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| Thread ID: 101700 | 2009-07-23 10:57:00 | Help me choose a wireless system | Strommer (42) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 794655 | 2009-07-23 21:22:00 | The TP-Link is a good option. I have been using one for 12 months with no issues at all. it is easy to set up, has a great extended range and is way cheaper than the Linksys quoted in another reply. It also has a three year warranty!! | mxpress (6486) | ||
| 794656 | 2009-07-23 21:39:00 | Yup, well done, N-Wireless is by and large relatively pointless for most people, especially considering the better part of people just want to share a broadband internet connection. The Asus WL-520GC isn't bad, but I'd recommend a few extra bucks and get the GU model instead for a number of reasons, including a bigger antenna. You *could* go for an all-in-one combo, it's just a single point of failure that way if things aren't working, but I've always had best results from keeping the two devices separate, not to mention you can also flash non-standard firmware on the Wireless device if you do keep the wireless & router separate. Just ask any number of people on the forums here what their thoughts are on the Asus WL-520GU running Tomato, we're getting quite a following ;) Doing that will "unlock" more features on your wireless than the standard firmware from the manufacturer ships with, and allow ultimately greater control, flexibility, and a few other nice things :) To summarize: Don't get N-Wireless, it'd be a waste of $$ and G-Wireless is future-proof enough. Chill. |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 794657 | 2009-07-23 22:00:00 | ...thoughts are on the Asus WL-520GU running Tomato, we're getting quite a following ;) Chill. Thanks Chill. Good info, and I am glad to know my geek :nerd: knowledge has gone up another notch. ;) Cannot find the 520GU using PriceSpy. Only the Asus WL-520G. Anyone know where I can get the 520GU ? I also cannot find a trusted brand for a USB adaptor that is compliant with USB 1.1. This is the best I can find (www.acetech.co.nz), but never heard of Airlive but it is only $33.. Some other listings were OEM with only a 90 day warranty. |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 794658 | 2009-07-23 22:28:00 | Just ask any number of people on the forums here what their thoughts are on the Asus WL-520GU running Tomato, we're getting quite a following ;) For reference purposes, Tomato info can be found HERE (www.polarcloud.com). Chill, on the Tomato page it lists "Routers that are known to work with Tomato", and next to some it states "no USB support" - what does this mean? I found this page, about working with Tomato, but it looks complicated to me and if Tomato does not install, he says "Now this asus is horrible as far as software. It's got alpha software at best, and not so stable." |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 794659 | 2009-07-23 22:42:00 | Naaaah Tomato's surprisingly easy to install, and if you have the WL-520GU then it's darn near *impossible* for you to permanently brick the unit. If there was ever a time to play with firmware, it'd be on that awesome little device. Most wireless devices won't list as "USB1.1 Compliant", but if you plug them in to a USB1.1 port they'll simply transfer data between the device & PC at 12mbps. Unless you're transferring a large volume of files between PC's, for just browsing / emails / youtube etc then the 12mbps will never be an issue ;) |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 794660 | 2009-07-23 22:58:00 | Naaaah Tomato's surprisingly easy to install, and if you have the WL-520GU then it's darn near *impossible* for you to permanently brick the unit. If there was ever a time to play with firmware, it'd be on that awesome little device. Most wireless devices won't list as "USB1.1 Compliant", but if you plug them in to a USB1.1 port they'll simply transfer data between the device & PC at 12mbps. Unless you're transferring a large volume of files between PC's, for just browsing / emails / youtube etc then the 12mbps will never be an issue ;) I'd love the challenge of installing Tomato. That would really bump up my geek :nerd: rating. However, the only routers that I can find on PriceSpy that Tomato will work with are considerably more expensive, $150+ so I will probably forget about Tomato. Yeah, I suspected that a USB 2.0 adapter would work with 1.1, but it seems weird that only some specify 2.0 as well as 1.1. |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 794661 | 2009-07-23 23:24:00 | To summarize: Don't get N-Wireless, it'd be a waste of $$ and G-Wireless is future-proof enough. Chill. I think I'd have to disagree. I dont know about the newer standards, but I know 802.11a shared the bandwidth between all wireless devices. So 54mbps would become 27mbps if two wireless clients were transferring to each other. You would only get the full bandwidth if you were the only client transferring to a wired client. I find my wired 100mbit network is too slow when transferring files (it goes at around 8MB/s). So I know the older standards (802.11a) worked like an ethernet hub; the bandwidth was shared among everyone. Are the newer standards like a switch (everyone gets their own 54mbit connection)? |
utopian201 (6245) | ||
| 794662 | 2009-07-24 00:47:00 | $77 here! pconlineshop.co.nz Not $150:D Anyways, +1 for Tomato, you'll love it! Blam |
Blam (54) | ||
| 794663 | 2009-07-24 01:19:00 | $77 here! pconlineshop.co.nz Not $150:D Anyways, +1 for Tomato, you'll love it! Blam Thanks Blam. Don't know why my PriceSpy search did not find it. Re Tomato, I went to this page (en.wikibooks.org) and while the long list of features look very impressive - most everything is beyond my understanding. I do not see what advantage Tomato would give me. Remember that the wireless system is for SWMBO's laptop 99% of time it is for email, but even if I get my own laptop some day, I still cannot see what I why Tomato would be an advantage. PM me if ;) necessary. That long list of Tomato features sent my head spinning. :p |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 794664 | 2009-07-24 02:37:00 | Yeah so many cool features, but to be honest most of them would be of little use to you. The real-time graphs I'm sure you'd find rather interesting (Everybody likes that feature), but most of the other stuff such as QoS / Access restrictions will by-and-large be unused. You're right though, it'd add a few points to your geek factor to say the least :D I know that wireless is half-duplex, so if its 54mbps, thats either sending or receiving. However, lets be honest, for 95% of people at home, if they're going to transfer a large file, its only going to be one person at once doing it. Heck, my parents home network is shared with the church, we can have a solid 35 devices some times connected to it and it doesn't matter... IF they all started file-sharing with each other, that would potentially cause an issue, but again what the better majority of people do is simply browse the web, check emails etc ... if you happen to transfer large video files regularly, then yes you're one of the unique few who may benefit from the faster speeds. BTW - 8MB/sec = 64m/bit = potentially a cheap chipset, especially many onboard Realtek cards. In the Task Manager under Networking it'll tell you the current usage. The best I've ever got out of a 100m/bit connection was around 95%. Aside from that, N-Wireless isnt yet a standard either, plus the fact is the machine connecting via WiFi has only got USB1.1 so again its just a huge waste having N-Wireless ;) Future-proofing? Perhaps, but again the vast majority of home users would never notice the difference. Its not hard to go into the next room and have N-Wireless drop right down to 6 / 12 / 24m/bit anyways. If you were *that* concerned about speed for large file transfers, your *only* solution would be to go for gigabit ethernet, or if you're super-rich you can go Fibre. Lets face it, if speed is a large factor for you for big file transfers, wireless is *not* the way to go, ever .... |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
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