Getting A New Router

[Tom Saurus]

I am going up town tomorrow to get a new router. The model I have now is a Linksys WRT54GC and it is pretty close to 5 years old. It isn't working now. I know my cables are alright because I plugged them into my DSL modem and each computer can access the internet via the network cable. All the lights are lit up even nothing is plugged into two of the slots. The guy I take my computer to says that is definetily not a good sign when slots are lit up when I don't even have a network cable in them. He was saying maybe with a new router I will have faster transfer speeds. I have an i5 computer that I bought this summer and a Pentium 4 with Windows XP that was fixed up for me in the summer as well. The i5 computer has Windows 7 64 bit. When I transfer files via my router that has reached the end of its lifespan, I was getting a maximum of 11 mb/s. I don't want to use the wireless portion of the router just the cables to transfer files and to share the DSL internet between the computers. Can I expect any type of a boost in transfer rate even with just using the network cables? I don't think wireless is really secure and I have read perhaps it isn't healthy to be bombarded by all those wireless waves . The techniician says there is a way to turn off the wireless or password protect the wireless. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[aedipuss]

for you, look for a router that has 10/100/1000 wired networking and an exterior switch to turn off the radio portion. the newer computer should see better speeds and the old one may also, but it depends on if it has a gig-e network card. you could always put one in if it doesn't if you really want faster networking.

[jagabo]

11 mb/s... Can I expect any type of a boost in transfer rate even with just using the network cables?

Do you mean 11 megabytes per second or 11 megabits per second? I'll assume bytes (MB/s). Do your computers have gigabit NICs? If so, and you get a gigabit router, yes. I get around 100 MB/s. It will also depend on the speed of your hard drives. Gigabit ethernet is faster than many drives' (older drives) sustained transfer rate.

I don't think wireless is really secure and I have read perhaps it isn't healthy to be bombarded by all those wireless waves . The techniician says there is a way to turn off the wireless or password protect the wireless.

Yes, you can turn it off. Or you can enable encryption and set a password. I have a D-Link DIR-651 (about $25 on sale) and a Trendnet 8 port 10/100/1000 switch.

[redwudz]

It depends on your LAN system and adapters, but I went with a gigabit LAN setup. I get 75 - 85MB/s transfers speeds most of the time. Depends on my LAN traffic. This is about the speed of my hard drives, so not really a bottleneck. You do want CAT5E or better cables, but those are common. For your present PCs, you can add gigabit LAN adapters to a open PCI slot if your MB LAN doesn't support those speeds. Your slower 10/100 devices will also work. Maybe a bit faster than 11MB/s.

Gigabit routers are very common now, and most brands have them. I use a Netgear gigabit router, but there are lots of good brands out there.

For wireless, if you use WPA with AES encryption, along with a strong password, it's very secure. You can improve the security more by using MAC filtering, where only the computers you designate can communicate with your system. You can also turn off the SSID broadcast and your wireless signal won't show up on other peoples PC. But it may make it harder for your PCs to connect wirelessly. If you don't want to use wireless, most any router can switch of the transceiver. It's usually under the advanced wireless options.

As far as being 'bombarded' by radio waves, they are out there anyway. But their power decreases rapidly by the inverse square of the distance. Your cell phone would have more power up close. If you check with a wireless PC connection, you will likely see quite a few wireless PC signals. I have at least fifteen around me.

[Tom Saurus]

aedipuss, jagabo & redwudz: Thank you for your input. I am looking at the Device Manager and it says "802.11n Wireless Lan Card #2", this is for new i5 computer. Over on the Windows XP Pentium 4 it says "Broadcom Net (X)treme Gigabit Ethernet". It would be nice if it was a bit faster at moving files, but even 11 mb/s is reasonable. The technician says this is a good brand, I forget its name; it cost 55 bucks plus H.S.T. It is a comfort that I can turn off the wireless part if I choose to.

[jagabo]

Your i5 doesn't have a wired Ethernet port?

[Tom Saurus]

jagabo: I found some more information. I had to go to the HP Website and look up the model number for the i5 computer as Future Shop no longer had the computer I bought listed on their website. Here is a link to the specs:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02680680&cc=us&dlc=en&jumpid=reg_...t=5058895#N343

It turns out I have the following:


LAN: 1000-Base-T

Interface: Integrated into motherboard

Technology: Realtek RTL8111E

Data transfer speeds: up to 10/100/1000 Mb/s

Transmission standards: 1000-Base-T Ethernet


So maybe this means my computer will be faster with the new router. 1000 Mb/s should be mean 1 gigabit per second. Thanks for your advice. Thanks in advance for any additional advice and information.

[jagabo]

You may have to enable the NIC in the BIOS. You may also need to install drivers for it. If you do that and get a router with TX1000 Ethernet ports you should get faster transfer rates between computers.

[dLee]

Do you even need a router? A Gigabit switch may be all you need.

Many modems have basic router functions built in.

[Tom Saurus]

dLee: I got a TP-Link Router today. I talked to the technician and I couldn't get it to allow me to use the internet. I am returning it, as soon as possible and getting a switch. I can transfer files between the two computers with the router but the speed remains 11 mB/s. I don't know if the switch will be faster, but I welcome the plug and play aspect. My mind is going in circles, with the effort of trying to get the router configured. It is not the fault of the technician he spent nearly two hours on the phone.

[redwudz]

Unless your modem has NAT (Network Address Translation), it's a bit dangerous to hook a switch directly to a modem and the internet. NAT changes your internet address to a 'intranet' address that is not easily accessible to hackers or malware. You would need some strong firewall/antivirus to keep safe hooking up directly. Not really a good setup.

A switch is better used after a router to add more connections for more computers to your existing LAN. It's just a smart hub, with no malware protection.

TP-Link is a cheap router, but I had no problems using it on a system. I'm not sure your 'tech' was very 'techy'. A switch will operate at the same speed as your LAN system, so I wouldn't expect any speed increases.

[jagabo]

Unless your modem has NAT (Network Address Translation), it's a bit dangerous to hook a switch directly to a modem and the internet.

Yes. The proper setup:

Modem ---- Router ---- Switch ---- Computers

A router with a built in switch has that switch behind the router:

Modem ---- [Router ---- Switch] ---- Computers

[Tom Saurus]

The technician did offer to set things up for me, if I bring the router and my modem in and he would use his laptop to get all the settings figured out. My modem is a Speedstream 5200 and it may have some sort of router capability built in. My ISP like a lot of other Canadians is Sympatico. Sympatico has the modem configured to their specifications. Here is a link stating that:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/10121

If a switch is not secure I will not get it. I don't want to leave my computer open to malware.

Redwudz & jagabo: Thanks for this additional advice and information. It isn't so bad to bring the modem and router up town, just as long as I don't have drag the computers up there as well.

[jagabo]

Speedstream manual: http://www2.windstream.net/downloads/links/SpeedStream211.pdf

[Tom Saurus]

jagabo: Thanks for the link to the Speedstream .pdf manual.

I have had some thoughts, on possible solutions to my dilema:

This is my current modem from Sympatico:

http://internet.bell.ca/index.cfm?method=content.view&category_id=621&content_id=1173

It does have a usb output to go to the computer. If the USB delivers the internet, I could use the TP Link modem just for sharing files between the two computers and just plug the USB cable into one of the front USB slots on whatever computer I wanted to surf the web on. It may be possible to split the USB output to go to both computers. Would this be a safe method or would I be open to malware and hacking threats?

Or I could contact Sympatico and see about getting this modem:

http://internet.bell.ca/index.cfm?method=content.view&content_id=5379

It allows you hook 4 computers up to the internet. If it is capable of sharing files between the two computers without someone on the internet hacking in that might be a solution and it looks like it is a wired system instead of wireless which is in my comfort zone.

All this deep thinking is not good for me, every time I think too much my buns heat up and I get scorch marks on my shorts.

[dLee]

There is nothing inherently unsafe about connecting a switch to a modem that has router functions built-in and enabled. No router is needed.

A router could be thought of as a switch with some administrative / protective services. Many modems now provide those services.

A quick look at the Table of Contents of the Speedstream 5200 manual reveals entries for NAT / NAPT configuration, as well as DHCP, Firewall, Port Forwarding, Custom IP Filtering, (etc) configuration - i.e. the modem has many of the services that SOHO routers traditionally provided.

The switch gives you the ability to connect more than one computer to the modem - that's all.

Buy a switch and have your ISP help you configure your modem properly. Ethernet is simpler

Your slow connection speed between your Gigabit LAN adapters might be the result of how your network is wired. How are your computers wired together?

[Gabriel]

I had a similar situation in January. My old linksys had to be reset every few hours to stay online. I bought a D-Link DGL-4100 Gigabit Gaming Router GamerLounge Broadband 10/100/1000Mbps to replace it because I don't use wireless, my house is wired for ethernet.

I think the one I bought imay be discontinued but I can tell you that for LAN file transfers it is so fast that at first I thought it wasn't working. The file transfer speed increase over 100 mbps is astounding.

[Constant Gardener]

When you go gigabit, be sure to enable large frames - 9K is typical - for all your computers. They will significantly speed up file transfers. You can access it through control panel - network and sharing center - local area connection - configure (Windows 7, others are similar).