Wireless network advice for NTLWorld Broadband

[Stuart C]

Yep. You did choose well. Admittedly, being bright blue, that router is as ugly as hell, but it works well.

[Begize]

Originally Posted by Druchii

How many times do i have to tell people WRK54G's are NOT good routers. I had one, caused a hell of a lot of hassle. Everytime someone mentions one i tell them off.

WRT54G's are excellent, WRK54G's are crap.

That seems to be the general opinion of most people but as it seems that the support Linksys provide is also just as crap, I would still prefer to spend my money elsewhere.

[Druchii]

Originally Posted by Begize

That seems to be the general opinion of most people but as it seems that the support Linksys provide is also just as crap, I would still prefer to spend my money elsewhere.

Dunno, never needed to call a support line, even with my WRK54G (which i sent back) No problems with my WRT54G, so couldn't care less what support is like.

[Anastasis]

Well chaps, my Linksys arrived yesterday and I had it setup and providing a wireless connection in around 30 minutes which I doubt is a record, but was good enough for me.

I was a little puzzled as to what security setting I should use. The Linksys browser-based configuration offered me about 6 different choices with no indication to someone like me who is unfamiliar with this what the best option would be out of:

WPA Personal, WPA Enterprise, WPA2 Personal, WPA Enterprise, RADIUS and WEP.

In the end I chose the first one in the list, WPA Personal, and it worked OK, but I have no idea if that is the best option for me. Any ideas?

I have still to set up a network between my main computer and the new laptop, but will look at that this evening. I realised that my Canon ip4200 printer is USB only, i.e. it does not have an Ethernet connection, so whilst not urgent at some time I will need to set it up on a separate print server. I know you can get mini devices to do this. It doesn't have to be wireless as the printer is located close to the router so can easily be cabled, but again with this, any advice as to the best value option (a balance between price and performance) would be appreciated.

Cheers everyone!

PS. You are right, Stuart C, the Linksys won't win any awards for being the nicest looking router, it is ugly, but so far I am very pleased with it otherwise.

[Stuart C]

WPA personal is an excellent encryption system. WPA2 personal is better, but not all devices support it.

WPA Enterprise, WPA2 Enterprise and Radius all require a server to issue the security keys (so are actually slighty more secure than the personal versions, but expensive as you need the server, and therefore more suited to commercial deployment).

WEP was the first Wireless Encryption Protocol and is too easy to break.

So, you made the best choice.

[Cobbydaler]

WPA2 is a newer standard that uses AES.

A good explanation is here...

WPA should be good enough for home use, unless you've got something very naughty to hide....

[Anastasis]

Thanks both for your feedback on this. I am glad that I made the right choice.

Of course, I have nothing to hide!

Do you have any thoughts on the best kit to make my Canon printer accessible on the network without needing to leave my main PC switched on?

[Cobbydaler]

If you want to print from any PC on the network, without any other PC having to be turned on, you need a print server.

I've no personal experience of home use of one of these, but Edimax do one. The PS-1206UWg / PS-1206PWg, depending if you need a parallel or usb port. There's a list of printers that it's been tested on on the product page...

About £30 I think...

[TonyLW]

So, there are others out there with exactly the same problem with the Linksys WRK54G as me!! I have gone bald through pulling out my hair trying to get the router to work properly. Should I just throw it in the bin and buy something else?
Suggestions (clean ones) please.