deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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Both my laptop, phone and now dad's laptop is wireless. However the 2 PC's are wired in the house. Edimax broadband router & Virgin Media modem.
Now I know I have 2 options.
1) Contact Virgin Media to try and get their wireless router & modem - not sure on the cost though.
2) Get a wireless router with ethernet/LAN ports to connect the PC's.
Now the Edimax router has been on for over 8 years and never turned off (except to go on holiday) and it has never put a foot wrong - it's bloomin' fantastic. Edimax don't seem to have much of a presence now on the likes of eBuyer and Amazon.
So what wireless router would people recommend? Or go to Virgin and get theirs? Something that is quite easy to set up would be great as I'm no expert.
 
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Whittie
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Registered: 11th Aug 06
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Tbf, any wireless router would be fine for what you're wanting.
I usually use Dlink/netgear or Draytech at customers houses / offices. Whatever is in the van at the time.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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If you're a new customer then you're entitled to a free router from VM, which tends to be a Netgear jobby with locked firmware (so official netgear updates are out of the question). Although i hear they are starting to dish out combined router and modems by Cisco (i think). Otherwise it's about £50 i think.
If you don't need wireless n and Gb ethernet ports then i would ebay for a WRT54 (about £5-20 tops) and then flash it with DD-WRT or Tomato (a piece of piss to do). Mines been on for years and it works well.
Otherwise something like a Linksys WRT160N (no Gb ethernet)/WRT320N (has Gb ethernet) or a Netgear WNR3500L, but none of them are that cheap to be honest.
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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Draytek's are double or triple the price of a dlink/netgear.
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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I remember the misses had a wireless Netgear which we got off Amazon. It kept timing out and dropping signal. I phone Amazon returns and refunded the money then didn't even want the router back. But I then read every review and 95% were experiencing the same problems.
I take it this was just a dodgey Netgear router and they're otherwise ok?
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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I've got a netgear that's ran with no problems for months, look after maybe 30 of them, again no problems.
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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How's this one?
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/52244
No up to date reviews - is it quite old?
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Aaron
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Registered: 9th Aug 04
Location: Cottingham, East Riding
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Netgear DG834G
Had mine in for 5 years, and hasn't missed a beat in that time.
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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quote:
Originally posted by Aaron
Netgear DG834G
Had mine in for 5 years, and hasn't missed a beat in that time.
That's what I linked - some people mention it dropping signal - have you experienced that at all?
Also would that be compatible with Virgin Media's modem which connects to our existing router via ethernet and not phone line?
[Edited on 22-09-2010 by deano87]
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PaulW
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Registered: 26th Jan 03
Location: Atherton, Greater Manchester
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Get a cable modem/router
http://www.netgear.co.uk/wireless_firewall_router_wgr614.php
Then you can bin your VM-supplied modem.
You can't use the DG834G you linked, its an ADSL modem.
[Edited on 22-09-2010 by PaulW]
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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What would be the name of the wireless router I need then if I didn't want to bin the Virgin Modem? I guess I literally need something which acts as a wireless switch with 4 ethernet ports.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by PaulW
Get a cable modem/router
http://www.netgear.co.uk/wireless_firewall_router_wgr614.php
Then you can bin your VM-supplied modem.
You can't use the DG834G you linked, its an ADSL modem.
[Edited on 22-09-2010 by PaulW]
You won't be able to do that, only VM gear can be attached to their network. Although they are bringing out a Cisco (i think) based modem and router which they'll start supplying soon.
Deano - 'I guess I literally need something which acts as a wireless switch with 4 ethernet ports', no you need a wireless router with a 4 port switch attached. Any cable router (has an ethernet WAN port) will be fine. I can't say i was thrilled with the netgear we had but never had too many issues with it apart from needing the odd reboot once in a while.
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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http://www.ebuyer.com/product/48546
Got it for £30 including delivery.
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DC90
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Registered: 14th Nov 07
Location: Bedfordshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Dom
Although i hear they are starting to dish out combined router and modems by Cisco (i think).
We are using the combined ones now, but they aren't great at all. They drop out a lot and i've been to a few jobs lately due them being poor. Stick to modem and router seperately. Depending on package or if you are new you should be able to get a free netgear router. I use netgear and I have no issues with dropping out.
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deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
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Just installed the router. It's fully awesome and video streaming on the net is much improved so I guess the old wired Edimax was getting on a bit.
I'm writing this wirelessly from my laptop 
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