Want to buy a new modem/router

Icyseanfitz

hey guys ive had the same eircom router for around 6 or 7 years and its range its pretty annoying (model: Netopia 3347WG), anyway im on eircom 3 meg and im wondering can ye point out a good wireless modem/router to replace mine that has great wireless range (dont mind buying online either)

Icyseanfitz

can anyone help me with this i really need to increase my wireless range

Cantona's Collars

Wonder if this is any use? Cheaper to buy it up North-nearly half the price!!
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/netgear-n-wnr2000-wireless-router-802-11-b-g-n-5-port-switch-02064054-pdt.html

-=al=-

pc worlds always taking the pizzaz hee for prices, it is in general with the odd deal emerging rarely but yeah its off its rocker on the pricing here

Icyseanfitz

thanks for the reply's guys but im not too sure how a router works do you just plug it into your modem via Ethernet what would be ideal for me is a a completely new modem/router aka the one that you get with eircom just a lot better

Cantona's Collars

Just plug it into modem via ethernet cable and away you go,if its eircom your on make sure it's an adsl router.

Knasher

I would recomend the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54.

That being said depending on the layout of your house it may not make all the much of a difference. At home I have a router set up in the computer and I'm able to receive a wireless signal about 50 meters away, however I'm unable to receive one in the TV room as the signal would be going diagonally through two concrete walls, one of which has a chimney in it. The power levels I'd be required to reliably punch through this would introduce a lot of noise in the routers wireless card and possible be above the legal limits (although I'm in the country so I doubt anybody would notice/care).

Anyway in my case the best solution was to buy another router but to put it in a different part of the house and link them using homeplugs, then keep both broadcasting at the same time for increased coverage. As you are going to have to buy a new router anyway it shouldn't be your first option, just something to keep in mind.

vibe666

isn't the router the OP has an ADSL router?

there's a big difference between an ADSL router and a broadband router, in that the former has a built in modem and the latter does not.

OP, do you have a separate modem or does your router connect straight into the phoneline?

if it connects straight to the phoneline then you'll need to replace it with another ADSL router as 'broadband routers' don't have an ADSL modem built in and would require you to buy a separate modem.

corkcomp

linksys WRt-54g or equivalent are very good.. you could put the netopia into bridge mode and disable wlan..

Icyseanfitz

vibe666 wrote: »

isn't the router the OP has an ADSL router?

there's a big difference between an ADSL router and a broadband router, in that the former has a built in modem and the latter does not.

OP, do you have a separate modem or does your router connect straight into the phoneline?

if it connects straight to the phoneline then you'll need to replace it with another ADSL router as 'broadband routers' don't have an ADSL modem built in and would require you to buy a separate modem.

yes that is exactly what i have its a modem and a router all in one plugs into the power and the phone line and gives off a wireless signal, one question can i put two modems on two different lines in the same house as i have a load of phone lines around the house, i think the problem with the wireless is that it has to travel through 2 - 3 walls just to get to the point where i want it to go even though that place has a phone line (cannot move the modem though as it is being used at the other end of the house as well)

Icyseanfitz

corkcomp wrote: »

linksys WRt-54g or equivalent are very good.. you could put the netopia into bridge mode and disable wlan..

have you any idea how to put a netopia 3347WG into bridge mode?

watty

It's in the advanced menu.

You need to then put the DSL modem settings and user/pass for DSL into the WAN ethernet setup page of new router.

I did this about a month ago with a Netopia and a Dlink. I just fiddled around the Advanced or Expert mode menus till I found the "bridging". I switched of WiFi first. It wouldn't work properly on WPA, even at 2m was disconnecting. The new setup with the ethernet WAN port of Dlink to any ethernet port of Netopia. You can't use ANY of the remaining 3 Netopia ports. You have to connect any ethernet cable gear to LAN ports of new router,

I only use one ethernet port on my own router, I use 3com gigabit switches for all the rest of cabled ethernet (10, 100 and 1G devices)

Icyseanfitz

and is the wireless range better on the router than it was on the netopia?

vibe666

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

and is the wireless range better on the router than it was on the netopia?

possibly, BUT one of the advantages of the WRT54G is that is has removable antenna that can be upgraded to much bigger, more powerful ones if the default ones don't give you enough range.

there's also the possibility of installing 3rd party firmware which will not only increase the the features and reliability of the router, but allow you to manually increase the wireless signal strength beyond what the stock firmware can do.

ideally if you were going to go for a WRT54G then you'll want the WRT54GL model which is the easiest to re-flash with 3rd party firmwares like tomato (my personal favourite) or DDWRT (more features than tomato, but less reliable imho) in one easy step.

some of the other revisions (there's loads of different ones) of the WRT54G can be quite hard to re-flash, or sometimes impossible if you get the wrong one, so best stick to the GL if you can.

Icyseanfitz

cool might just buy that seems to be what im looking for, also do you know where i could buy bigger antennas if the current ones on it dont work

vibe666

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

cool might just buy that seems to be what im looking for, also do you know where i could buy bigger antennas if the current ones on it dont work

yup, ebay is your friend there.

Icyseanfitz

will these upgrade the signal

-antennas

also if its any help the room im trying to reach is 60 - 70 feet away with 3 walls in between

-=al=-

it;ll prob help but remember cheap **** from china takes forever to get here and is cheap, you get what u pay for... jus 2 cents there

vibe666

-=al=- wrote: »

it;ll prob help but remember cheap **** from china takes forever to get here and is cheap, you get what u pay for... jus 2 cents there

just because its coming directly from china doesn't automatically make it sh1t though. you'd be amazed how much of the 'high quality' branded tech gear you buy here is made in china and just re-labelled.

not saying that you're not taking a risk, just saying it does quite often pay off.

that said, i'm still waiting for a remote i bought on the 3rd july.

toadpenguin

How does the standard eircom modem router that you get with new set ups today stack up to others in terms of range? I'm still using it (it's a Netopia 2247-62) with a Perlico connection as we tried the perlico router and it was a disaster. At the moment we can only get bb within 10 to 15 metres of it and my PS3 in the next room is showing 30-40% signal strength. Is it worth upgrading or is this the maximum range I'm likely to get?