Broadband basics.

[chesters1]

no wireless for me thanks, A it cannot ever be secure and more importantly B my pc doesent have a wireless dongle installed mainly because its the sole pc so no need for a wireless network.

oh and C the wired version was "free"

Edited March 23, 2007 by chesters1

[corydoras]

no wireless for me thanks, A it cannot ever be secure and more importantly B my pc doesent have a wireless dongle installed mainly because its the sole pc so no need for a wireless network.

oh and C the wired version was "free"

 

Wireless can be secure. If you use WPA and MAC address filtering you will be secure. If you use WPA2 then even better.

You don't need to go be wireless to have a router. This one has no wireless, but you will need an Ethernet card if your motherboard does not have on built in.

If the 'free' thingy you were given plugs into a USB port it was only free because it is a worthless piece of crud.

[nick]

and if anyone happened to need a nice new in the box BT ADSL router I may just have one lying around doing nothing...

 

And I completely agree with corydoras, as far as networking goes USB is total garbage

[chesters1]

err as i mentioned its also ethernet which in my case its connected but as i also mentioned i can see no difference (end user wise) in download speed using either as the blockage is the phone line itself ,maybe with a better phoneline the free box may show its faults

will a "better" wired box suck data off the phone line rather than wait for it to arrive ,as with phones nothing can improve how fast you can speak and "newer" phones just pack more gimmics

 

your link:

 

A built-in ADSL modem furnishes

direct, always-on Internet connectivity and multi-user access sharing at speeds up to 140 times

faster than dial-up

 

theres that famouse" up to"

 

it also doesent seem to have the second phoneline my bt one has?

 

so in general will a "better" box result in faster access or will it be a waste of money and no better than my free one?

i dont need gimmics nor multi user use just speed.

if i spotted a router at a car boot what would i be looking for (besides cheap) must be wired because as i say wirefree is unsafe as anything is when its transmitted ,a bit how digital phones claimed to be when they were introduced (well untill the software that broke them arrived a few weeks later) and how the goverment still insist smart cards are despite having a smart card reader /writer in my loft somewhere over ten years old its (the smart cards) technology was broken before it arrived on our shores!!! and undouptably the "secure" claims of wireless are being laughed at by those that delight in proving the claims wrong and supplying the software freely on cracking sites for anyone who wishes to snoop.

Edited March 24, 2007 by chesters1

[corydoras]

so a adsl voice router isnt a proper router ?

it can use usb or a network cable but strangely not firewire.

i'm a little confused over using it on an extension ,the phone extension has thicker cables than a network cable of the same length ,so if i plug the router directly into the main socket and run a network cable to the pc the resistance in the cable will be more than the phone extention! (measured them both on a multimeter)

theres no difference in usb or network cable (tried them both)speed wise both are dismally slow as its the phoneline thats bad

Without knowing the make and model of the router device that you have I can't decide if it is what I would call a 'proper' router or not, but if it has an RJ45 connecter (Ethernet) then it probably is. Like I said chesters, if the problem is on the BT side of your phone socket there is not a lot that you can do. Measuring resistance on RJ45 type cables is a waste of time as crosstalk and capacitance are much more important on ethernet cabling. The maximum distance you can run a USB cable is 5M without a hub but you can string up to 5 hubs together to reach 30M, I doubt that you are breaking USB cable specs though. The maximum run for an Ethernet (CAT5e)cable is 100m. If at all possible do not use your ADSL connection over any telephone extension cables. The 'best' way is to buy a face plate type filter and plug your router or modem into this. You can place your device up to 30 metres from the faceplate with a good quality UTP RJ11 cable, but probably 5M would be closer to the limit with the crappy cable that you see in most computer shops.

 

It is funny that you should mention firewire, most folks don't know that you can run TCP/IP over firewire. This is how I connect my PC to my G3.

[ColinW]

I've never had any problem with my broadband connection. I'm on cable (was ntl now Virgin media). I think a lot of the problems people experience with ADSL is due to the fact that the telephone "engineers" wouldn't know a properly terminated connection if they saw one, they'll probably still twist wires together if it means getting home early. At least cable guys have to do the job properly, because the cable TV signal requirement is so much more demanding than telephone and a good network connection just comes as a side effect of that.

Incidentally, I have a Belkin router (as dismissed by Corydora) and so far it has worked perfectly.

You can always find plenty of people who will slag off any brand of technical equipment. In my experience one piece of Chinese made cheap crap is much the same as another, you just learn to live with their faults rather than pay ten times the price for "quality".

[corydoras]

I've never had any problem with my broadband connection. I'm on cable (was ntl now Virgin media). I think a lot of the problems people experience with ADSL is due to the fact that the telephone "engineers" wouldn't know a properly terminated connection if they saw one, they'll probably still twist wires together if it means getting home early. At least cable guys have to do the job properly, because the cable TV signal requirement is so much more demanding than telephone and a good network connection just comes as a side effect of that.

Incidentally, I have a Belkin router (as dismissed by Corydora) and so far it has worked perfectly.

You can always find plenty of people who will slag off any brand of technical equipment. In my experience one piece of Chinese made cheap crap is much the same as another, you just learn to live with their faults rather than pay ten times the price for "quality".

If one is connected to the internet via cable broadband there is not much one can do to improve ones connection. ADSL is different, as the quality of your internal phone wiring can make a lot of difference to your connection. IMO the best way with ADSL is to install a face plate filter onto your BT master socket as this filters out the DSL and POTS as close as possible to the two wires that come in to your house from BT. Connecting your router to the end of a long extension with some crappy DSL filter that came free with your router will not aid good download speeds or help with your S/N ratio.

 

Whenever an IT professional advises against a particular make of equipment there will always be someone who says 'I've got one of them and it works fine'. A friend of mine had three Belkin routers like this one. Connection with wired clients was OK but the wireless side of the router was crap. One of them was not transmitting any signal at all. He now has a Netgear router and is a happy bunny. One piece of cheap Chinese crap is not the same as any other. It is not so much the hardware that is important it is the software that drives the device that makes the difference as does the quality of the technical support. Belkin have a stereotypical Indian subcontinent support desk whose agents don't know their product line. Netgear on the other hand are in Dublin and they know there products inside out. Netgear now make an Open Source router. It runs Linux so if you don't like the software that comes with it you can write your own.

 

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Routersand...rs/KWGR614.aspx

[steve good]

If one is connected to the internet via cable broadband there is not much one can do to improve ones connection. ADSL is different, as the quality of your internal phone wiring can make a lot of difference to your connection. IMO the best way with ADSL is to install a face plate filter onto your BT master socket as this filters out the DSL and POTS as close as possible to the two wires that come in to your house from BT. Connecting your router to the end of a long extension with some crappy DSL filter that came free with your router will not aid good download speeds or help with your S/N ratio.

 

Whenever an IT professional advises against a particular make of equipment there will always be someone who says 'I've got one of them and it works fine'. A friend of mine had three Belkin routers like this one. Connection with wired clients was OK but the wireless side of the router was crap. One of them was not transmitting any signal at all. He now has a Netgear router and is a happy bunny. One piece of cheap Chinese crap is not the same as any other. It is not so much the hardware that is important it is the software that drives the device that makes the difference as does the quality of the technical support. Belkin have a stereotypical Indian subcontinent support desk whose agents don't know their product line. Netgear on the other hand are in Dublin and they know there products inside out. Netgear now make an Open Source router. It runs Linux so if you don't like the software that comes with it you can write your own.

 

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Routersand...rs/KWGR614.aspx

 

Hi corydoras

 

I understand what you are saying, and thank you for your time and effort.

 

I do not understand computers that well.

 

I have as you say a crappy BT wall socket with DSL filter A 40 foot plus long extendion lead (my computer is just over 30 feet away from wall socket) and that other thing that Wanadoo supplied free which plugs in to the back of the stack.

 

I would be grateful if you would make me a list of the things that will sort out all junky equipment.

 

I do not like buying over the internet can I get what I want from somewhere like PC World

 

Many thanks

 

steve

[corydoras]

Hi corydoras

 

I understand what you are saying, and thank you for your time and effort.

 

I do not understand computers that well.

 

I have as you say a crappy BT wall socket with DSL filter A 40 foot plus long extendion lead (my computer is just over 30 feet away from wall socket) and that other thing that Wanadoo supplied free which plugs in to the back of the stack.

 

I would be grateful if you would make me a list of the things that will sort out all junky equipment.

 

I do not like buying over the internet can I get what I want from somewhere like PC World

 

Many thanks

 

steve

I'll get back to you later on as I am just about to get some kip as I have not slept all night (insomnia is a really crappy condition). You can buy the stuff in PC World although IMO you are more likely to be ripped off there than on line. £16.00 for a crappy rats tail type DSL filter that looks like a £1.99 Asda special in a gaudy blister pack. Do you have a Maplins close by? They will probably have all the kit that you need. One more thing, how many computers do you have? If only one is that likely to increase?

[steve good]

I'll get back to you later on as I am just about to get some kip as I have not slept all night (insomnia is a really crappy condition). You can buy the stuff in PC World although IMO you are more likely to be ripped off there than on line. £16.00 for a crappy rats tail type DSL filter that looks like a £1.99 Asda special in a gaudy blister pack. Do you have a Maplins close by? They will probably have all the kit that you need. One more thing, how many computers do you have? If only one is that likely to increase?

 

 

Hi corydoras

 

I have only one computer and will not have any more ( hard enough working one let alone networking lol lol)

 

And yes we do have a Maplins close by.

 

steve