I was wondering if one kind is better than another. The one i am using works fine for browsing but when I try to watch a video like on tmz or youtube it will play part then it stalls and wont play the rest of the video but if I hook it up directly it will play just fine should I invest in a better router of is tha t a problem with all wireless routers.
wireless routers
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You might be too far away or have some interferrence such as a wireless telephone operating on the same frequency.
What router (brand, model) are you using? Is it a “B” or “G” type?
The newer “N” variety claims higher data rates and better range but would require a new wireless card in the computer, too. Some new notebooks come with the “N” variety built-in.
Allievi- B or g won't matter. I have no trouble at all playing video at much higher bit rates than YouTube requires on a B connection. It's gotta be something else. The only other cause is the loading on your network, looking at phone use again, sling box access and other large data transfers. Last night I was downloading a number of large podcasts to my PDA phone when my wife tried to surf the internet, Claim, slow and sluggish. Likewise, you hay have had other activity on your wifi network.
As Don said, B, if it is a good connection, is "fast" enough for anything you get off the internet. It doesn't matter if you have speeds of 100 meg, if your internet connection is only giving you a 5 meg download speed. It might make a difference if you are transferring files on a Lan, but not what is coming from the internet. Once again, as Don said, if you are some distance away from the router, if something is causing interference (microwave, wireless telephone), or if the signal is being shared by more than one computer, those things can all slow the signal down. This is why I have stopped using wireless on my desktops and run cable to them. I've even run cable to where we quite often use the laptops so they can be plugged in. The wireless signal that is used most often is between two bridged wireless access points, to connect my home network with my office network next door. That signal can't be shared.
BTW, in some situations a "repeater" can come in handy to strengthen a signal. However, the "strengthened" signal comes at a price. Your speed will drop by half.
BTW, in some situations a "repeater" can come in handy to strengthen a signal. However, the "strengthened" signal comes at a price. Your speed will drop by half.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I am close to a cordless phone. Maybe I will move the router.
If you plan on getting a router, do not get a Linksys WRT54GS(Wireless-G with Speedbooster)! I am having trouble with mine dropping the internet connection very frequently. I have to plug it and unplug it to get it to work properly... a pain in the ass. Nothing wrong with the DSL modem, I've used this directly. I've tried multiple versions of firmware.. this thing blows. A lot of threads discuss issues with this router and its "power-cycling" issue, which is I guess what my problem is. I don't have very much time to fix these kinds of things, nor do I have time for what probably would be the best solution... to replace the onboard software of the router to an open source linux-based solution. Screw that. I may just get a new router if the one my father-in-law gave me doesn't work.
I am very happy with my router, it has gotten excellent reviews. The D-Link DIR655. I have not had to ever reset it. Just looked at the statistics up 77 days (I turned everything off a couple months ago to go on vacation).
I have the Linksys WRT54G, without the speedbooster, and don't have any problems with it, at least not with my laptops. When I had my wife's computer using a wireless card, across the room, we had problems with it disconnecting. However, the problem was with the sleep mode on her computer, not the router. Rebooting her computer solved the problem. So did running a cable through the basement. The laptops have no problem with staying connected.
Do you live in a populated area? Do you have your router properly locked down to keep others from clipping your connection? If you pulled it out of the box and hooked it up then you prolly have people clipping your bandwidth.
Go find the box and read the manual on how to lock your router down. RTFM. It will also keep you from getting sued.
Go find the box and read the manual on how to lock your router down. RTFM. It will also keep you from getting sued.
Bogy- me too. I actually had some issues with losing connection too but it turned out to be a bad RJ connector and a cable replacement helped. I think it lost a balance since it never indicated loss of cable, just lost IP assignment. Replaced the cable and the problem with IP loss went away. Normal troubleshooting was to check the cable but the LED lights were normal. I use hard wire between the 7 computers here in the edit suite for video file transfer- fast, but I now use my Dell laptop on wifi for e-mail and video webcast verification. Sometimes I check it with the EVDO as well when clients complain about speed issues blaming it on my server. I get complaints like this once a week or more. The source problem usually is their DSL connection from the phone company. Unfortunately, the Phone company is very aggressive at selling their DSL inferior service and cable up and down the East Coast are a-holes on service but have the best technology. The consumer can't win! I get around the service issues with cable by throwing money at them via their commercial Mission critical account status. It costs 4x as much but the service is great. It doesn't matter to me because the cost is paid for by the income I generate. Loss of service is way too costly to do it any other way.
Same here. Using a pair of them, one exclusively "b", other - "g" (with Sveasoft firmware).
Don't remember ever having problems with them.
But it looks like the Linksys brand is slowly fading away.
I believe Cisco bought them to knock out the most capable competitor in the consumer segment.
And now the task has been accomplished...
Diogen.
I'll agree with Bogy here.. I also have the WRT54GX (with speedboost), and "B" is fast enough for anything in respect to your internet download, BUT I had a speedboost card in my daughters computer until I ran a cable for her, and there is a significant decrease in internet performance on the B side.
I can pull 600K+ downloads on our DSL, but with her on wireless it would still screwup on youtube videos and her download speed never got above 50K. Remember that 11mbs B is what they get in "perfect laboratory conditions." In reality those don't happen for most of us.
Also the WRT54GX or other versions have been stable for me. Loosing connection repeatedly is usually related to power settings on the PC as some previously mentioned. You can find these on the cheap at walmart.
Diogen, tell me more about Sveasoft firmware. I had Hyperwrt on my previous linksys and loved it.
I can pull 600K+ downloads on our DSL, but with her on wireless it would still screwup on youtube videos and her download speed never got above 50K. Remember that 11mbs B is what they get in "perfect laboratory conditions." In reality those don't happen for most of us.
Also the WRT54GX or other versions have been stable for me. Loosing connection repeatedly is usually related to power settings on the PC as some previously mentioned. You can find these on the cheap at walmart.
Diogen, tell me more about Sveasoft firmware. I had Hyperwrt on my previous linksys and loved it.
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Sveasoft is hated in opensource circles because of their "business model": they claim the firmware is free
but charge $20 per year for access to their forums (and support). The firmware (eventually) is offered for free download.
I stopped at version 1 (Alchemy), two years ago (I think). I didn't (and still don't) need features they started building later.
I like it. Very stable. The "b" version handles my PDAs and old laptop (Inspiron 300m), "g" - other two laptops.
All other desktop PCs are wired through a 1Gbps switch and so are both routers.
I tested and used for a while DD-WRT (it covers more versions of the WRT54G). It was good, too. I didn't switch because there was nothing I was missing.
I like Linksys products. Also used a "hacked" version of PAP2 for internet calls ($30 per year). Until I got the Fritz!Box (no such product exists in NA).
Never tried other firmware (I know, there are many more).
Diogen.
Im using a netgear wireless router with mimo tech and a related pci card. The antenna's on some pci cards are to small and wont pick up the signal well, mine had a 3 inch antenna and I had signal issues so I swapped out an old linksys pci card 8 inch antenna and lost the signal problems.
If the computer is sitting up against a wall you can have issues with the electrical wiring in the wall causing problems, I've had this problem show up when moving my computer in two diferent houses, soon as I moved it away from the wall the other day not only did I see a solid signal I also was able to pick up two other wireless routers in the neighborhood, one is 250ft away and the other is 400ft.
If the computer is sitting up against a wall you can have issues with the electrical wiring in the wall causing problems, I've had this problem show up when moving my computer in two diferent houses, soon as I moved it away from the wall the other day not only did I see a solid signal I also was able to pick up two other wireless routers in the neighborhood, one is 250ft away and the other is 400ft.
