Best Wireless Router for Mac

N

NarutoSasuke

Registered
Got two questions here: first off, which do you think is the best wirelss router for Mac? Okay, I understand the Airport Extreme Base is good, blah, blah, I'm not looking to pay $129 right now for a router. So, what routers do you have and what experiences do you guys have with your routers?

Second, my Windows machine just has fast ethernet and I have 5 Mbps High Speed Internet, with Roadrunner down south in Texas, so would it make a difference if I switched to Gigabit ethernet on my Windows machine? Would I receive faster transfer speeds just by switching?
 
I like the D-Link branded routers -- I usually stay far away from the Linksys routers (they had problems in the past with AppleTalk packets, so I just got a sour taste for them -- plus they feel so "cheap" in terms of construction).

Gigabit ethernet will not make a bit of difference in internet speed -- 5mbps isn't nearly enough to saturate a fast ethernet connection, so upgrading would be overkill.
 
Linksys system software is a headache, never used the D-Link though I hear good things, always had very good luck with netgear products.
 
I second Diablo on the idea that gigabit ethernet would be overkill. You just don't need that much bandwidth to get the most out of your Roadrunner connection.

As for the router brand, go with D-Link. I've personally had a lower-priced model running for about a year nonstop, and never have had a problem!
 
I use an Airport Express at my apartment and I'm happy with it. If I had to choose a cheaper alternative, then it would be a DLink model. I've used their wired and wireless routers for a few years and they've been rock solid for me. Netgear would be behind DLink, and I wouldn't even consider anything from Linksys.
 
I'm thinking about the D-Link router, the one that is 108 mbps and I'm unsure. It's $40 on Newegg.com (BEST SITE, that's with the $20 rebate) and I'm wondering if I should get that. I see a Gigabyte router that is 108 mbps and it's $56. That one looks good, it has the same features and they say gives good signal strength. Has anyone had experience with the Gigabyte router?
 
No need to bother with the DLink Xtreme versions...your Aiprort card doesn't take advantage of that hacked system they use to get the supposed 108MB/s from the 54MB/s of the 802.11G spec. A regular 802.11G router by DLink will work just as well for you (DI-524) and should be cheaper.
 
Well thanks for that information, so my iMac Airport Extreme won't take advantage from any 108mbps router? Also, wouldn't a 108mbps router be good for about 3 computers and an Xbox?
 
No..just DLink's Xtreme cards and adapters. They basically use equations to transform the data, compression, and a few other tricks so that more can be sent in each packet. I haven't played with the Netgear or Linksys 108MB/s versions, but I'd say they do a similar thing. I'm not sure about now, but when they released this stuff a while back you had to have a card and router from the same company for it to work right. So, in order to get it working you needed a DLink Xtreme adapter card and router or Linksys's TurboG adapter Card and their TurboG router.

If you went with DLink and installed their Xtreme cards in PC desktops or Laptops you have, then you might see the difference. The Airport based Mac will still connect...just at the lower, standard speed.

In all honesty you're not going to see a huge difference with it unless you constantly transfer huge files over you LAN. 802.11B is faster than the internet service you have...so you won't seen any difference there. Roadrunner is 5Mb/s (mega-bits per second), or .625MB/s (mega-bytes per second). 802.11B is 11MB/s (mega-bytes per second), or 88Mb/s (mega-bits per second). So until Roadrunner is over 88Mb/s you wouldn't need anything higher than 802.11B speeds.
 
Okay, that makes sense, I thought my connection wouldn't go that fast, and it seems 54 mbps will be good enough, I'll probably go with the D-Link and use the $20 rebate, which brings the DI-524 to just $21!!! Good deal, finally I can stop leeching from my neighbors!!

I just want something that doesn't drop connection and allows me to hit about good download speeds, speeds almost as good at my wired connection on my PC.
 
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