Need a good router

[mbailey]

Looking for a really good wireless router for a large home....appx 3400sqft....any suggestions? Son plays online games, misc ipods, pads.....couple laptops....looking to be able to game and play movies. Is a repeater worth it?  (AH computer going to be  directly tied ito the router.  I believe our cable internet speed is 25mbps

Homes construction is stick framing, drywall etc....not sure if that matters, but ill just throw this in here

Thanks in advance  

[Blagard]

Personally I would hard wire a network while the opportunity exists as that way you can create scope for various access points especially if you will be shifting large amounts of data. A friend of mine is refurbishing his house and has wired in Cat6 cables to every room from a central point. While I know he will be using wireless a lot, this will should allow for some major data transfer for quite some time and a lot more flexibility. You need to consider what bottleneck a wireless router will create in your network especially while playing movies. A wireless repeater is just extending the range of your router without really increasing the capacity of data traffic it can handle. On the other hand a hard wired access point (with wireless) will make use of the router Ethernet ports. I think it will be some time before affordable wireless can transfer data at the rate of a hard wired connection. You will find more and more equipment in the home will "talk" to each other so it is not just the internet connection you need to think about.

I don't think Aces High actually needs to pass that much data, but I would certainly go the hard wired route with it as I believe it is the reliability of the connection that is important to avoid lags and warps!  

I am no techie, so would advise you research the issues before relying too much on wireless.

[BaldEagl]

A retail Linksys wireless router shoud do the job.  I had mine running my laptop the length of a 1500 sq ft house.  My wireless connection was never great but the house had both interior and exterior brick walls which aren't condusive to wireless applications.

[gyrene81]

that's a big house. is it multi story or single level ranch style? since cisco sold linksys to belkin...i hesitate to recommend anything with the linksys label but, i'm fairly certain that this one is still a cisco product.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007IL7AKM

[BaldEagl]

since cisco sold linksys to belkin...i hesitate to recommend anything with the linksys label

Ahh... didn't know that.

[mbailey]

that's a big house. is it multi story or single level ranch style? since cisco sold linksys to belkin...i hesitate to recommend anything with the linksys label but, i'm fairly certain that this one is still a cisco product.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007IL7AKM

Thanks for answering....its a 2story with a finished basement

Personally I would hard wire a network while the opportunity exists as that way you can create scope for various access points especially if you will be shifting large amounts of data. A friend of mine is refurbishing his house and has wired in Cat6 cables to every room from a central point. While I know he will be using wireless a lot, this will should allow for some major data transfer for quite some time and a lot more flexibility. You need to consider what bottleneck a wireless router will create in your network especially while playing movies. A wireless repeater is just extending the range of your router without really increasing the capacity of data traffic it can handle. On the other hand a hard wired access point (with wireless) will make use of the router Ethernet ports. I think it will be some time before affordable wireless can transfer data at the rate of a hard wired connection. You will find more and more equipment in the home will "talk" to each other so it is not just the internet connection you need to think about.

I don't think Aces High actually needs to pass that much data, but I would certainly go the hard wired route with it as I believe it is the reliability of the connection that is important to avoid lags and warps! 

I am no techie, so would advise you research the issues before relying too much on wireless.

I would love to do that, unfortunately its existing construction...

[save]

Normally I recommend wires for online gaming. wifi Latency give some extra milliseconds for each hop, but if you have marginal signal strength
on the workstation, you might have reoccurring re-sent packets.

If you have brickhouse you probably need to set up a extra repeater ( most routers can act as repeaters) in the stairway to strengthen signal.
Using same brand for wifi-router and repeater is highly recommended.




 

[mbailey]

If you have brickhouse you probably need to set up a extra repeater ( most routers can act as repeaters) in the stairway to strengthen signal.
Using same brand for wifi-router and repeater is highly recommended.

howdy Save.....actually its vinyl siding....no brick.  Not sure if this matters but...the 2nd floor where the router will be is 6BRs all drywall / carpet. The first floor is all drywall again, but 1 LR is carpet.....2nd LR, DR and foyer are hardwood...kitchen and eat in kitchen is tile...bsmt all drywall again and carpet on a slab.

[Flench]

Mbailey . I got one you can have . I give 100 bucks for it but don't think I well ever need it anymore . AT&T hooked me up to DSL the other day and it's got one in it . PM me if you still need one . We can talk .

[mbailey]

Thanks for the feedback guys.....and thanks Flench...just may take you up on that 


Found this one, any feedback?

http://wireless-router-review.toptenreviews.com/premium-wireless-routers/linksys-e4200-review.html

[Rich46yo]

Thats what I have, an E-3000 or something like that from Linksys. Its very fast. My son never had any problems running his games on the network, and he played some graphics intensive games. I have 3 or 4 puters on the network and two DVDs. No issues.

[Rob52240]

Run network cable while you can.  Run it in conduit and you'll be able to replace it easily when the time comes.

[mbailey]

Can't run wires.  It's pre existing construction, and I'm not cutting holes in the walls, or running drops down thru my attic.  Plus given the construction of the home, the framing is not condusive to easily run the wires ..... Ie a lack of pipe / vent chases.  So I'm looking at high end wireless routers / repeaters as a solution. Also it's not so much the 2nd floor I'm worried about (where the router will be) I can run hard wires thru the subfloor under the carpeting/walls.   It's the 1st floor Tvs and such and eventually the finished basement (which I think I've solved as I can jump the cable off the exterior service and run it in thru the side of the home where the electrical main enters the home)

[Max]

Since replacing my Linksys with Apple Airport (base router)  and a 2nd Apple Airport Express, I've been extremely please with solid WIFI throughout the (2,200) sq ft house. 3,400 sq ft might require a 2nd express. The base units run $100-110 and the Express units are $75 +/- Once the base unit is installed and configured (easy) the express units simply plug into any room outlet, wherever you need a signal.

[gyrene81]

holy cow, i just looked for a linksys e4200 v2 on amazon and a new one is $215!!! must have been the last one in the series made by cisco. found one on platinum micro for $170... http://www.platinummicro.com/Linksys-E4200-Performance-Dual-Band-Wireless-N/dp/B004K1EZDS

if you want to go with linksys, that would be the one to grab...you may need a range extender depending on where you locate it in the house. the range is generally excellent but it can fluctuate.