Wireless Router Suggestions?

OK. So the wifey and I are thinking of switching to a Satellite ISP now with a wireless home network. Obviously we will need a router to do this with. Security is NOT an issue as our nearest neighbor is a mile in several directions and if they stop and see that we have wireless... I expect them to clean out the house.... Any suggestions for the best bang for the buck? The house is a two story old farm house roughly 1300 sq feet per floor (little more downstairs).

Linksys is good. I installed one recently for my high speed internet on cable.
You need special equipment for Hughes net don't ya? I wonder if they recommend a particular home wireless solution?

Doc said:

Linksys is good. I installed one recently for my high speed internet on cable.
You need special equipment for Hughes net don't ya? I wonder if they recommend a particular home wireless solution?

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I think Hughes and Wildblue are about the same:

You need to run their box from the satellite, but any router will do after that. Linksys and D-link were the two that came to mind for me. Not sure of great quality in any of the home units, but I don't think think I paid over $50 for either the one I have or the one I installed for the inlaws and have several years on both now.

Vaguely recall ordering mine through Tiger or Newegg and getting at least one or the other for next to nothing after rebate [been a while since I ordered, but I belive Tiger is big into rebate sales].

Thanks guys! Linksys comes up the most often. They have several in the $50 to $ 65 range. From what I have read they are the most reliable. I am still trying to decide what to do. We use our cell phones at home right now to get online. Cell service is sketchy at best most of the time. I have a booster plugged into mine. The last couple weeks we have had MAJOR reliability issues. Just getting randomly kicked offline and having trouble gettin back on. Satellite is the answer, but I am worried about speeds with us splitting the bandwidth over two computers. I CAN upgrade the speeds, but it's more $$$. I guess I should ask... does anyone on the forum do as we are thinking and do you have issues with loading speeds?

One vote here for Netgear's routers. Simple to configure, and reliable. I've had one running 3 years continuous at the ranch and another running half the time, when I'm home in town, even longer. In my opinion they are a step closer to professional grade gear compared to the other highly advertised brands.

Also look at Fry's online and their Air101 house brand. That's D-Link guts, with cheap packaging and poor instructions. I've used Air101's Access Point devices as standalone repeaters. The packaging notes which chip is in them, then a little research finds the same chip used in better-documented D-Link gear at twice the price.

You probably already know this, but the basic router configuation is:
A 'modem' that inputs DSL, Cable, Satellite, whatever, and outputs wired Ethernet. I prefer standalone. But often these are combined in one enclosure with:

A router. This receives the Ethernet signal from the modem and assigns individual addresses to each connected user, so you all receive your own stuff. It 'routes' the signal where it should go. It is also a hub where users can send signal to one another. The router's output is either hard-wired (Ethernet), or wireless from its antenna to several users.

Other routers can be installed 'downstream' (for workgroups, etc) but you turn off their addressing feature and let the primary router take care of assigning addresses.

You might need:
An Access Point. it's antenna receives wireless signal and outputs Ethernet for devices which only have a connector for wired Ethernet. These AP's can also be used standalone as repeaters at the outer edge of the primary router's transmit range, receiving wireless signal and rebroadcasting it to users farther away. As I noted I got Air101's, because anything else advertised to have repeater capability cost twice as much. Reliability is fine.


Don't worry about speed, sharing the signal. Make sure speed is sufficient for one user then don't worry about it. I doubt you would both be downloading long batches of pretty pictures or vids at the same time, and there's no other application you might do that would slow the second user.

rback33 said:

I guess I should ask... does anyone on the forum do as we are thinking and do you have issues with loading speeds?

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As California noted, I don't think you'll see any speed issues. If you do download/upload a lot of data maybe; then it may be worth checking the FAP (fair user policy: limits X amount of data over Y time period, with Z throttling results) different for each provider, but likely the data cap will rise some as well as the transfer speed in the premium plans.

One thing I'm sure you notice though, satellite latency is a bit annoying:

The DSL-like speeds are there, but that second or two delay when you open a new page makes you wonder for a bit.

Also, a real heavy rain storm can take you out for a bit; the right accumulation of snow will too (I can be on-line during a blizzard, but have to crawl on the roof and dust off the satellite every so often; or just wait till it blows itself off ). Another oddity, that I know exist with other WB users as well, but no idea on the others: about once a month it will freeze until you power down the box and bring it back up.

Spiffy1 said:

As California noted, I don't think you'll see any speed issues. If you do download/upload a lot of data maybe; then it may be worth checking the FAP (fair user policy: limits X amount of data over Y time period, with Z throttling results) different for each provider, but likely the data cap will rise some as well as the transfer speed in the premium plans.

One thing I'm sure you notice though, satellite latency is a bit annoying:

The DSL-like speeds are there, but that second or two delay when you open a new page makes you wonder for a bit.

Also, a real heavy rain storm can take you out for a bit; the right accumulation of snow will too (I can be on-line during a blizzard, but have to crawl on the roof and dust off the satellite every so often; or just wait till it blows itself off ). Another oddity, that I know exist with other WB users as well, but no idea on the others: about once a month it will freeze until you power down the box and bring it back up.

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Thanks Spiffy. I have satellite TV so the snow and rain issues I am all too familiar with. I was gonna post about the FAP. In fact I will go get the link to Wild Blue's. Most every night, my wife and I sit here and post in web forums all evening. Her on Fox and me here. Will we run into issues with it if that is what we spend most of our time doing? I have no idea what the measurements mean or how much we will swallow up doing this every night... bad thing is.. my phone is workin great again tonight..

http://wildblue.com/legal/WildBlue_Fair_Access_Policy_28-Feb-2008.pdf

I haven't checked my usage in over a year, but I don't think we even come close to touching the limit. Surfing doesn't add up too fast; transfering files (downloading files or sending/recieving emails with your vacation pictures, etc.) will add up, but even then, unless you're doing video files, it shouldn't be too bad.

WB allows 7.5G/rolling month? If my math and estimates are right (Doc or Cali are likely far better on data volumes than I) that's around 7500 pictures of medium resolution, or perhaps 1500 video skits. Maybe 10 feature length videos, but I'd be really guessing on that and music too.

Spiffy1 said:

I haven't checked my usage in over a year, but I don't think we even come close to touching the limit. Surfing doesn't add up too fast; transfering files (downloading files or sending/recieving emails with your vacation pictures, etc.) will add up, but even then, unless you're doing video files, it shouldn't be too bad.

WB allows 7.5G/rolling month? If my math and estimates are right (Doc or Cali are likely far better on data volumes than I) that's around 7500 pictures of medium resolution, or perhaps 1500 video skits. Maybe 10 feature length videos, but I'd be really guessing on that and music too.

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Thanks man. ALL the heavy stuff I would do from the office where I am most anyway. Sounds like we should be OK there. This has been a big, big help.

rback33 said:

... sit here and post in web forums all evening. Her on Fox and me here. Will we run into issues

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That volume of text is trivial. Your own text wouldn't fill up a diskette in a week. Receiving a fresh screen of Ebay listings or YahooNews, with small pictures, will hog the link for maybe 1/2 second but this is not likely to be noticed by the other user.

With 1.5 mbs DSL, I seldom notice a delay on my screen while my wife watches news (video) on the other laptop.

What is the claimed speed of your satellite link?

I think the basic package is quoted as .512Mb/s. It will hit around 60K/s on a download [I just ran a Beeline test: 54K/s], so that should be right; not spectacular, but sure beats most of my alternatives.

Spiffy1 said:

I think the basic package is quoted as .512Mb/s. It will hit around 60K/s on a download [I just ran a Beeline test: 54K/s], so that should be right; not spectacular, but sure beats most of my alternatives.

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I think I have done this but how can I tell what my numbers are through my phone?

Try some of these speed tests.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=dsl+speed+test

Last Result:
Download Speed: 236 kbps (29.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 51 kbps (6.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
More Information:

One final question as I HAVE to have one on hand by Thursday AM and wifey is goin to town tomorrow so....

The cheaper ones (>50) are list as 54 Mbps and there are some at 108 to 125 for a lil more than 50... Will we notice any difference whether we go 54 vs 108? Keep in mind that most times there will be 2 laptops running at one time...

I hate to be picky, but I have to tell her EXACTLY which one to buy...

rback33 said:

One final question as I HAVE to have one on hand by Thursday AM and wifey is goin to town tomorrow so....

The cheaper ones (>50) are list as 54 Mbps and there are some at 108 to 125 for a lil more than 50... Will we notice any difference whether we go 54 vs 108? Keep in mind that most times there will be 2 laptops running at one time...

I hate to be picky, but I have to tell her EXACTLY which one to buy...

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Do I recall correctly that your plan will pipe 0.5 mps into your home? Then you will route that signal to the users at 54 or 108 mbs.

I doubt you would notice the difference.

Be sure to know and understand all the security risks and the measures to take Jeremy....this link explains pretty much all you need to know.

if you have any problems let me know what and i will get my Brother-in-law to write something up to help.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm

California said:

Do I recall correctly that your plan will pipe 0.5 mps into your home? Then you will route that signal to the users at 54 or 108 mbs.

I doubt you would notice the difference.

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Thanks Chris! From what I have learned/read since I posted the question, that was the consensus I have come to. I found out that the one we have here at the office is 54 Mbps and it is plenty fast so that is the route I am going. I am having her get a Lynksys I hope. I says it's in Limited stock so I gave her a D-Link backup plan. Boy I can't wait until this is running Thursday....

Galvatron said:

Be sure to know and understand all the security risks and the measures to take Jeremy....this link explains pretty much all you need to know.

if you have any problems let me know what and i will get my Brother-in-law to write something up to help.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm

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I live on an out of the way dirt road with my nearest neighbors a mile away. I have 3 dogs for security.... Hell the road north of my house is closed because it is washed out so there is really no reason why anyone would be close unless they farm down there... and those guys would not have a laptop anyway...

rback33 said:

... and those guys would not have a laptop anyway...

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Don't be too sure....the farmer who works the 600 acres next to my property just asked me this spring if I minded if he connected to my wireless internet from inside his tractor.

I told him if he can get a good enough signal, then go for it!

LMAO I know who farms the ground well. Only one of the two could even turn the computer on. Even then... I don't worry about either one. They are brothers and the only one that could turn one on is so honest he did not want to know where my house key is hidden in case he had an emergency. They both keep a close watch on the place, so even if they wanted to use it I would not care... kinda like you...

I install the Hughes Net systems when I get free time from my other stuff going on. Here at the house I have a standard old D-Link Router hooked up to the Satellite Modem. It has one "Ethernet" plug just like cable does, you plug your router in there, then you have about four to six plugs on the router you can run cables to or set it up to run wireless. I have two computers in the house (three or four when the kids are here) and it runs fine with all of them on line at the same time using the wireless.

Make sure you password protect it, otherwise you will have motor homes parking at your driveway using the internet.... a lot of them have WiFi "Hot-spot" meters to tell them where INTERNET is at...

Hughes net runs at a lower Freq. than many of the other satellite companies and the rain doesn't affect the signal as much as other do, and here in Alaska, we are at the fringe of the signals, so every little bit helps. They also don't have a penalty for when you get "FAPed" (Fare Access Policy), but your service will slow down for about 24 hours and then speed back up, most other providers will charge you a premium for the extra usage.

For normal use, you will never get FAPed though, unless you have kids down loading a few movies a day and music, then you get hit a lot, in my case, I just went the next level up which was about ten bucks a month and that ended that, not to mention you speeds go up also (which is already pretty quick).

fogtender said:

I install the Hughes Net systems when I get free time from my other stuff going on. Here at the house I have a standard old D-Link Router hooked up to the Satellite Modem. It has one "Ethernet" plug just like cable does, you plug your router in there, then you have about four to six plugs on the router you can run cables to or set it up to run wireless. I have two computers in the house (three or four when the kids are here) and it runs fine with all of them on line at the same time using the wireless.

Make sure you password protect it, otherwise you will have motor homes parking at your driveway using the internet.... a lot of them have WiFi "Hot-spot" meters to tell them where INTERNET is at...

Hughes net runs at a lower Freq. than many of the other satellite companies and the rain doesn't affect the signal as much as other do, and here in Alaska, we are at the fringe of the signals, so every little bit helps. They also don't have a penalty for when you get "FAPed" (Fare Access Policy), but your service will slow down for about 24 hours and then speed back up, most other providers will charge you a premium for the extra usage.

For normal use, you will never get FAPed though, unless you have kids down loading a few movies a day and music, then you get hit a lot, in my case, I just went the next level up which was about ten bucks a month and that ended that, not to mention you speeds go up also (which is already pretty quick).

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Thanks foggy! That was great to know. I am going Hughes net and can't wait. Wifey JUST threw a fit about her cell not connecting. The nearest state or US Hwy is over 7 miles away so no motorhomes will be close either. I can have him set it up with a key, but it won't really matter. Sounds like we are doing the right thing.

Thanks again everyone!

rback33 said:

Thanks foggy! That was great to know. I am going Hughes net and can't wait. Wifey JUST threw a fit about her cell not connecting. The nearest state or US Hwy is over 7 miles away so no motorhomes will be close either. I can have him set it up with a key, but it won't really matter. Sounds like we are doing the right thing.

Thanks again everyone!

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Well if her cell is set up for WiFi, it should hook up with little effort...

Having the "Key" is a good way to control the use of the computer by any guest that might stop by. You may be suprised at what someone can look into without your knowing it!

You will find that the lowest costing program is a tad slower than the next level up (but still fast), that is an extra ten bucks a month and worth it in most cases. Try the lowest first, if that isn't fast enough, you can call and have it set back up to the next level in a few min's, although the reset process may be a bit hard if you don't do computers well, explain that to the installer and he/she should be able to walk you though a reset so that you don't have any issues later on.

If have any questions, IM me and I can answer most of them for you or get the guys that can lined up for you!

Oh, and get a first class surge protector for your system. I use a "APC 1250" battery backup system on mine, it has a surge protector and about an hour of battery backup in it should power goes out. www.apc.com

We are going with the middle of the road plan to begin with since most of the time two of us are on at once. We may downgrade, but we'll see how it goes.

I second the vote for APC UPS's.
not only do I use one at home, we use them at work. (BIG ones)

Erik said:

I second the vote for APC UPS's.
not only do I use one at home, we use them at work. (BIG ones)

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Their RS 1000 has been treating me well.

rback33 said:

Thanks foggy! That was great to know. I am going Hughes net and can't wait. Wifey JUST threw a fit about her cell not connecting. The nearest state or US Hwy is over 7 miles away so no motorhomes will be close either. I can have him set it up with a key, but it won't really matter. Sounds like we are doing the right thing.

Thanks again everyone!

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We run both Hughes and Wild Blue satellite internet at our home. Neither one really out shines the other in speed but the critical factor I would look at is can you get quick service for either? Wild Blue has more service agents available as we waited over 3 weeks last fall for service on our Hughes system. Hughes inability to provide service is why we are also running the Wild Blue system. I prefer the Wild Blue as it does seem a bit faster on the basic service level than the Hughes. We have had Hughes for about 6+ years and last fall was the only time a problem was encountered which was actually their fault of sending me a defective new modem. They were not able to diagnose the problem with the new modem and had to send a service person over 500 miles to my location. Wild Blue has several service agents within a 100 miles of our home. So, check and see what your local service is for both before you decide......Bill

Update:

Got everything installed today. Old guy came to do it. Very nice, but would prolly still be here if I was not helping. lol I had to set up the router myself, which was not too bad... used the wife's 'puter to do it... set it up with a key, but could not get mine to connect with it.. So I undid the key... and mine would connect... then disconnect.... and I would reconnect... and it would kick me off after a while.... fought this for a couple hours....wife's was fine the entire time.... called their support since I could not keep it online... dude tries to put me through to some trouble shooting guy... says it must be a setting on my computer... I was like, "Man.... I travel all over the country on business and I do NOT have this issue....anyway.. the other trouble shooting guys are all busy and he says i can either wait for a call back tomorrow or call back in an hour with the case number... I won't be home tomorrow as I have a JOB so I say I'll call back in an hour... Well I keep monkeying with things and I have no clue what I did, but it's fixed now. and we LOVE it. The Hughes Net AND the wireless...