Need a new wireless router for home use.

[Hoss]

I was hoping to avoid messing with the BIOS, I may just have to do that.

If it's a laptop and you install an internal card, you shouldn't have to mess with the BIOS.

[swake]

If one of these big black dongles isn't too bulky for you, I have a similar one that has worked great for years.  Super cheap too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166068

That one is single band. I'm wanting to get a new multichannel dual band router and get all the laptops in the house running up in the 5ghz range by themselves. I have  few items like this one laptop that are still on 802.11g that slow the current 2.4ghz band on n.  The laptop I can upgrade one way or another, but the printer and old iPhone 3s I can't. I think the Wii is g only too. They are stuck in the 2.4ghz range clogging and slowing that band.

I'm also thinking of daisy chaining the routers, leaving the old one up in 802.11g only as a separate network connected via LAN to the new router. Does anyone know if the laptops on the new n network will be able to connect to a wireless printer on a connected but separate wireless g network? The new router has a USB port that a printer can use, but I prefer to keep the printer and router in different locations if I can. The son "needs" his wired gigabit for his gaming on xbox and desktop. Besides the wireless adapter for xbox is Microsfot proprietary and like $80, which I feel is a complete ripoff and don't want to pay.

[nathanm]

I'm also thinking of daisy chaining the routers, leaving the old one up in 802.11g only as a separate network connected via LAN to the new router. Does anyone know if the laptops on the new n network will be able to connect to a wireless printer on a connected but separate wireless g network? The new router has a USB port that a printer can use, but I prefer to keep the printer and router in different locations if I can. The son "needs" his wired gigabit for his gaming on xbox and desktop. Besides the wireless adapter for xbox is Microsfot proprietary and like $80, which I feel is a complete ripoff and don't want to pay.

Yes, you can do that. Just connect the second router (which will actually be working as an access point and a switch, not a router) to the first router using the LAN ports, not the WAN port and be sure to disable DHCP on the router that's not actually routing.

Any router that will run DD-WRT, Tomato, or other third party firmware can be used in place of the Xbox adapter, by the way. Some will even do it out of the box. You're looking for "bridge mode." However, wired is better for gaming if you can keep it working that way.

[swake]

If it's a laptop and you install an internal card, you shouldn't have to mess with the BIOS.

What I read on the forums for her laptop was that I would. I'm kind of done with HP.

[swake]

Yes, you can do that. Just connect the second router (which will actually be working as an access point and a switch, not a router) to the first router using the LAN ports, not the WAN port and be sure to disable DHCP on the router that's not actually routing.

Any router that will run DD-WRT, Tomato, or other third party firmware can be used in place of the Xbox adapter, by the way. Some will even do it out of the box. You're looking for "bridge mode." However, wired is better for gaming if you can keep it working that way.

Ah, turn off the DHCP, now it makes sense. I was worried about IP conflicts. So you still let the new router assign all the IPs. I am no networking guru, that helps, thanks.

[Hoss]

What I read on the forums for her laptop was that I would. I'm kind of done with HP.

Ah, HP....not surprising....I know Dell doesn't require it.

[Hoss]

Ah, turn off the DHCP, now it makes sense. I was worried about IP conflicts. So you still let the new router assign all the IPs. I am no networking guru, that helps, thanks.

Also, make sure you change mode from gateway to router if applicable.

[jne]

That one is single band. I'm wanting to get a new multichannel dual band router and get all the laptops in the house running up in the 5ghz range by themselves. I have  few items like this one laptop that are still on 802.11g that slow the current 2.4ghz band on n.  The laptop I can upgrade one way or another, but the printer and old iPhone 3s I can't. I think the Wii is g only too. They are stuck in the 2.4ghz range clogging and slowing that band.

I'm also thinking of daisy chaining the routers, leaving the old one up in 802.11g only as a separate network connected via LAN to the new router. Does anyone know if the laptops on the new n network will be able to connect to a wireless printer on a connected but separate wireless g network? The new router has a USB port that a printer can use, but I prefer to keep the printer and router in different locations if I can. The son "needs" his wired gigabit for his gaming on xbox and desktop. Besides the wireless adapter for xbox is Microsfot proprietary and like $80, which I feel is a complete ripoff and don't want to pay.

Ah, yeah, here is a simple guide for doing the router chain http://www.tested.com/news/how-to-use-an-old-router-to-expand-your-wi-fi-network/298/ (Thats what I'll do with my old one).  For the printer, I would just use google cloud print.

[sgrizzle]

What I read on the forums for her laptop was that I would. I'm kind of done with HP.

You shouldn't unless the card defaults to disabled in the bios.

[sgrizzle]

Ah, yeah, here is a simple guide for doing the router chain http://www.tested.com/news/how-to-use-an-old-router-to-expand-your-wi-fi-network/298/ (Thats what I'll do with my old one).  For the printer, I would just use google cloud print.

As long as you keep things one the same subnet, you won't have an issue. Basically just make sure you have only one DHCP server and only one acting as a router.

Also keep in mind that your 2nd router functioning as a gateway will be eating up bandwidth so you could take a performance hit because wi-fi is shared bandwidth. If you want better performance in a multiple-router environment, bite the bullet and run an ethernet cable from one of the house to the other either through your attic or around the outside. Then set both routers up wth the same SSID, Security and network and you will be able to roam from router to router You will get the best performance and the smoothest as well.

[Hoss]

As long as you keep things one the same subnet, you won't have an issue. Basically just make sure you have only one DHCP server and only one acting as a router.

Also keep in mind that your 2nd router functioning as a gateway will be eating up bandwidth so you could take a performance hit because wi-fi is shared bandwidth. If you want better performance in a multiple-router environment, bite the bullet and run an ethernet cable from one of the house to the other either through your attic or around the outside. Then set both routers up wth the same SSID, Security and network and you will be able to roam from router to router You will get the best performance and the smoothest as well.

You need to set the routers on different channels though, or they'll be interfering with one another.  1, 6, 11 are popular channels, but 6 and 11 are never default channels on routers, so keep that in mind.

[sgrizzle]

You need to set the routers on different channels though, or they'll be interfering with one another.  1, 6, 11 are popular channels, but 6 and 11 are never default channels on routers, so keep that in mind.

Decent hardware doesn't need you to manually set channels.

[Hoss]

Decent hardware doesn't need you to manually set channels.

True, but I like control over it.  Setting it to Auto doesn't guarantee a good connection.

[patric]

Basically just make sure you have only one DHCP server and only one acting as a router.

An older router I re-configured as a remote access point lost it's settings during a power failure, and defaulted to thinking it was a DHCP server again.
The result was no one was able to get on because local address could not be assigned.
Likely the CMOS battery in the old router was kaput, and not able to maintain settings.

[swake]

As long as you keep things one the same subnet, you won't have an issue. Basically just make sure you have only one DHCP server and only one acting as a router.

Also keep in mind that your 2nd router functioning as a gateway will be eating up bandwidth so you could take a performance hit because wi-fi is shared bandwidth. If you want better performance in a multiple-router environment, bite the bullet and run an ethernet cable from one of the house to the other either through your attic or around the outside. Then set both routers up wth the same SSID, Security and network and you will be able to roam from router to router You will get the best performance and the smoothest as well.

It was easy, turned off DHCP and set the IP of the router set as an access point 0.255. I then set it to g only and then made all the 802.11n capable clients forget the old network and set them up on the new ones. 20 minutes total. I'm now setting up the NAS and UPnP which was the main reason for upgrading.