Wireless N router help

B-Kills

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Hi, I'm new to the wireless community. I need to move my gaming PC 2 floors above where the modem is, and there is no access to internet upstairs except for wireless(when I get it of course). I have a budget of 250 (or a little bit more if need be). I'm' mostly a Gamer I download quite a bit as well and streaming media etc... Basically I'm clueless on this whole topic, I've been told that an "N" router would be best for signal strength or something not sure :??: I'm in Canada (Ontario) so something that is available to me here would be preferable, I'll keep looking for products that catch my eye. What are the main things that I need to look for? And about the device to be connected into the PC (USB or PCI/E card)? no idea.... lol. I will update about the products I've gathered.

Any feedback will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance! :hello:

B-Kills
 
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B-Kills

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I've found one that seems to have good customer reviews anyone have any thoughts on this particular product?

Asante AWRT-600N 99-00841 Dualband Smart Broadband Router - Wireless-N, 300Mbps, WAN, LAN

Anything similar to this that is better range and signal strength?
Any feedback will be helpful! thanks!
 
I have the Linksys WMP600N on my i7 920 rig. Works very well after resolving installation issues with the help of Linksys tech support. It appears that they were not very well prepared for Win 7 64-bit OS.

Here is the link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124342

There was a clearance issue while installing this card in my HAF 932 case with a EVGA X58 Classified motherboard. The lower mounting screw (bracket to card) on the Linksys card does interfere with the Front Audio and SPDIF connectors. I took this lower screw off and then things were ok. Your header configuration may be different.
 

ashleyR

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When everything is set up and it comes to setting some security ( to stop everybody else using it ) make sure you use WPA2 encryption , this will ensure maximum speed and throughput from card ( and PC ) to router

Ashley
 
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B-Kills

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Thanks for the replies I'm looking into the ones you guys have referred me to, if there are any other with long range and strong signal, that would be great! thanks Guys!
 

B-Kills

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ok, I've got two modems in mind they are: Linksys WRT320N Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router & Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless N Router - 300Mbps, 802.11n, 4-Port.... supposedly they both are pretty much the same except one allows for dual signals which I don't think it will be necessary for me. and as you Ubrales had mentioned the Linksys WMP600N Dual-Band Wireless-N PCI Adapter I think I' will be going with that adapter since it does have good reviews. any other thoughts you guys would like to put in?
 

B-Kills

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I think I'm going to purchase the Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless N Router - 300Mbps, 802.11n, 4-Port & Linksys WMP600N Dual-Band Wireless-N PCI Adapter... but still looking around, before i make a final decision
 

muaysteve

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I just purchased the WRT400N router and WMP600N card for the same reasons as you. I wanted to be able to play games on the 2nd floor of my new home.

On 2.4hz I connect routinely at 130mbps. It is not bad for gaming (BF BC2) but every once and a while there will be a second of lag.

The 5hz band will connect between 240 and 270mbps and games flawlessly. However, last night I had issues where it would drop very low. Rebooting the router seemed to fix it. (upgrading firmware and drivers did not)

The router was onsale at FS, both came to exactly $250 after taxes. If you are going to get the dual band card, get the dual band router as well.
 

B-Kills

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I don't think I'll be using both bands at the same time, being as I'm the only one who uses the internet, and I don't have anything else that needs wireless access, so it would just be something wasted. I'm going to get the WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless N Router - 300Mbps, 802.11n, 4-Port & Linksys WMP600N Dual-Band Wireless-N PCI Adapter, it's cheaper and does what I need it to do. Thanks for all the info and feedback guys!
 

lttlepyro

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Hey B-Kills. Did you have problems setting up your WRT160N and your WMP600N? I just bought my wireless adapter today and am online trying to find a solution to my problem but so far no luck.

It sees my wireless network, and acts like it will connect, but says that it is unable to connect. I've reset my router, updated drivers etc. Does anybody know or have any ideas how to fix this?

Intel i7 920
Asus P6T Motherboard
Windows 7 Ultimate
WRT160N Router
WMP600N Wireless adapter
 
lttlepyro, I would suggest that you start over setting up the network from scratch. Assign the network name, run the software, etc - per Linksys procedures.

After you run the software, plug in the wireless card - choose WPA2 security. Same for the Router - run the software first.

Initially, around March 2010, I had quite a bit of difficulty with my Win 7 64-bit computer and WMP600N - it seems that Linksys jumped the gun and released the wireless card before the drivers were ready for Win 7. I had to call Linksys and they walked me through an elaborate procedure for downloading the correct driver. I mentioned to them (Linksys) that there was no way a regular computer user could figure this out on their own.

The 2nd WMP600N was installed on an XP computer and worked fine with no problems - probably because all the bugs had been worked out for XP over the years.

Next week (Dec 7, 2010), my 3rd WMP600N will be delivered. This will be installed in a Vista computer. Probably all the kinks have been straightened out for the Vista OS.
 

lttlepyro

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Thanks for the reply Ubrales. I broke down and Installed xp on one of my extra hard drives because I have finals coming up soon and NEED internet for some projects etc. that are due this week. I will try to do a fresh install of the linksys software, drivers etc when I get a chance over winter break. I don't really like the idea that I had to 'downgrade' my os to get this thing to work. Oh well, such is life.

Works fine on xp like you said. I was actually beginning to think that my wireless router has compatibility issues with 7. I have read about problems connecting with this router on win7 in a few other forums and there were no fixes yet. I disabled ipv6 and when i did that, I was able to connect to my wireless network but only with 'limited connectivity' unable to actually use the internet. At that point I gave it a rest for a while and here I am on xp.
 


Like I stated earlier, I have WMP600N installed on a Win 7 computer, as well as on an XP pro computer. Later, I transferred the (XP) card to a Vista computer and it worked well. Both are running well.

In the beginning, I had quite a bit of trouble getting the wireless card to work on the Win 7 computer, but a telephone call to Linksys solved the problem - they walked me through the steps of installation.

Another point to note is the positioning of the 2 screws that attach the PCB to the bracket. The lower screw head (one closer to the PCI slot) interferes with the HAF 932 Case Front connector. My solution was to take this screw off completely. In addition to this, I loosened the remaining screw and physically aligned the card and the bracket in order to get it to fit better in the PCI slot. After aligning, I left the screw hand tight (this is a grounding screw and does not need to be overly tight - snug is fine) - BTW, this type of "aligning" is a common 'fix' for many PCI cards in order to get them to fit better in the slot on the motherboard and the hold down fastener on the rear of the computer case. In some instances, I bend the bracket slightly in order to get a better fit.

Good luck on your exams!
 
Update:

Just got my third WMP600N card - installed it in a Vista computer. Initially, I got error messages stating "cannot detect hardware ...."

Re-installed the card in a different PCI slot - worked fine. Maybe the slot in which I installed the card the first time around was bad.