Anybody willing to help a n00b out with a few questions?

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nb23
nb23's picture
Anybody willing to help a n00b out with a few questions?

I am currently using a WRT-54G but I am planning to hook that up to my xbox 360 as a wireless bridge, and purchase a new wireless N route.

 I currently have cable internet with a speed of 15Mbps.

I will be using the router to send out a wireless connection to 2 computers (1 N, 1 G), and a wired connection to 2 more computers.

 1) What is the best wireless N router preferably under $100.

 2) What is an "open source router?"

3) Is it better to (speed wise)

A) Send out both wireless G/N signals (only 1 of my computers has a N connection) or

B) Send out only a wireless N connection, and hook up my netgear lan router and run the other wireless G router off of that? 

4) Will it slow my router down if I hook up other routers to it?

 

 

 

cab
cab's picture
1) Look for a router that has

1) Look for a router that has Gig Ethernet-this will help with your wired connection
2) Open source routers-you probably mean a router that has open source firmware on it-this would be the likes of DD-WRT,Tomato or OpenWRT. This firmware definetly improves bog standard routers-but you need to know what you are doing
3) Yes-but you'll still be limited by your 15Mb/sec cable speed-so N will only help you if your are streaming HD movies or transferring large files around the house
A) N type routers are backward compatible with G devices, but not the other way
B)Your set up wont work if you only send out an N-type signal-will need to be mixed (N & G)
C) Hooking routers up to routers will only work if you turn one of them into a switch or run static routes/a dynamic routing protocol (RIP/RIP2).And you can only have one DHCP server running as well

HTH

nb23
nb23's picture
lol damn I thought I had a

lol damn I thought I had a fast connection.. Theres only one speed higher and that costs like $100 a month.
So I wont get faster download rates if I get a N router?

can you recommend any routers?

and by B I meant if I buy a new N router, and only send out a wireless N signal from it, but hook up wireless G router up to it via ethernet will I get better speeds then if I send out mixed g & n signals from the wireless N router

cab
cab's picture
You are in the US and I'm in

You are in the US and I'm in the UK so I dont know what ones you have over there-I like the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 but it aint N.
Honestly, unless you are doing huge transfers around the house, you dont need an N router-just get a G and save some bucks. The N type devices will work with a G router as they are backwards compatible.Also,I think by what you want, you only need one router, not two.Having two will only complicate your setup

cheers

cab

autobot
autobot's picture
The Asus RT-N16 is the best N

The Asus RT-N16 is the best N router for around $100 USD, it's supported by DD-WRT and has 32 megabytes of flash and 128 megabytes of ram.