So many routers, so little understanding! Help!

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MAXW3LL

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Hey guys

I've just had Telkom install the good old analog line at my home (flat) and after quite a bit of research, chose to go with the AfriHost 2Mbps uncapped bundle account. It's the cheapest I could find for what I'm looking to do.

Now the fun part is choosing a decent router. I know everyone has their own brand preferences, and so do I, but I'd like to know what I need to look out for in a router, and what to ignore.

My purpose for internet is to serve:

1) My Samsung Smart TV (video streaming, browsing, youtube, etc)
2) Quite a bit of gaming - I Play battlefield3, and am looking to achieve really good ping/latency.
3) My wife's iPhone
4) Mine too
5) The option of 2 guys gaming off the same connection (is that possible? Is that where a dual-band router comes in?)

That's about it... AfriHost offer a 300Mbps Netgear router for R995: http://www.afrihost.com/site/product/adsl_modems?src=nav - is that what i need?

Or is ASUS the way to go? http://www.comx.co.za/RT-N53-ASUS-B...outer-Information-Price-Buy-Cheap-p-56136.php

A good looking router also goes a long way :)

Thanks
Ian
 
MAXW3LL said:
Lol, what is the ASUS thing then? I feel so uneducated...
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It is a router, but you cannot use it for ADSL because it doesn't have an RJ-11 port. That's where you need to plug in the phone line
 
I used to use a Dlink router at home, packed up 2 weeks ago and replaced it with my spare netgear i had lying around. Some say dont buy the netgears, I have used netgears forever and dont really have too many issues with the netgears I have had but they do tend to run a bit hot with these later models. Still havent had a netgear fail me yet unless it was hit by lightning but you do pay a premium for the netgears.

Get either a Dlink or a TP link. they both fairly good. Billions are ok but dont particularly like them. Have used them before and I had one before the Dlink and it some how survived 2 lighting hits, the 3rd hit it popped but still dont fancy them
 
m4dh4tt3r said:
I used to use a Dlink router at home, packed up 2 weeks ago and replaced it with my spare netgear i had lying around. Some say dont buy the netgears, I have used netgears forever and dont really have too many issues with the netgears I have had but they do tend to run a bit hot with these later models. Still havent had a netgear fail me yet unless it was hit by lightning but you do pay a premium for the netgears.

Get either a Dlink or a TP link. they both fairly good. Billions are ok but dont particularly like them. Have used them before and I had one before the Dlink and it some how survived 2 lighting hits, the 3rd hit it popped but still dont fancy them
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Shame, the poor Billion router has been through hell, and yet you still don't like it.. I am leaning towards a netgear, but not sure about single/dual band... Will definitely need a 300Mbps router, especially for streaming to my TV...
 
Using a cheapo Tenda ADSL router is also a good place to start. The Tenda router I'm using is very basic but it's giving me great speeds compared to much more expensive ones I've had.
 
I use Tp-Link, Netgear and Billion with no problems here they excel at different things

Netgear I use for wireless/adsl cause it has a far range plus stable and Billion I use for Wireless G for devices which cant use N or WPA and TP-Link I use as my access point.
 
If I buy the Netgear DGN2200 from Telkom, would I still be able to connect via an alternate ISP? And is it a decent modem/router? Or should I rather get a different one?
 
MAXW3LL said:
If I buy the Netgear DGN2200 from Telkom, would I still be able to connect via an alternate ISP? And is it a decent modem/router? Or should I rather get a different one?
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You can use any router with any ISP. Its illegal for a provider to lock them to an ISP
 
MAXW3LL said:
If I buy the Netgear DGN2200 from Telkom, would I still be able to connect via an alternate ISP? And is it a decent modem/router? Or should I rather get a different one?
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Don't ever think about buying a Telkom branded router,they have Telkom firmware and can't update it officially and its restricted in many ways.In many instances it wont offer the same functionalities offered by Netgear retail ones.
 
Apologies for the hijack - I run a Linksys WRT54G router.

I find it takes really long to copy files across the network (Wifi) - is this because my router is so old/slow? Any value in changing to one of the ones described above?
 
Ecco said:
Apologies for the hijack - I run a Linksys WRT54G router.

I find it takes really long to copy files across the network (Wifi) - is this because my router is so old/slow? Any value in changing to one of the ones described above?
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yep get one with faster wifi , look at 300mps wifi and make sure your pc/laptop has 300mps wireless adapter
 
You raise an interesting point. I was also wondering if there would be any differences. Will I not be able to download the retail firmware from HCOM?
 
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