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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168
Campfire Oracle
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OP
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168 |
What is the best bang-for-the-buck router that is readily available at FredgyMeyer or WalMart?
My girl kid needs to get one for her new apartment.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 23,624
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 23,624 |
I like NetGear........very easy to set up & trouble free; I've set up a half dozen or so.
Not sure Wal-Mart carries them though but BestBuy does; you can get the entry level for around $40 & it will work in an apartment.
MM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168 |
They don't have best buy. Maybe they can wait a week. It's 4 college girls in the apt. and one ethernet line.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 15,868
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 15,868 |
Likely there will be an electronics store in a college town and the girls should be able to set it up pretty easily. I also like the Netgear line .
There are 2 rules to success:
1. Never tell everything that you know.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,707
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,707 |
ASUS are highly rated and pretty reasonable. Should be able to get them most places.
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 30,760
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 30,760 |
T R U M P W O N !
U L T R A M A G A !
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168 |
I got her in the apt on Sat. By this point I expect there is some urgency and online is not fast to AK.
I guess they could even go to Radio Shack.
As an aside, is there much practical difference between brands?
What are some specs the girls should consider?
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 52,680
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 52,680 |
I think I have one you can have. Yep Linksys Wireless G 2,4 GHZ Broadband Router
Liberalism is a mental disorder that leads to social disease.
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 7,004
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2011
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If your going to get a router make sure it's an "N" router. Also make sure the modem is a Docsis 3 and capable of running the wifi speeds your getting. Docsis 2 modems are going to be end of life towards the end of this year.
I know this because I work for the biggest internet provider in the country and we are going to stop supporting certain modems and routers at years end.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,070
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,070 |
Mike- if your girl complains, tell her that where I am, they walk electrons up one at a time. At gunpoint.
I love going back to Soldotna!
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
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Joined: Dec 2003
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168 |
Them electrons run up there. She has 15 down and 1 up.
At the HQ here it's 1 down and 0.3 up. lol....
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 15,864
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 15,864 |
As an aside, is there much practical difference between brands? Between brands to the normal user such as college girls in an apartment there isn't a lot of difference. Devices of similar prices will have similar features. A $150 Linksys will be similar to a $150 ASUS. A $150 Linksys will not be similar to a $300 ASUS. What are some specs the girls should consider? I could really geek out on you here and go crazy technical on ya. I'm really going to try to spare you that headache! Given that they will be living in an apartment, I'd look for a dual band router (both 2.5ghz and 5.0ghz). The reason is that routers, like walkie-talkie's, have channels. If you're running the same channel as your neighbor, your network speeds will be much much slower. Having a dual band router, in an apartment with several other tenants gives them options. Options are good. I would also look for this number that will be plastered boldly on the box and in any description of the router: 802.11ac 802.11n routers are great for a number of things, but for an apartment, with several devices (laptop, cell phone, tablet, tv, dvd player, roku, etc) the advantages of the 802.11ac are real-world throughput of 400 to 500 megabits per second (mbps) at close range; that's twice the speed of the best 802.11n routers. Told ya I could get geeky... If you like, there are some simple security configurations that I'd highly suggest. They aren't uber secure, but they certainly help. I'd turn off the SSID broadcast so that when anyone else looks for a network to connect to, her's won't show on the list. I'd also enable DHCP routing. What that means is that instead of giving each device it's own permanent IP address, the router has a range of IP's that it assigns to each device. She turns on her laptop in the morning and her IP address could be 10.0.0.7. In the evening it could be 10.0.0.18. Finally, I'd enable MAC filtering. Basically, think of the best bar/club in town. The bouncer has a list of names of people to let in. Nobody else gets in. Her router can do that with MAC filtering. You set it up with the MAC address of every device she owns. No other devices can connect. That way nobody else piggy backs on her network for free, or other nefarious deeds. Granted, somebody will come along and tell you that the above stuff really doesn't do much for security because hackers can spoof your MAC address, sniff your SSID, and spoof your IP address thus bypassing all of that. They'd be right. This won't keep out talented and determined hackers. It will keep out that nosey neighbor kid in apartment 3b.... If you'd like help setting it up, PM me. If you're a DIY kinda guy then there are a ton of video's out there on YouTube that will explain exactly how to do that with which ever Router she decides to get... Hope that helps a bit, Mike. Good luck and congratulations to your daughter on her new apartment!
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
Turdlike, by default.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168 |
Thanks for "not" getting into geek mode. sonofa....... Anyone know what Mark just posted? College girls on a scholarship budget don't want $150 routers, let alone $300 units. They will probably want to keep it under $50. They just need to have access for all 4 girls.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 15,864
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 15,864 |
I tried man, I tried.... The geek was really wanting to come out.....big time.... For $50 they could probably find a $150 router on Craigslist, or better yet, her college Computer Science department. Often times they get rid of excess stuff for cheap. HERE is a decent one for $80.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
Turdlike, by default.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168
Campfire Oracle
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OP
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 86,168 |
I know you tried and I appreciate the effort! Did you see my eyes roll backwards for a few seconds? Sometimes higher cost is the cheapest.
If you take the time it takes, it takes less time. --Pat Parelli
American by birth; Alaskan by choice. --ironbender
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 15,864
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 15,864 |
I just hate to see their network crap out on them the night before that big paper is due...
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
Turdlike, by default.
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491 |
Mike- I set my wife up with the Cisco 1200 version we found over at Wally's big store there in Farbanks last fall; it was a cheap way to go - and it still works ......even as I type this and send via said unit.
Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 16,554
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 16,554 |
Anyone know what Mark just posted? Yeah, good stuff. Some of it I even knew.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
Which explains a lot.
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 3,727
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 3,727 |
For a good cheap one these work fine, Netgear at Walmart Has WPS, for one button setup. Has 4 ethernet ports to add a printer etc. Not bleeding edge by any means, but in almost every wally world.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 546
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2005
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Netgear, Linksys/Cisco or maybe a SonicWALL if want to spend a bit more.
Stay away from Dlink.
You won't find much of a difference between them at that price range.
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