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Thursday, December 22, 2005

On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on WiFi

Do any of you fine folks mind pointing me in the direction of my next wireless router setup? As you know, we're moving into our new home soon. My current wireless router is: 1) only a Wireless-B, 2) going on almost three years old, and 3) starting to act up a bit and dropping the connection every so often. Although I can't tell if the latter is completely due to the router or my ISP, it might be high-time to upgrade anyway.

There are a lot of choices on the market these days, but I've really only had experience with Linksys. They seem to be the leader in PC-based personal networking, and I have no qualms with them (as I haven't been able to get to the bottom of the occasional connection drop). I'd just as soon stick with them unless you have other recommendations. I could go with a Mac-based router like the Apple M8799LL/A AirPort Extreme Base Station with Modem and Antenna Port which is much more expensive than the Linksys hardware. But how's the range?

So that leaves me with three different Linksys choices. The first two are similar aside from the "SpeedBooster" option which costs $20 more. And is it worth the extra moolah?

Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router

Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster

Linksys WRT54GX Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX

The third choice above is a new breed of Wireless-G called the WRT54GX. According to the packaging, it can plow through walls and floors more powerfully than the other ones. We'll have two floors and a back deck with our new home. So maybe it makes sense to go all out with this one? It's still less money than the AirPort Extreme. I also plan to pick up an AirPort Express to carry the new G signal a bit further, and extend music throughout the house.

I'm very interested to hear your opinions and experiences. Please drop 'em in the comments if you don't mind. Dank ewe veddy mush.