Router?

lance-tek · Post by **lance-tek** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 1:28 am

ok guys building a new system to add on to my cable, so I need to get a router

What is THE very best router on the market in about a 6 port? Why? How much will it cost me?

What is the best one for the money? Why?
How much will it cost me?

Thanx in advance for the advise

supercool · Post by **supercool** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 2:29 am

well, the veryyy best is prolly some cisco router for like $500,000+ :P

in the home router category, most people are either using the Linksys 4 port router or the Netgear 4 port router, u can always use the 4 port router in combination with a switch to make a router with 6+ ports... i myself have the Netgear and i would higly reccomend it, it costs around 96$

if you want something more powerful then a home router, you will need to get a business router, which are more complicated to set up because they are designed for professionals... now i dont know that much about buisiness routers, but ive heard that the Netopia router is a good one, it costs around 300 to 400 dollars...

they have a hella lotta ratings and info about routers at:

practically networked

also: i dont think there are too many 6 port routers on the market, i think most are either 4 port or 8 port, it really makes no difference tho because you can always add ports with a extra switch or hub

if you are just planning to play some computer games and surf the net casually then a home router is probably the router of choice for you... but if you are planning on hosting game servers or web servers then you might wanna spend the extra dollar on a higher end router

supercool™

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 6:55 am

///Nods with Supercool///

I've had a Linksys myself, and have setup around 40 of them on my job. Doing another tonight. Work well for modest needs, however it can buckle under hard use. Very easy web admin and firmware upgrade features. I've set them up on both cable and DSL with no problems.

I've had a NetGear, found it of higher quality, faster, and more stable....never had to reboot mine once in 4 months except to do a firmware upgrade. The RO318 is an 8 port model. Fairly easy web admin, firmware upgrading more complicated than Linksys, but they give you good detailed instrux. I've only had to set some up on DSL, haven't had a cable install yet. Some people on this forum have had some problems getting a Netgear working on cable, but to be fair, I've read many problems of peeps getting the Linky to work too on cable.

Now I'm running a Netopia. I had to kick up a notch because I run gaming servers from my house, often 24/7, and needed a robust router. The above 2 had compatibility issues with some UT engine based games. Costs about 300 bucks, over twice as much as the above 2. Not user friendly, but since I work with computers for a living, it's fun to learn more router/WAN stuff anyways. I have the Netopia R910, the R9100 has an 8 port hub. The only thing one may not like about Netopia's and Cisco routers is they come with a 10 Mb/s hub built in for the LAN. It's a tradeoff, you get a high quality router, with a solid 10 Mb/s hub. Vs the little Linksys or NetGear that has a modest quality router, with a kinda lower quality 10/100 switch. On paper a 10/100 switch looks better, but in real world performance, it has nothing to do with internet access speeds unless you have more than a dozen workstations accessing, but a switch will definitely help LAN transfer speeds. But I don't care about LAN transfer speeds, the once a month I may transfer a hundred megs or so, I don't care if it takes 38 seconds longer as long as I have a router that kicks butt. If LAN transfer speeds were important, I simply sling a nice 10/100 switch off the Netopia for the LAN.

I've setup a 3COM router...pretty nice, didn't get a chance to really play with it or see how it performed, but nice little unit. Also a SMC...thought it was a bit cheap, and it's cousin, an Assante....which was even cheaper looking/feeling...transparent plastic, weighed about a half ounce...looked like it would fall apart if you sneezed near it.

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 7:20 am

If you want to kick it up just one notch over the NetGear/Linky routers, but not quite to the Netopia prices, check into Zyxel. It's a sister company of NetGear and a division of Nortel Networks, FWIW.

Bouncer · Post by **Bouncer** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 9:51 am

But a small correction.

ZyXel is an independent OEM. Netgear's are rebadged ZyXels and the Netgear brand is owned by Nortel.

Because Nortel has such a large distribution channel in North America, they can sell the Netgear for less than ZyXel can sell the ZyXel.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 10:46 am

Thanks for the correction...

lance-tek · Post by **lance-tek** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 12:02 pm

the deal is I have one connection through cable.........

I have my system right now which is a boss PIII 1 GHz, 512 M SDRAM, running 2K currently but as soon as I build the new one I am working on I will pretty much be rapidly building up 3 more to follow it:

PIII 1GHz w/ 512 RAM (have it)
AMD 1.4 GHz w/ I G DDR (currently building)
Laptop (researching)
Linux Box (my work is sending to my house)
Roomies PC (building)

and prolly a mail server if I can get some better speeds

thx

scrotus · Post by **scrotus** » Thu Jun 14, 2001 12:47 pm

There is an 8-port version fo the linksys router. Its around $230. I agree about the Netopia though. Steep learning curve but you can do just about anything with it. Even VPN tunnels if your cable company doesn't squelch on that. I like my linky 4 port.

lance-tek · Post by **lance-tek** » Fri Jun 15, 2001 12:46 am

I get great prices on parts through my work and it is also tax free when i buy through them so I am more concerned with quality than price at this point that is why I want to have the best....................at the same time I want to buy one that I can get support from the company if I have problems with it. I think that should make sense

cyberskye · Post by **cyberskye** » Fri Jun 15, 2001 12:21 pm

Linksys support is a joke. Ask ANYONE who has every called. If that is a factor you should avoid linky and go netgear as the budget router.

Skye

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Fri Jun 15, 2001 5:48 pm

As much as I love to rag on support for products, back over a year ago, when I setup my first Linksys router for a client with the first DSL in my area, I got it working after a short bit (first time learning curve), but had problems with e-mail. The workstations were all working fine, the e-mail (Outlook Exp, Outlook 98, and Act2000) worked fine, sending and receiving, but some of them couldn't send an e-mail out that had an attatchment, either small or large, it would error finding the SMTP server. I called Linksys support, they called back within 30 minutes....seemed stumped for a bit.....then one of the guys turned me onto this site and told me to install the VTCP.386 fix.....and problem solved! I've been frequenting this site since.

jwoair23 · Post by **jwoair23** » Sat Jun 16, 2001 8:48 pm

Umm, I havent had a problem with Linksys tech support? I think you may have exaggerated a bit.

LinkLogger · Post by **LinkLogger** » Sun Jun 17, 2001 6:08 am

The Linksys has the best logging software available

.....

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