[nitrous]

@akshay: Yes, its a G model.

Originally Posted by Thad

I never thought the lifetime of these devices was defined by the amount of data they handle!

I feel its akin to running full revs in rush hour traffic for hours together at a time.
The chipset just overheats and crashes, I guess.

Originally Posted by Thad

My instinct says that if you want something to give you years of heavy usage, you should increase the budget. Possibly double it, at least.

I agree and I follow this policy almost always.

Guys, any model recommendations?

[babhishek]

import a router, increase the budget and your wireless life is smooth

recommendation:

WRT54G/ WRT54GL

hard to source, a premium to be paid, but worth every penny!!

[Abbas]

how about belkin. i use that for my home use. got it for 1800 . has 100ft range. works just fine. very user friendly .

[lurker]

Linksys WAG-160N wireless Gateway + Router should be good enough.

Buffalo is out-of-stock even with it's all India distributors.

[Thad E Ginathom]

My D-link is just a wireless router, no modem. It runs barely warm to touch, whereas other similar devices I have had get quite hot. My Airtel-supplied Beetel modem gets pretty hot; my BSNL Huawei used to too.

If you are interested in D-Link, you can buy direct from the distributors just off Cathedral Road.

I didn't like my Linksys that I tried. I found the setup to be restrictive and painful. Everybody has their likes and dislikes with this stuff!

I feel its akin to running full revs in rush hour traffic for hours together at a time.
The chipset just overheats and crashes, I guess.

Yes, you may be right about that: it is certainly true of computer CPUs

[lurker]

the linksys that I have been using WAG-160N runs hot . . it seems the aerodynamic design with closely packed electronics inside are restrictive in airflow and thus the very design is bound to raise its running temps.

But the router otherwise is just perfect. It's N-series and can run for days together without any issues and hangs onto the dsl signals pretty well. BTW I found it to be better 'temperature-wise' and performance-wise once I hanged it on the wall rather than keep it on the table.

[ceebeezee]

I just purchased the Netgear WGR614 model and it works great. This is the N150 model and not the G model (which you will get if you google this model)
It cost me Rs. 1550/-, bought it in Gurgaon (City Circuit)
The range is excellent, steady signal, no dropouts and doesnt get heated.

The settings interface is also detailed and easy to use.

[Pho3nix]

Of the options given, Belkin would be the best I believe... I am using a Beetel Wi-Fi router (2 years) and have never faced this issue despite 24/7 usage with a lot of P2P... I am surprised that NetGear should give such a problem!

[raj_5004]

Guys, I am a noob into all this, so please help.

I have an Airtel Broadband connection at my place with an unlimited plan. I am using a Beetel 220BX1 wired modem supplied by Airtel.

Now i want a wi-fi connection at my place. Here are a few queries-

1) If i buy a Wi-Fi router, can i connect both my desktop as well as my phone/laptop through it? I mean, would i need to use my present wired modem after that?

Also, I would like to use both if possible. I would like to use the wired modem for my PC & use the wi-fi router only for my Laptop or Phone, so that when i am not using my phone or laptop, i can simply switch off the wi-fi router & use the wired modem for my PC. I feel that would be safer. Chances of anyone misusing my wi-fi would be lower. Is this possible- using both the modem for PC & wi-fi router for laptop?

2) Which router is good for my airtel connection? airtel does not supply routers now. I enquired at some shops nearby & I was showed Buffallo (with some extra 'security' feature & a 'security' light) for Rs. 1800 & D-Link router for Rs. 1700. which one is good? I am interested in Buffalo as have read some good reviews about it. it also seems to be feature rich. is it a good router?

3) what are the safety issues with Wi-Fi? How can i protect my connection from misuse?

4) By chance if anyone knows, I have a SE Xperia X10 phone running on Android. I need to access my mails & facebook updates on phone. I hope thats possible through Wi-Fi as i dont wish to use GPRS for that, its too expensive!

Thanks.

[NetfreakBombay]

Buy any one of them, both are good.

Just make sure you add a password to secure it (Technically, enable WAP encryption). Then you need not worry about misuse as long as password is not known to too many people.

LAN cable from existing DSL router would go to WiFi router.

[Ragul]

You may not get these features below 5K INR, but while we are on this topic, here is a list of features to look for in Wifi routers:

1. Radius + 802.1x authentication (defeat MAC address spoofing)
2. VLAN/Guest mode - no hassle of creating user/pass for temporary visitor to home who may need to user your wireless connection. Segregate your home network from guest network so causal users or guest network cannot access your NAS files
3. 5ghz dual band with DFS approval certification. Dynamic Frequency Selection needs government approval due to interference with Military communication and can be added by firmware upgrade. Look for pending DFS approval tag.
4. QoS - Quality of Service to prioritize HD/Multimedia traffic over mail etc
5. WPA2 with AES encryption (WPA2+TKIP on all market routers results in upto a 40% drop in throughput)
6. UPnP server to access multimedia files from TV/Consumer devices + usb HDD support + torrent client
9. Packet aggregation - improves throughput/speed
10.Co-existence - other neighbor wireless routers will cause signal interference drastically reducing throughput. Co-existence is the name of a feature. Look for it.
11. 3 Spatial streams for simultaneous HD streaming to multiple devices
12. Space time block coding - affects throughput/speed
13. Dynamic DNS - allows you to access you network from office outside by specifying a hostname - thru the wired Broadband connection.

And lastly in case its not obvious, 802.11n with 5ghz + 2.5Ghz dual band ...
HTH

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Buy any one of them, both are good.

I am more interested in Buffalo as it seems to have more features than D-Link. I heard its a new brand. any problems with it as such?

Just make sure you add a password to secure it (Technically, enable WAP encryption). Then you need not worry about misuse as long as password is not known to too many people.

I hope this is possible in every router.

LAN cable from existing DSL router would go to WiFi router.

So you mean the connection would go like this-

Airtel line - Existing Airtel modem - WiFi Router (LAN cable) - Desktop (LAN cable)

Am I right?

Can i use a splitter in which the main will come from the Airtel line & one of the split will go to wired modem & other will go to wi-fi router? if thats possible, i can individually use both the modem (for my desktop) as well as the wi-fi router (for my phone), irrespective of each other.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

I am more interested in Buffalo as it seems to have more features than D-Link. I heard its a new brand. any problems with it as such?

Buffalo is usually considered a better brand in this category.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

I hope this is possible in every router.

Yes, every router would have this functionality.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

connection would go like this-

Airtel line - Existing Airtel modem - WiFi Router (LAN cable) - Desktop (LAN cable)

Yes that is the most common configuration.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Can i use a splitter in which the main will come from the Airtel line & one of the split will go to wired modem & other will go to wi-fi router?

Yes, but only one of them should be powered on at a time.

There is an alternative that would cost 700 more. You will have to purchase a "Hub".

Connection would be:

Line->Existing Router->Hub (Hub would have 4 LAN ports)

From Hub, one Lan cable would go to Desktop and another would go to WiFi Router.

You turn on WiFi router only when you need to. Net on desktop would keep working even if WiFi is on.

[rohan_iitr]

Raj,

Let me try to clear the confusion. It is some thing like this.

ADSL line coming from Airtel is splitted by a splitter (small plastic box provided by Airtel). One line goes to the landline phone, another goes to Beetel 220BX1.

Beetel 220BX1 has 2 parts - ADSL modem and router(wired). Currently you are connecting your desktop to this wired router through a LAN cable.

Now you add a wifi router to the Beetel 220BX1's inbuilt router (through a LAN cable).

The wifi router also has 2 parts - wired router with 4 LAN ports and wifi access point.

Now you have 2 options - you can connect your desktop and wifi router though LAN cable (using a hub) to the router of Beetel 220BX1 or you can connect your desktop through LAN cable to the wired router of the wifi router which is directly connected to the Beetel 220BX1 (no hub). Its your wish. In the first option, you can keep the wifi router off when wifi connectivity to laptop or mobile is not required.

Your laptop and wifi enabled mobile phone would get connected to the wifi router wirelessly though wifi in either case.

As posted by NetfreakBombay also, option 2 is most common. You don't have to buy additional hub. Insted, buy a wifi router which has feature to selectively switch off the wifi portion when not required.

Current setup:
--------------
ADSL line - Splitter - Landline phone
. . . . . . . . . . . . . - Beetel 220BX1 - Desktop

Option 1:
---------
ADSL line - Splitter - Landline phone
. . . . . . . . . . . . . - Beetel 220BX1 - Hub - Desktop
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- wifi router - Laptop
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Mobile

Option 2:
---------
ADSL line - Splitter - Landline phone
. . . . . . . . . . . . . - Beetel 220BX1 - wifi router - Desktop (wired)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- Laptop (wireless)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- Mobile (wireless)

Buffalo, Belkin, Linksys, Netgear are all reputed brands. But I would suggest D-link from my personal experience. It is suitable for Indian conditions, never gets heated even on prolonged use. The signal strength is very good. In fact, I keep the signal strength to 1/8th of its maximum range, but it can still cover my 2 BHK apartment.

D-link's user interface is very user friendly. It comes with an installation CD, which has an installation wizard which will provide step by step guidance for installing the wifi router in your existing setup.

Security tips:
-------------
1. Reduce the signal strength so that signal does not go out from your house
2. Keep wifi router off when not required
3. Enable wireless security by adding password for joining network
4. Disable SSID broadcast. Meaning your network name would not be visible to others, you need to enter network name and password for joining the network. You can save these in your laptop and mobile, so that they may connect automatically.

Finally, I would suggest that you go for a wifi router with 802.11n connectivity (they also support 802.11g). 802.11g and 802.11n are basically wifi standards. n is the latest one, it provides better speed and better range. The prices are not that different, g router would cost around 1200INR and n would be around 1700INR.

Rohan

[iTNerd]

Do any of the new Wi-Fi router in the market supports the 3G USB modem (such as Photon+, MTS USB) yet? 2-3 months back, I found it almost impossible to find one in Nehru Place market. Finally, had to order from a Bangalore based company called Leoxsys for a Wifi router that supports both Ethernet and USB 3G modem.