Wireless Router Recommendation

I want to buy a new wireless router to replace my aging Belkin G Router. It has been a long time since I purchased a new one. I am not sure what is good out there. Airport Extreme looks promising but I am wondering what routers would be the comparable or better. Just so that I can make a properly informed decision.
I would like the new router to have a good range, NAT, MAC address filtering, Ethernet ports, WAN Ping Blocking, and USB for sharing a printer or external drive.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I would buy the AirPort Extreme Base Station myself. For my needs, the unit would be perfect if it had four Ethernet ports instead of three. But I may still change my mind. When was the last version of this Airport release? With the iPad and possibly a new iPhone on the horizon, I am sure an update to the Airport station is no where near the front burners.
I was consdering the new Belkin Play Max router since my old router is a Belkin. But I read from on-line reviews that the interface is confusing and it is very far from being plug and play as it claims.
Thanks for the link to the Netgear WNDR3700 that look good too. The Netgear Rangemax WNDR3700 and the Cisco Linksys E3000 also caught my attention. Has anyone used either one yet?

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Home wireless router recommendations

I just bought the HP Touch 600XT PC all in one. I would like to set my home for wireless regardless where I am in the home to access the printer-HP J4680 all in one printer. I watch the video on "Know your PC". What would you recommend for me to purchase what home wireless router system. I am considering the router range- needing a repeater. Down the road I will be looking at a lap top to be added to the net work.
Window 7 opearating system
IP provider will be satlite.

Try the D-Link Home Network Configurator
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Expert - Consumer

Searching for the right wireless router -- Recommendations?

Hi, I'm hoping that my newbie status to the mac world won't effect the relevance of my questions but be rest assured, i have converted from pc to mac. Thank you Apple! Anyway, with introductions out of the way I'm extremely eager to find out what wireless router is best for the MacBook Pro. After being an annonymous surfer of these boards for the last few months since the MBP release I've been unable to find conclusive recommendations of what works and what doesn't. I've taken into effect that there are a lot of factors that go into setting up a wireless network (being this will be my first) and I just want everything to work without the hassle of buying several different routers before finally being satisfied. So here are the factors that are effecting my decision:
- I'm going to be living in a apartment. (no concrete walls)
- I'm going to be using a Comcast standard Motorola Surfboard 5120 Cable Modem. (unless the router comes built with a modem)
- I'd like to be able to hook up a wired device as well as use wireless devices with the router so having multiple ports is important. (wan/lan compatible)
- I'd like the router to have as much security as possible without effecting my surfing, gaming, and streaming.
- I'd really like the router to be somewhat Tech-Friendly so I don't have to go through hours of support services and web digging to get to the bottom of any problems that may come up.
Ok so with that all said, what are your suggestions?
MacBook Pro 2.16 Ghz 2 with 2 Gig Ram Mac OS X (10.4.7)

UrbanOne,
I have no idea what some posters are talking about
when they mention "networking issues." Really, I
don't.
I have never had any trouble with Airport/wireless
with any of my Macs, regardless of model. This
includes my current MBP. It hasn't dropped a
connection once. It hasn't had difficulty connecting
to my network. To this point, it has been perfect.
Period.
Given that I do not have any problems (and never
have), there's not much more I can say about some of
the things that have been posted (feel free to read
between the lines, here). So, I will just go on to
my recommendations...
I recently replaced an older router (Belkin) with a
Linksys WRT54G. I have been very impressed
with this router. It has top-notch security
features, and these features are very easy to enable
and use via the router's web interface. All of the
router's other features (many) are easily accessible,
easy to find and control using the well designed
interface. It doesn't take an IT pro to figure out
how and what to do with the router.
I am quite happy with the signal, the range, and the
robustness of this router. I can go outside my
house, and still get full-speed transfers/downloads
all the way down to the point where I no longer get
any signal indicated by the Airport icon.
When I walk closer to the house, the signal picks
right back up, and so does my bandwidth.
I also have an Airport Express, and I love it, too.
It is only used either for printing or Airtunes, and
as such it only joins my existing network. When I
have used it to create its own network in the past,
it has worked very well.
We have a printer upstairs; when we want to print to
it, the tower upstairs acts as a server. Someone
will go upstairs and wake the tower up, and it
immediately becomes available. We have a laser
printer downstairs. The AE is sometimes in the
living room, connected to the stereo for Airtunes.
If this is the case, we need only unplug it, move it
to the printer, connect it and plug it in. When it
has booted, we can print to the laser printer. When
we need to transfer some files, someone will turn on
sharing, and someone else will connect. Simple.
What I'm trying to illustrate is that the WRT54G
simply works, no matter what we are doing, and
we don't have to jump through hoops to make it work.
As far as speed, what do you need? Any 802.11G
router, Airport or otherwise, will provide more
bandwidth than your internet connection. The only
advantage an "n" or "pre-n" router will bring is
faster network transfers. Your internet
connection will not be affected. Unless you are
constantly making large network transfers, 802.11G
will provide everything you need, for a lot less.
BTW, the WRT54G that I recommend can be had for
under $50.
Scott
This has been the most useful reply I have recieved yet, I will definitely take that model into consideration. I really hope that setting this model up will be as simple as you say it is.

Wireless router recommendations

What wireless routers will work best with my new MacBook? It will be located in the living room and as such will need to reach through walls and such. I know some are going better than others but what things should I be looking for? What must I spend to get a decent router?

Hi Bowden,
I never had problem with Netgear and Linksys, but some other user have a hard time with some linksys model.
Best bet to get best wireless router will be using apple airport:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=E1B D7358&fnode=home/shopmac/mac_accessories/airportwireless&nplm=MB053LL/A
or
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=124 87AA8&fnode=home/shopmac/mac_accessories/airportwireless&nplm=M9470LL/A
It will save your time configuring it, and you got both support for router and macbook from the same company.
Good Luck.

New Wireless Router recommendation

So I've got 2 mac's (24" iMac, Macbook Air), 1 Dell laptop, Wii, and XBox 360. I currently have a D-Link DGL-4300 that is just completely unreliable. It's firmware is up-to-date, tried different channels, etc. etc....and I still have to reboot it constantly.
My house is about 3000 sq. ft. w/ 3 different floors and I'm trying to find something that will cover the entire house. Will the Airport Extreme do this? Any other recommendations?

The Airport Extreme is the most reliable consumer router I have ever worked with. Any one of my clients who asks me this question gets the same answer. The only thing that's better is only for corporate and it would be a Cisco, but that's not what you need.
Try buying one. If you don't like it you can return it. If it doesn't have enough range, nothing does better than the extreme but you can easily get either another Extreme or Express and put it close to the point where you lose signal or the network is slow and it will expand it.
I have a 100 year old victorian house with 4 floors and I have 2 Extremes working perfectly. No problems. Set it and forget it.
Harris

Which wireless router should I buy?

After many hassles trying to get my 3 yr old speedtouch router to work reliably with my Macs I've decided it's time for an upgrade. Can I please get your wireless router recommendations for hassle free surfing on a Mac
Many thanks
David

When you want some router advice you need to be more specific.
A router does not include a DSL modem. So if your needing a box to replace a speedtouch then you need an ADSL router.
An ADSL router is a dsl modem and router combined.
You also don't specify who your isp is or what country your in.. This has some implications as if your in the UK for example some isp's use Annex M, ADSL2+ etc. Not all ADSL routers support these protocols and in the UK we use PPPoA IPoA and PPPoE. In other parts of the world only PPPoE is used.
So if you want an example of an all round box that works with 99% of the protocols it is the netgear DG834GT. However netgear now have a wireless N compatible router however I have not had any reports whether this box will work with apples wireless N. However in theory it should.
If you want a standard wireless router to use with an existing DSL modem then I would recommend the linksys wrt54G

I want to set up the Time Machine and I would love to use the Time Capsule but since I already have a wireless router I need suggestions on what other external disks Apple could recommend to use with the Time Machine and how to configure that disk

I want to set up the Time Machine and I would love to use the Time
Capsule but since I already have a wireless router I need suggestions on
what other
external disks Apple could recommend to use with the Time Machine and
how to configure that disk.
A complication that I need to resolve is the fact that I am using Vmware
Fusion to be able to use Windows on my Mac. Now it seems that Time
Machine is not backing up my files
on that virtual Windows without additional configuration and my question
is whether you can advise me here or whether this is only a matter for
the Fusion virtual machine.

If you want to use Time Capsule you can.. you simply bridge it and plug it into the existing router.. wireless can be either turned off or used to reinforce the existing wireless.. eg use 5ghz in the TC which is much faster than your 2.4ghz.
You can also use a NAS.. many brands available but the top brands are synology, qnap and netgear readynas series. These will all do Time Machine backups although how well always depends on Apple sticking to a standard. There are cheaper ones.. I bought a single disk zyxel which was rebadged and sold through my local supermarket. It actually works very well for TM at least on Snow Leopard. Major changes were made in Lion and again ML so do not instantly think it will work on later versions. I haven't tried it yet with those versions.
Any external drive can be plugged into the mac. Use the one with the fastest connection or cheapest price according to your budget. USB2 drives are cheap and plentiful. But no where near as fast as USB3 or FW800. So just pick whichever suits the ports on your Mac. Interesting Apple finally moved to USB3 on their latest computers.
TM should exclude the VM partition file.. it is useless backing it up from Mac OS side.. and will slow TM as it needs to backup that partition everyday for no purpose.. TM cannot see the files inside it to backup just the changes.
You need to backup windows from windows. Use MSbackup to external drive.. if you have pro or ultimate versions you can backup to network drive. But MSbackup is a dog.. at least until the latest version it cannot restore the partition without first loading windows. There are about a zillion backup software versions for windows.. look up reviews and buy one which works for you. I use a free one Macrium Reflect which does full disk backups and is easy to restore.. to do incremental backups though you have to pay for it.

Recommend a Wireless Router?

Hello all.
I used to have an older "UFO" AirPort Extreme BS in the office to provide cable modem broadband to my Mac Pro (wired) and wireless network to my MBP and my iPhone. "Sadly" I think the AP has malfunctioned and is not providing the wireless networking properly (MBP and/or iPhone cannot detect the network or cannot log on, even when the wireless network is not protected)
Anyway, I see no point in investing a new AirPort Extreme BS in the office (rather for home use), because I just wanted the "extra" wireless networking.
Can anyone recommend a wireless router 'similar' to the AP - providing both wired and wireless network router, that can be easy to configure on a Mac? I am seeing some popular brands like D-Link, Linksys, etc.
Thanks and cheers

Russa wrote:
It's been my experience that LinkSys and Netgear routers are built for mass market (and PC) and offer a less than satisfactory performance threshold. LinkSys WRT54g, while one of the most popular models, is very inefficient and unreliable even with the dd-WRT open-source firmware upgrade. If you have broadband service thruput up to 3Mbps then perhaps these makes are ok for you. Newer models may be more efficient and reliable. Perhaps someone with a newer LinkSys can offer their opinion. However, if you have a cable modem with >5Mbps thruput then you probably want to think hard again about an Apple router. Apple does make a high-performance router. You may want to consider ZyXEL if you want a cheap router with very high efficiency.
FWIW, I don't agree with your statements about LinkSys and NetGear. I've been using these routers professionally and as a home consumer for many years without problem. If your experience is that these routers can not handle your broadband connection speeds then I think you have other problems with your setup, or you have unfortunately purchased defective routers. Or, as your broadband speeds have increased you have not updated your network components to keep pace.
LinkSys (CISCO) and NetGear have been long time leaders in providing router technology.
Message was edited by: BobTheFisherman

Recommend Wireless Cable ROUTER Recommendations

Can anyone recommend a good wireless Cable router for use in California?
I've given up trying to get a new LINKSYS Wireless-G WRT544 (and new LINKSYS Cable Modem BEFCMU10) to work here.
The specific problem: My 20MB-100MB .mov Quicktime movies consistantly stall while viewing them on the internet.
I have very tediously ruled out all cables, browsers, workstations.
The problem duplicates: Mac>LinksysModem (no router).
The problem clears using Mac>BestModem (no router).
The problem returns Mac>BestModem>LinksysRouter (reset to default with new firmware).
I have given up on the Linksys brand.
My Asante wireless router used to work right, but I think it has began failing and I am trying to replace it.
Comments appreciated...

Interesting recommendation...
I typoed my original post.
The Linksys router I returned today was a WRT54G v5 with new firmware: 1.00.2
(I was not bold enough to add on "Alchemy Firmware" but thanks for the tip).
UPDATE:
I returned the Linksys Router and Linksys cabel modem.
I hooked up a new Motorola cable modem SURFboard® model SB5120 and instantly got my movie speed back (same as with my old BestData CMX110).
I have deduced that:
1) The Linksys modem was the problem (since I had the problem plugged directly into it), and
2) The Linksys router was the problem (since the problem returned when I plugged the router into a properly-functioning BestData modem).
Again, I should add I did all the hardware, software resetting to default, including turning everything off and back on in proper sequence.
I am currently running off my old Asante router, looking into the new routers (Apple router seems pretty expensive at $200).
The http://www.jerrykindall.com/2005/06/23the_routerking.asp was especially useful (the D-Link DGL-4300 GamerLounge sound impressive, but at $300 may more than I need).

Wireless router brand recommendation?

We're planning to go away from AOL and to Bellsouth or some other faster service provider soon. I stopped at Microcenter last nite to ask about wireless routers and the Mac guy there recommended a Belkin router over a Lynksis brand. He said the Lynksis router did not have Mac readers and would not be compatible with my G4 (although it would work with the pc I have).
I've read many times in this discussion to stay away from Belkin as it's not a Mac friendly brand. So, can anyone confirm that the Belkin would, indeed, be a good router to buy or give me a recommendation on a similar, budget priced wireless router with ethernet connections.
Thanks.

Netgear are also a good solid Mac friendly brand, I've got a Wireless Netgear Access Point setup on my G5 & Xbox to connect to my ISP's Wi-Fi Modem, its works perfectly on both. I also know a few other people who use the brand's Wireless Routers & have no hassles what so ever. They're super easy to setup - just login with Safari & after a few clicks you have secure wire-free networking.
Rory

Recommended Wireless Router

Can anyone recommend a really good wireless router that will work well with my 17" MBP and my wife's PC?
Thanks!

I have a Linksys WRT54GS that works fine in my home network - my MacBook Pro, Vista Desktop PC and an HP wifi printer (all WPA2 encrypted connections). Having said that though, I've never had a problem in the past either, first using a D-Link,then a Belkin (had the linksys for the past couple of years).
99% of the time, one wireless router will work as well as another - 802.11b/g/n are standards, so it shouldn't really matter. I know it sometimes does, usually because of obtuse configuration/settings interfaces. But I've set up dozens of different makes/models of wifi routers for mixed Apple&Windows environments, and there's usually no problem.

I can't get a signal through whole house because of a brick wall What range extender do you recommend to be used with my wireless router ( apple brand)

I can't get a signal through whole house because of a brick wall What range extender do you recommend to be used with my wireless router ( apple brand)

Very few 3rd party wireless extenders will work with an Apple router, so your best bet is always to use an extender that is the same brand as the main router. An AirPort Express is a popular choice for this type of application with another Apple router.
If you had a Cisco router, then a Cisco extender would be your best bet. Same for Netgear, etc.
But......a wireless extender can only "extend" the quality of wireless signal that it receives, and not much of a wireless signal is going to make it through a brick wall, so whether any extender might do what you want is open to question.
You won't know whether an extender using wireless to connect will work to your satisfaction in your home until you actually try it out in your home.
The performance will always be much better if you can connect the extending device back to the main router using a wired Ethernet cable connection.
If it is not possible to run the Ethernet cable, a pair of Ethernet power line adapters might be able to send the signal over the existing AC power lines in your home. The theory with these devices is that you already have the wiring in place, you just need the adapters.
In practice though, things do not always work as well as the theory might suggest, so if you decide to try a pair of adapters, it might be a good idea to understand the store's return policies before you buy.

Can anyone recommend a wireless router

can anyone recommend a wireless router....I just bought a Ipod Touch and have not been able to use all of the features. I currently have Windows XP Pro.....the one main computer in the house, a Xbox 360 is hooked up to a Linksys router at the moment. I'm new at this and don't know the specifications I would need for the Ipod Touch and which router works the best with it.

The iPod Touch only uses b/g wireless standards, so you can use any wireless-g router. Since Wireless-N is the next standard, you can usually get a Wireless-G at an economical price. G is an older standard and quite sturdy. Linksys would be a good choice for you since you are already using one from that company. Just swap it out with your existing router. Special note: if you do go wireless, be sure to shut off the wireless on your iPod Touch when not using it; drains the battery.

Recommendations:Wireless Router Broadband over phone for Macbook (white)

Can you please offer advice about buying a wireless router for my new Macbook?
I have been using old fashioned cables and a speedtouch modem on my eMac up to now.
Buying the Macbook has pushed me into the 21st century and I'm getting my head around wireless and what I need to do to connect to the internet.
What are good buys for wireless routers?
I have a broadband connection using the landline.
I am looking for the most user friendly solution please!

Have purchased the Modem/router supplied by ISP.

Can anyone recommend a good wireless router for both Mac and PC?

Hello! I am looking to purchase a wireless router, and was told that Linksys in general (and a specific model in particular) isn't Mac-friendly. I need a nuetral router that works well with my MacBook and my Dell laptop (which I need to purchase a wireless card for). I also have a PC but I can just connect it via Ethernet cable.
Any suggestion is greatly appreciated!
MacBook 1,1 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

hi - Linksys wireless routers work fine with macs (i
have one)...
perhaps the reason you heard they're not mac friendly
is because the software they give you to configure
the router only runs under wintel.... but you really
don't need that software...
one can have total control over the setup simply by
firing up a web browser (on a machine either directly
connected to the router via ethernet or w/ a wireless
connection) and going to http://192.168.1.1/
that'll get you talking directly to the router...
i'm actually not aware of any routers that really
don't work well w/ macs... so i think you can just
choose based on features & price...
cheers
p.s. Welcome to Apple Discussions!
I currently am trying to set up a linksys router. Unfortunately, I dont know what to do once i am at the router's config page to make it start working. Can you help me out? thanks.

Wireless Router Recommendation

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