Whose Router Should I Get?

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I think my router's blown. I've heard it happens. I'm not real good with wireless stuff, but I can tell you that I only receive packets. Modem's OK (I know because my posts seem to show up here when I go straight through the modem). Had a Netgear. My ISP only supports Linksys, but Belkin's cheapest. Don't know much about D-Link but willing to consider any and all options - or advice on what could be wrong and/or fixable. Go easy, I'm a dolt when it comes to this stuff...

Have you tried doing a hard reset on the router? Usually there's a reset button somewhere on the back or the bottom that resets the router back to factory default settings.

Secondly, have you attempted to surf into the router's UI to find out what's there? It would be better off to surf into the router to check it's settings.

To surf into the router, open a command prompt window (It's in your accesories on the windows Start menu. When the command prompt is open type in ipconfig /all and you will get a bunch of networking IP addresses. See Pic below:


The IP address that you want to surf into is the one entitled "DEAFAULT GATEWAY" Type the IP address in the address bar of your browser, hit enter, and you should be pull up your router's UI. If this doesn't pull up, or the IP address for the Default Gateway is either nonexistant, or reads out something like 0.0.0.0 powercycle your ENTIRE NETWORK starting by turning all computers off, then to your router, then to the modem, Let the modem sit for about 30 seconds then turn it on and wait for WAN connection light to sync up, then turn on your router.

Wait till the the network lights are flashing and then turn on a computer and attempt another ipconfig /all in your command propt again. If your still not pulling an IP address for the Default Gateway, then attempt to do a hard reset, or the router, and attempt to pull up the default gateway again.

If this works, have the owners manual for the router handy ( You saved it, didn't you????) and follow the diagrams for the UI and set the router back up again. If not, call their Tech support. --Hopefully you get somebody who either speaks English natively, or at worst is very proficient with English.

If none of this works, consider getting a new router. I would suggest sticking with ( In order of quality) Linksys, D-Link, or a Netgear.

Belkin might be the cheapest available, but their quality isn't the best either. The old addage of "You get what you pay for" applies here.

Best of luck.

I have a pair of LinkSys boxes - one a NAT/Firewall/Router (BEFSR81) that takes in the broadband and gives me a bunch of CAT-5 ethernet feeds around the house, the other a old WiFi-Ethernet Bridge (WAP11) that provides a 802.11b wireless network.

Both work very well and are well configured out of the box - something which is important if you aren't comfortable with how to configure a firewall yourself. The only problems that I have had has been updating the firmware from a Mac rather than a PC (I gave up trying and used Virtual PC instead).

I like the siemens routers. They are like the cheapest wireless routers, and they have a built in printer port. The printer port is a great feature, and it is compatible with linux! ( built in lpd)

I suggest staying clear of the D-link ones, I have one myself (wireless one) and just cannot get the ADSL modem in it to work with the ISP therefor leaving me with a wierd setup. I can't personally recommend anything specific though, just remember that the D-Link's are a pain to set up so it is best to avoid them

I like my Linksys router, because it just plain works. I never have to give it any thought, it just quietly does its thing.

A friend of mine had a Belkin wired router. It absolutely sucked. It had all kinds of weird problems. The most annoying was when I'd use putty to ssh to another computer, it would intermittently reset itself and kill the whole network for 30 seconds. Some online games would do this as well.

He didn't learn, and got a Belkin wireless router. It took all kinds of configuring and tweaking and reflashing the firmware to get it to the point that it would reliably maintain connections. It still drops out intermittently, but it's down to once every day or two, rather than every 15 minutes.

I hate cheap computer equipment.

So do I

I have a wireless/wired LinkSys router (WRT5G[?]) which never has promblems...on the other hand, my Motorola Surfboard modem has been wonky throughout history.

i use netgear. they cost less but look nicer.

We have a Netgear Wireless router at work (at our shop/office), which, though having all the computers (4 counting server) connected to it by wires it seems to work well, they have never had to call in the IT engineer, or myself, to fix any network related problems.

At home I use a cheap wired ADSL router with both ethernet and USB ports (one of each, the USB is detected as Conexant), connected to a 5 port ethernet switch, which has my desktop, my guest computer, my server, and my wireless router connected to also, the wireless router (D-Link) has 4 ethernet ports, and an ADSL modem on board, though using it with my ISP appears impossible, hence the reason it is connected via an ethernet cable to the existing setup. This serves a computer in the dining room with the internet without any wires, which means everyone's happy

Haven't seen Siemens routers here in the US...but I have seen their stoves and cell phones.