As above, I'd like some advice on the best router to buy

It will just be for home use, at the moment for 2 PCs to connect to with wires, but in the near future I'm looking at getting a wireless laptop too.

So what is good to get? The Netgear ones look ok?

The only other thing is I want them to be all on 1 network so you can share files and print stuff all from one printer etc - Is the easily done, and how?

Cheers

EDIT: forgot to say one PC is on Windows 98SE if that makes any difference

 

I use a D-link one and it's pretty good. Lot better than my old belkin one i'd say. ALso netgear are supposed to be good but bit more expensive usually

 

i've got a us robotics router, had it for over a year now and never had a problem with it and the signals always been top notch.

although their wireless cards are usless!

bear in mind what kind of internet you have, adsl or cable as that effects what kind of router you need.

also windows 98se will be a cont to network

 

I would personally suggest Linksys as this is built by the same company which build the industry standard Cisco routers.
A lot of the Linksys routers run Linux firmwear and as such can be hacked about to improve the performance and security.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...1934567,00.asp

Linksys are the best residential routers around imho and can easily be tweaked for unbeatable performance and features for the price

 

Thanks for the help so far, its ADSL

 

Most of your standard Netgear's all run linux firmware

Hacked into my sky one to update the firmwear from the drivl sky put on them

Ive found in the past Linksys hardware to be a bit unreliable - especially their wireless sticks

 

TBH should you really have to hack and fook about with something you've just bought?

What do people think of this?

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Rout.../WGT624SC.aspx

 

A firmware updare is not a hack, its a firmwear upgrade.. How did your firmwear upgrade extend the capabilitys of the router from what Netgear state ?
The Netgear routers do not have enough headroom for the feature set to be extended in general. Im currently running the Netgear router as Im trying to fix the security issues which allow unauthorized root access on many of the products.

http://securityvulns.com/docs6618.html

The reality are they are reasonable home routers with security issues on some of the range, however for the same price you can get a Linksys router than can be turnt into a enterprise-level powerhouse

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...icleId=9016841

Other considerations are that Netgear customer support is based in India and as such the opportunity of getting someone who does not speak the same first lanaguage as yourself is high

 

You don't have to hack about with Linksys, its just that if you need a high specification router you can do... the standard product is pretty good.

Belikin is a pretty good home router as well for the price it just feels cheep and looks nasty. It performs well though

The biggest issues I have with netgear even though im currently running one is that they are aware of a number of security holes which are still waiting to be fixed, these issues were reported three years ago.
Netgear perform well enough... its just that if I paid for routers I would not choose one

The router you mention is reasonable however its worth noting that its performance is dependant upon the user of XR-enabled client adapter such as the WG111T, WG311T, or WG511T. What this means in effect is your internal laptop wifi will not make use of the routers ablity as these are only 54g and as such unless you are buying the appropiate card for your PC or laptop your paying for performance you can not use !

 

I bought Netgear (pretty sure), never used it, still boxed, was about £80, it's going on ebay