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Modem brand advice?

16 years ago

My Aunt lives in another state and is getting an HP laptop to replace an older desktop PC. She will have it set up with a wireless connection and wanted to know if there was a particular brand of wireless modem that will be better than another. I said I'd post a note for her and see what the Computer Help Forum folks have to say. Is one as good as another? Thank you so much.

Pam

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Comments (6)

ravencajun Zone 8b TX
16 years ago
I am guessing you mean router and not modem?

I like linksys I got mine at walmart it is this one
Linksys WRT54GS2 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster Technology

comes with a cd that has step by step directions and was a breeze to set up.
bpgreen
16 years ago
What kind of wireless connection is she going to set up? Usually, when somebody says they're going to set up a wireless connection, they mean 802.11 (aka wi-fi). She'd need a wireless network card for that (not a modem). Most laptops sold these days have wi-fi capability built in, so she may not need to get anything.
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I would think that any name brand wireless router will work fine. I have a DSL modem supplied by the phone company, and a 4-port Belkin Pre-N wireless router I bought separately a couple of years ago. The incoming signal goes to the modem, and then an Ethernet cable goes to the router. Hard wired devices plug into the ports in the back of the modem via Ethernet cable. My router can handle 4 hard-wired devices, and 32 wireless devices. I have 4 PCs hooked up to it (1 wired, 3 wireless), a Roku box (wireless), and a printer (wireless). The only thing to keep in mind about cable is that speeds can vary depending on how many people in the neighborhood are online at any given time. DSL is a constant speed, and since mine is 3 Mbps, that's enough for me. Have you checked to see whether your DSL supplier can provide a higher speed? Last year, my speed was 1.5 Mbps and I asked if they had anything higher in my area. They said they had 3.0 available for the same price. When I asked why they hadn't just bumped up my speed, they said they were only allowed to change my account if I called to request and authorize it first! I said: Who wouldn't want twice the speed for the same price? They said they just wanted to be sure this was something I wanted! At any rate, 10 seconds later I had twice the speed. Lastly, since you're mixing PCs and Macs on your system, I don't know if that would cause any problems. I have have friends with Macs who visit and they can get on my system (when I give them my security code) with no problem. However, if you are switching providers, you should ask first if there could be any problems.
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I have a free Spectrum modem too, at a second house. Because it was free, I paid no attention to the brand but I'm happy to accept your saying it's an Arris. You can be sure that any business that buys a product in large volumes, the tens and hundreds of thousands in this case, gets bids from more than one provider and everything else being equal, is heavily swayed in such decisions by price. I would come to no quality or performance conclusion about Arris simply because Spectrum provides them. It only means they were the lowest or one of the lower bidders. I have no investment in the one I use for Spectrum either financially or emotionally, if it starts to act erratically, I'll replace it. My assessment of Arris is based on the performance of a 3 year old unit in my primary home that worked poorly that I was more than happy to replace and whose replacement (a well rated Netgear model) has significantly better performance. No matter what, there's really no such thing as any tech company consistently being considered "one of the best in the business" across multiple product lines. Some are always better than others and lemons can be found from all of them. PS - Orbi and other so-called "mesh" system have their place but are overkill in many situations. I recently bought a new router for the smaller second home I have which, at a price 70% cheaper than what I paid for one Orbi (and I have two, counting the satellite) is perfectly adequate. That was why I asked chisue to describe the physical layout she wants to cover.
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kudzu9
16 years ago
I've had good luck with Belkin and Linksys. A good thing to do is to go on Amazon, type "wireless router" in the search field, and see what the reviews say for various routers. There is no universally good router, but some are better than others.
pfmastin
Original Author
16 years ago
Shows you what I know. :) Since my modem is a combination of wireless and "wired", I thought a router was something else. I will have to go check out a computerese glossary to see what is the difference between a modem and a router!

Thank you all so much for helping me with the information.
Pam
zep516
16 years ago
A Modem modulates and demodulates a signal.

A Router routes the signal to the computer or in the air..for wireless. Those type wireless would have an antenna on them.

Some units are sold as one where there is a combination of the 2 units. The Router and the modem.. and the antenna...

Holy cow how we supposed to know all this. It gets worse don't worry.. LOL
kudzu9
16 years ago
A modem is a box you get typically from your Internet provider that gets its signal from your tv cable or your phone line; you can hook up one computer to it with an ethernet cable. If you want to hook up more computers via ethernet cable, or have one or more wireless devices (computer, video streaming device, etc.) you buy a wireless router which allows you to take the signal from your modem, run it to your router with a cable, and then distribute the signal to other computers and devices. Most routers you buy these days for home use have 4 ports for wired connections, and at least 4 wireless connections (my $60 Belkin supports 4 wired and 128 wireless connections, so that would probably take care of most home needs!).

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