Network, WiFi, Routers & Modems Totally Confused

[pozzydrive]

Hi All new here

I'm absolutely useless when it comes to understanding networks, routers, modems etc, so any help would be much appreciated.

Just in case this is important I have the following:

1. Mac computer running Lion OSX.
2. Airport extreme base station.
3. Edimax AR-7084gA ADSL2+
4. My ISP is Talk Talk (UK).
5. Recently purchased ASUS RT-AC66U router.

I bought the airport extreme because I thought it would help speed up my internet, not knowing at the time it was only a router, however the Edimax which I already had, was a router + modem, I phoned Apple got help and had it up and running without any problems, that was about 2 / 3 years ago. I recently decided to upgrade to the RT-AC66U because at times my connection either dropped or I had some problem or another with the internet or wi-fi. Once again and not realising it, mainly because I do not understand them, I ended up buying a router without a modem and it is too late now to send it back, had it too long. I would appreciate it, if someone can help me out and answer the questions below for me and if at all possible keep everything plain and simple.

1. Would I benefit from buying a separate modem and if so wired or wireless, what is the best, so far I found the Motorola Netopia 2210 to have a good write up.
2. Can I use the airport extreme in series with the Asus RT-AC66U and even add the Edimax router to it, but only use the modem part of this router. Is there any benefit from this or does it create more problems than its worth.

Regards

Pozzy

 

[bill001g]

You should be able to use only the modem part of your edimax device by setting it to bridge mode. I have not used these so I can't say exactly how you can do it but I am going to bet it is a check box on the configuration.

I would use your new Asus as you main router it is very advanced compared to the airport device. The only way I would use the airport is as AP. This would allow you to offload older 802.11g devices to that and let the Asus run only 802.11n.

To start with I would ignore the airport for now and put the edimax in bridge mode and use the asus as a router . If you get stuck and can't figure out how to get the edimax in bridge mode then I would just disable the wireless on the edimax and plug the asus in behind. This is not optimum because you have 2 times NAT but as long as you do not need port forwarding there is not a lot of huge issues with running double nat.

 

[pozzydrive]

bill001g

Thank you for the quick response, can you please tell me what port forwarding is and why I might need it.

Regards

Pozzy

 

[bill001g]

Port forwarding lets something from the internet directly access some software on your machine...this is a oversimplification.

Generally people do this to host game servers or there are some forms of VPN that need it. I know some people would use it to access say the security cameras in their house while they were at work.

Mostly if you do not know what it is you don't need it.

 

[pozzydrive]

bill001g

Thanks once again, one last question, will the Motorola Netopia 2210 go well with the Asus RT-AC66U or would you know of a better modem in all categories that would be suitable. I am thinking it would be better to just buy a stand alone modem and discard the Edimax and the airport extreme, would certainly make the job of getting online and accessing wifi easier. I believe the first answer you gave, made me think this way, would you agree.

Regards

Pozzy

 

[bill001g]

A modem is pretty much a very stupid box. All it really does is convert from one kind of wire to another kind. In your case it is converting from DSL to ethernet. Others of course convert from coax cable to ethernet. Because this function is so simple and well defined you seldom have performance issues.
In your case the device you have is both a modem and a router so it is doing a lot more function. How much that would impact your performance is hard to say, even the most crappy device is still faster than most adsl circuits.

Now lets say you go into the device and set it to bridge mode. This means it is a modem only. At this point I would doubt a new modem would be any faster.

Since it costs you nothing to try other than your time to read the manual for the edimax I would try to covert that to a modem only first (ie run bridge mode) and hook it to your asus. Be sure you copy down any wan configuration option from the edimax...things like userid and passwords because you will need to move them to the asus. I would bet the performance will be fine but you can then easily swap the modem if you want.

That asus is one of the most popular router on the market it is pretty much compatible with any modem.

 

[pozzydrive]

A modem is pretty much a very stupid box. All it really does is convert from one kind of wire to another kind. In your case it is converting from DSL to ethernet. Others of course convert from coax cable to ethernet. Because this function is so simple and well defined you seldom have performance issues.
In your case the device you have is both a modem and a router so it is doing a lot more function. How much that would impact your performance is hard to say, even the most crappy device is still faster than most adsl circuits.

Now lets say you go into the device and set it to bridge mode. This means it is a modem only. At this point I would doubt a new modem would be any faster.

Since it costs you nothing to try other than your time to read the manual for the edimax I would try to covert that to a modem only first (ie run bridge mode) and hook it to your asus. Be sure you copy down any wan configuration option from the edimax...things like userid and passwords because you will need to move them to the asus. I would bet the performance will be fine but you can then easily swap the modem if you want.

That asus is one of the most popular router on the market it is pretty much compatible with any modem.

 

[pozzydrive]

bill001g

Wish I could buy you a pint, thank you so much, I will do as you say and try the Edimax modem first, will let you know how I get on, otherwise I think this line of questions is closed. Thanks once again.

Best Regards

Pozzy