you've 'tweaked it' a bit, you should have no problems on a full return--refund. You phone them and in seconds, they call you back and usually send a pre paid shipping label to you real fast. Save the shipping box, reciept, original container.

Uncle Rob

[piglett]

that 79.99-w/ no tax, free shipping sounds more than fair and there are other sites to compare it to.

I think you only get the free shipping is U sign up for some kind of free trial that will cost you $79 a year after 30 days.   i didn't like the looks of that so i spent the extra cash & got the next day shipping.

thanks guys
piglett

[piglett]

Piglett-Amazon is awesome about most returns, so scope it out before too long--if it doesn't connect after you've 'tweaked it' a bit, you should have no problems on a full return--refund. You phone them and in seconds, they call you back and usually send a pre paid shipping label to you real fast. Save the shipping box, reciept, original container.

Uncle Rob

hey thanks for the 411 "uncle"