yournamehere

This will be easy for most of you who post regularly in Tilted Technology.

Here's my problem:

It looks as though I need a new router. My old one is a Linksys Wireless-B 2.4GHz 802.11b Broadband Router - 4 plug-ins and one internet plug. I have two computers connected by ethernet cables, and a Tivo set in the living room with a wireless antenna.

So I went online to find another, and can't find any "B" routers anywhere. I've found Linksys "G" routers that look identical, but I can't believe the prices. It seems to me that I paid $35 for my router years ago - shouldn't a replacement be even cheaper? Or are routers the only electronic item that's gone up in price? The ones I'm finding online are like $80 (found one on sale at NewEgg for $60)

Is the wireless-G my only option now?

Also, If I buy the "G" router, will my Tivo still be able to connect to the network (it's got a "B" wireless antenna with a USB adaptor) or will I have to buy another one of those, too?

Thanks for any answers.

EDIT: This is the one that looks identical to my old router:
Here

And this one is cheaper, but where are the antennas? Are they internal?
Here

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Cynthetiq

The g router should also have a/b also available, meaning it should also work with a/b. If I were you I'd look past g and look at least at n since it is the newest standard. You may not get it, but at least see what's coming as if it's just a little more, it makes the difference for laptops and other connections.

I run Tivo Series 2 with the new g and I find that it's better for transferring and worth the upgraded price for the new USB adapter.

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yournamehere

Thanks, Cyn - price is definitely a concern for me (haven't worked in a year and a half) so I think I'll stick with G. I'm a little confused - you say the G is compatible with B, but you also said I'd need a new USB adapter So I need both a router and another adapter? Or will it run better with a new adapter?

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Martian

802.11n's finalized now, which means it is the new standard and well worth the investment.

All flavours of residential wifi are backwards compatible, so any new router will work with your ancient Tivo and it's .11b adapter.

If all you want is cheap and effective, the Asus WL-520GU will do the job, and is very reasonable at $43.

I'd rather spend the $60 on a Linksys E1000 if it were me, though.

To answer your confusion regarding what the letters mean, 802.11g offers roughly five times the throughput of 802.11b (54 mbps max vs. 11 mbps max). Adding an 802.11g adapter to your Tivo will allow it to transfer data over the network much faster. 802.11n offers theoretically up to 6 times the throughput of 802.11g (~300mbps, depending on how many channels are in use etc) and also offers a nice boost to the range besides, but you'd need an 802.11n adapter at both ends for that as well.

__________________
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I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
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Cynthetiq

your B adapter will be able to communicate with the G router because the G router should also do A and B as well.

Since you are price sensitive, if you can find one on freecycle I'd recommend trying there. I've seen at least 4 routers go by the past week in NYC.

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yournamehere

Thanks, guys. As usual, the help is fast and useful here. So the Linksys WRT54G2 IEEE should work fine with the Tivo then? It seems to be the best price I can find - about the same as your Asus, Martian. With free shipping.

Wow - that's a big difference in speed, though (the N router), for a measly $16 more. Maybe I'll reconsider - it really doesn't matter to me how quickly Tivo uploads, but we may add a laptop to the household once I'm working again . . .

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Cynthetiq

yep, that's why I suggest considering the boost since the cost is minuscule to the increase.

My tivo to tivo transfers are much much faster almost to the point where I can watch a transfer going after waiting about 10 minutes in.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

yournamehere

It's decided then - I'll spring for the N router; but I'll wait till I'm working to buy a N USB adapter for the Tivo and future laptop.

Thanks again.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Cynthetiq

FYI there's no N USB for the Tivo just yet...

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Martian

Even with that being the case, I still heartily recommend the E1000 for the purposes of scalability. If you have to buy a router anyway you might as well get the best you can now, and that's pretty much it for your price range.

If you decide to stick to an 802.11g router, I suggest the WL-520GU above a WRT54G2. The Broadcom chipset powering the Asus is highly regarded, and with your choice of third party firmware on there it ought to be good for whatever you need.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

yournamehere

Well, I was just about to checkout at Newegg on the E1000 when I thought, "Why not give Craigslist a try?" Found a Linksys WRT45G for $15 - in my neighborhood. If he answers my e-mail, I'll go that route, due to my jobless situation. If I don't hear from him by tomorrow midday, I'll order the E1000. Thanks again for all the great advice.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Jinn

Sorry Martian, but I really don't get the push towards N. Who is really streaming that much in their intranet to make it an issue? The bottleneck will always been the external speed.

I think the only router I will ever need is a Linksys WRT54g. Excellent signal strength and customizability.

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Martian

While the increased throughput of n is a substantial benefit, that's hardly the only one. Off the top of my head, 802.11n offers substantially more range, deals better with interference and provides a nice extra chunk of spectrum which will ultimately lower the noise floor and improve reception even further.

It's not hard to exceed 54 mbps, and that's assuming perfect-world implementation. Practically speaking you won't even see that much, and as HD streaming becomes more prevalent it's going to turn into a bottleneck.

Furthermore, even here in North America packages from Cable and emerging Fibre ISPs are up to or past 50 mbps. This stuff isn't as far off as you might think.

There probably aren't a whole lot of people right now who need the kind of throughput n provides, but bandwidth requirements increase over time -- there was a day (and I remember it) when a 1.5 mbps internet connection was stunningly fast. If someone's going to buy a new router, I recommend buying one that will provide the latest standard and thus won't be causing a bottleneck in 2-3 years or less.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

telekinetic

I not only have N, but gigabit as well. Once you start juggling 5-10 gig movie files around, you'll take all the speed you can get. My iMac and netbook both run on N, the rest of the network is on a d-link gigabit router with a netgear gigabit switch, all strung together with CAT6. I actually have dual gigabit (they both have two gigabit ports) strung between my storage server and my processing, but I haven't implemented it at this point, because I'm already limited by drive access speed on the slower of the two.

As far as regular consumers? They'll mostly notice the extended range. My whole house pulls good signal, and I can and have streamed 1080P with 5.1 surround over it (not that I have to, it is now wired), whereas the G would choke on 720p.

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twisted no more

passthru

For technicality's sake, a G router that also says it's compatible with A is what you need to find if you ever wanted to use an A device with it (though that's fairly unlikely). G routers that also support A are pretty uncommon.

G is backwardly compatible with B, but A is in its own little world.

yournamehere

Well, I never heard back from the guy on Craigslist after he said he'd "look for the CD" so I went to Newegg, and the E1000 is no longer on sale - it's $80 now (still free shipping . . . ). As long as you've all confirmed that everything is backward compatible to my B Tivo Series 2 adapter, I'll find something - whether it be G or N.

__________________
If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors:
"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.