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Hey, so I just got xfinity internet (25down/4up) so I need proper stuff... right?
I have 2 computers that need to be hooked up. We both want high performance, the absolute best, so we are both going wired (besides, it tends to be cheaper if you don't need high quality wireless, and one of pcs doesn't even have wireless on it, and need consistent performance).
I see tons of stuff on what you need for a wireless router, but none for wired. Is there anything I need to look for, or will the cheapest router do?
Also, I use wse, malwarebytes, ccleaner, peerblock,updates, for secuirty.
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frist of all 25mb is a shit ton of latency, are you sure you need that much for 2 comps?
if your planing to buy your own modem its gunna be expensive and its very likely you'll need a router.
usually the isp will offer a modem that will be compatible with there service for a great price and if you can hit apon the right points and speak well you might be able to get some kinda rebate or credit.
but if you are set in buying your own modem + router i dont know to much since i was able to get a free modem that was able to supply internet to up to 4 computer by wire and was also wireless.
but i did go to my locale electronic store and they had a modem for sale for $85 + i needed to get a router for atleast $25 because there modem was only for one computer and wasnt wireless
but im sure there are better products out there and for better prices
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The modem that came with your xfinity internet should also act as a router, does it not have ethernet ports on it? You shouldn't need any other router aside from that.
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Well the router I got with the xfinity doesn't have any more than a single port on it. It isn't a router. Apparently comcast stopped using modem/routers - because the xfinifty I got when I was in atlanta for 3 months had it, and then this one didn't. They told me that most areas are using this new modem that doesnt have router on it, but some areas are still using the old model.
frist of all 25mb is a shit ton of latency, are you sure you need that much for 2 comps?
Well I need the ~4 mbs for uploading, if I want to stream. And while 25mbs might be more power than I need, it's noticeably faster than standard dsl/cable, and that was the cheapest option for xfinity (fios isn't available here).
I already have a modem. I just need a router. I'm thinking of just getting the cheapest one from craigslist, but I'm not sure if I should be looking for certain features. I don't want to get a router that can't take advantage of the speed, and bottleneck it.
I understand many routers today have wireless, but I really don't need wireless. I much rather would prefer wired - you know, streaming and playing starcraft, getting the absolute most performance, but my computer also doesn't have wireless on it anyways (i mean, I think i have a wireless chip laying around, but I know that in order to get all the performance from my xfinity service, I would need a really expensive and nice wireless router).
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Okay so i looked stuff up (deep in the google), and I think I may need a gigabit WAN port?
I don't need gigabit LAN or ports, because that's just for speed between computers hooked up on the router. Don't care for that.
But apparently, I would want a gigabit WAN port, for all the internet speed to go through? So if I used a 10/100 port or whatever, that means I wouldn't get all the speed?
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No... you still have 75 Mbps available with 10/100.
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So i can just go with the cheapest possible router I can find? There's no difference between routers except intra-network speed and wireless, 2 things I don't care about, nor want? Even if I'm using 25down/5up high speed internet?
I know some routers have different security features... but we aren't idiots who are going to click shady sites, and we have peerblock/WSE/malwarebytes, etc security suites already on our PCs.
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25/5 isn't that fast... both cable and dsl are capable of this speed.
Some routers have traffic shaping, MLPP support, and so on. But it doesn't sound like you're looking for anything special so I guess you can just get whatever.
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Belial88, 25 Mbps is about 2.98 MB/s (25*1000*1000 divided by 8*1024*1024) assuming that the ISP isn't including overhead for Ethernet frame, IP datagram, or UDP/TCP datagram/packet headers. A standard "fast" Ethernet port, 100 Mbps, can handle this traffic with ease, even with the overhead.
You won't be freeing up any bottleneck by getting a "Gigabit" router; in fact, the modem you received probably only has a 100 Mbps port on it anyway (most consumer modems do). So, even if you did get a router with a 1Gbps WAN port it would auto-negotiate down to 100 Mbps "fast" Ethernet. The only benefit you would see from a Gigabit router would be that any traffic originating from AND destined to other machines on your wired LAN would travel very fast (in fact, this can be bottlenecked by the HDD speeds of the machines).
If you don't need fast transfer of data between machines on your LAN (home server, perhaps?) then even an 802.11g wireless router would allow you to nearly maximize the 25 Mbps downlink bandwidth you're paying for. (Although quoted as 54 Mbps maximum transfer speed, 802.11g bandwidth is in practice around 20-22 Mbps once factoring in re-transmissions due to multi-path fading and the additional overhead on top of standard Ethernet.)
My advice: buy a standard 100 Mbps WAN and 100 Mbps LAN router that you can install DD-WRT or Tomato-VPN firmware on. Unless you can find a good deal on a Gigabit wired router.
"Trust me, I'm an engineer." =D
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Unless you can find a good deal on a Gigabit wired router.
You say all that stuff... then say this. Why?
Like, get it as in "buy a lamborghini if someone offers you one for $10" or buy it because it's better?
you don't need fast transfer of data between machines on your LAN (home server, perhaps?) then even an 802.11g wireless router would allow you to nearly maximize the 25 Mbps downlink bandwidth you're paying for
Doesn't wireless have some issues, like with consistency, and a minor slowdown?
I'm looking for 100% performance, first off. Secondly, I just prefer wired. Everyone uses wired keyboards and mice when they are hardcore gamers right? Third, I don't even have wireless on my PC. I sort of made it that way, because of knowing the issues with wireless.
It's not an inconvenience at all, it really isn't. I don't like wireless, I don't need wireless, I can't use wireless anyways. I'd much rather used wired if it was .0000000001% better than wireless anyways. I guess you could say I'm that 'hardcore' (if you've read any of my information regarding buildings pc's, youd see that).
So you basically tell me that the cheapest router is the best router for my needs. I guess I didn't understand that the 10/100 and gigabit and all that stuff advertised on routers, is a different, and much bigger amount, than 25mbs, that internet speeds are. It wasn't the same measurement, or metric.
But then...
My advice: buy a standard 100 Mbps WAN and 100 Mbps LAN router that you can install DD-WRT or Tomato-VPN firmware on. Unless you can find a good deal on a Gigabit wired router.
I don't know what you are talking about. Why would you say buy a gigabit when you just told me it would do absolutely nothing for me. Is it not clear that I really don't need transfer between my 2 pcs, or wireless, and that I have a modem that only has a single port on it? I don't know anything about dd-wrt or tomatoes.
I'm just going to go with a cheapest router on craigslist :X
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Isn't the answer pretty simple? I'm really having a hard time just searching this, I can't get anything on it.
If I just want a wired router, and have zero intention of networking between my 2 computers hooked up on the router (I just need for 2 computers to be able to access the internet at the same time from a modem with only a single port, they don't need communication with eachother), and I'm not a internet-moron and have antivirus/anti-adware/anti-malware/peerblock, and I have 25 mbs down/4up, I can just go with the cheapest possible router right?
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5930 Posts
So what is the question then? Buy the cheapest router (I.e. Netgear) you can find from Best Buy then. Yes it will work and you won't notice any difference between that or an Apple Airport Extreme. You aren't sharing anything between multiple devices (like 10) so performance basically doesn't matter
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On May 02 2012 14:00 Womwomwom wrote:
So what is the question then? Buy the cheapest router (I.e. Netgear) you can find from Best Buy then. Yes it will work and you won't notice any difference between that or an Apple Airport Extreme. You aren't sharing anything between multiple devices (like 10) so performance basically doesn't matter
This. It won't make a difference to you, 25 mb/s really isn't all that fast dude.
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Okay, trying not to facepalm.
On April 30 2012 14:24 LFHaunt wrote:
frist of all 25mb is a shit ton of latency, are you sure you need that much for 2 comps?
if your planing to buy your own modem its gunna be expensive and its very likely you'll need a router.
usually the isp will offer a modem that will be compatible with there service for a great price and if you can hit apon the right points and speak well you might be able to get some kinda rebate or credit.
but if you are set in buying your own modem + router i dont know to much since i was able to get a free modem that was able to supply internet to up to 4 computer by wire and was also wireless.
but i did go to my locale electronic store and they had a modem for sale for $85 + i needed to get a router for atleast $25 because there modem was only for one computer and wasnt wireless
but im sure there are better products out there and for better prices
First of all, latency is measured in miliseconds, not megabytes; and bandwidth and latency are two completely different things. Second, buying your own modem can be a good idea, depending on the ISP. Most ISPs (at least in the US) charge a monthly rental fee that means owning your own modem can actually be cheaper in the long run. Third, the modem they provide is usually the cheapest piece of crap they can get their hands on. Quality does mean something.
On May 01 2012 13:52 skyR wrote:
25/5 isn't that fast... both cable and dsl are capable of this speed.
Some routers have traffic shaping, MLPP support, and so on. But it doesn't sound like you're looking for anything special so I guess you can just get whatever.
Yes and no. If he's just looking to get internet access via ethernet on his two PCs, then yes any 10/100 router would probably be adequate. If one is looking to set up a file server or stream movies (using something like the Windows 7 Homegroup) or share files between computers, a 10/100/1000 might be worth the extra money. But otherwise, 10/100 is fine.
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All you need is a switch. Go to your local bestbuy and buy a fucking switch. This thread does not need anymore posts than this one.
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Yes and no. If he's just looking to get internet access via ethernet on his two PCs, then yes any 10/100 router would probably be adequate. If one is looking to set up a file server or stream movies (using something like the Windows 7 Homegroup) or share files between computers, a 10/100/1000 might be worth the extra money. But otherwise, 10/100 is fine.
Wait what? No, I'm not trying to share anything between the two pc's! My gf, and myself, just need internet access off the same modem! We will definitely both be streaming though - streaming sc2, streaming movies...
What do you mean? We aren't trying to share information... but we will be streaming movies. I don't know what homegroup is, and we aren't sharing information between PCs. But are you saying that a router is important if you are trying to stream stuff, like hulu? Because yea, we are watching stuff on hulu and icefilms and sc2 streams. No, we aren't like... streaming between our PCs.
I don't know how to make this simpler, but I think I'm just getting more and more confused. I don't know how to say it any simpler, with any more confidence - we aren't sharing any information (we just both need internet access, it's that simple...).
So do I need a better router to stream stuff like hulu and destiny's stream or something?
All you need is a switch. Go to your local bestbuy and buy a fucking switch. This thread does not need anymore posts than this one.
okay... so I don't know much on switches... but from what I understood, there are problems with switches.
1. Security. i don't know if it's just "as long as you aren't fucking retarded and have an antivirus, you are okay" security, or "if you only use a switch as your point of contact to the internet, you will truly be fucked no matter how savvy you are".
2. 2 computers using a switch to a modem, will split the speed. Using a switch instead of a router, you can't have 2 computers using the internet at the same time, or, they can't use it at the same speed.
If I can just use a switch, that's fine. But I really don't know much about switches, and from what little I understand, it will hurt the speed.
I just need a way for 2 computers to both be able to use the 25/5 speed at the same time. We both can't plug into the modem at the same time, so right now it's "hey it's my turn to use the internet".
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Ignore whatever you read so far. There are some scaringly wrong/misleading info in this thread and almost none of these people realize how little you know about networking.
You don't need a dedicated switch, you don't need a router with a gigabit WAN port.
You need a simple home router with a 10/100 Ethernet WAN Port. Any router will do, but to be on the safe side buy one belonging to the upper price range. You don't need to know the technical reason but read on if you really want.
An example that you might consider is: Netgear WNDR-3700 v2. You can see the revision on the bottom of the retail box. If you can't find the revision it doesn't matter, just buy that.
Another example is Netgear WNDR-3800
Another is Asus RT-N56U
these all have more features than you need but in the consumer field you can't really have *only* the features you want, they always come with something more or less (wireless, usb ports, etc.)
(Original Poster *IGNORE THIS*: for the techies, the reason i want him to buy a higher priced one is because i know for a fact most expensive Netgear ones have 2 to 4 times the RAM other routers do, and that's the only bottleneck to speak of if he torrents a lot or does anything involving a lot of concurrent sessions. There are other brands that do the same but it's not nearly as predictable. Source: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start#Netgear
If he was a business i'd suggest a Cisco device, but he's not and buying even a series 800 ISR would be foolish and crazily expensive for an individual.)
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^ So you are saying yea, any cheap router will work, the cheapest from craiglist is fine.... but I really want the safety, because antivirus/notbeingstupid/antimalware-adware isn't enough.
I mean... why is plugging directly into a modem okay, but a cheap router not? Or is plugging right into a modem without a router not safe either? I have peerblock, WSE, and malwarebytes, along with w7firewall and such. But to be safe, even as a smarter user with wse/malwarebytes/peerblock/ws7firewall, is not enough, and I shoudl just get a 'good not cheapo router'?
if you dont feel inclined to do all that yourself, just get a cheap wireless router.
Unless there was a guide that told me how to do all that, yea, i guess ill go with router instead of switch.
(Original Poster *IGNORE THIS*: for the techies, the reason i want him to buy a higher priced one is because i know for a fact most expensive Netgear ones have 2 to 4 times the RAM other routers do, and that's the only bottleneck to speak of if he torrents a lot or does anything involving a lot of concurrent sessions. There are other brands that do the same but it's not nearly as predictable. Source: http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/start#Netgear
I torrent, but not like a lot... i mean, like maybe 5 movies/shows/series at the most at once. I don't torrent much, nor does my gf, if that's the question (or is that alot? i mean most stuff is on hulu, the maybe 4-5 hours of content we watch at most a week is all we'd torrent and thats only if it wasnt on hulu, and most probably is).
I dont want to get bottlenecked, but our primary uses are just like, her browsing and torrenting 1 or 2 things at a time, and myself playing sc2 and streaming my play (as well as streaming gom, players, etc).
I know you said to ignore it but... really, you really dont have to worry about me being uberuser. We aren't that demanding.
It seems like you are recommending that anything will do, but what I have in security+notbeingdumb is not enough and I shoud get a router with protection.
Im really just considering getting a cheap router off craigslist, but if you told me I should get something a little more for my just wired usage, i should get one that is a little nicer for the security stuff.
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EPT
