VaKim Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I am lost! There are so many different kinds out there, and I know nothing about them! My old one is needing replaced, as it is slowing down our internet speeds quite a bit. But when I looked, I was just overwhelmed! We have a Mac (the main computer), a pc laptop, two desktop pc's, a tablet and some dsi games that use the wifi in our house. We mostly just surf the net and stream netflix and youtube videos. Dd does upload videos and such stuff on occasion as well, which really slows things down for the rest of us when she is doing it. Any suggestions would sure be appreciated. Oh, I also need something that will be easy to set up, as I have no clue what all that gobbledegook stuff means. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 We have one of these TP-LINK routers.. I have it configured for use as a "WAP" (Wireless Access Point") and there is a cable from the Switch sitting on my desk, to that router, which is in the other end of the house. It provides Ethernet (wired connection) to the bedroom it is in and WiFi to that room and to the other end of the house. If this unit will do what you need to do, there is a "lot of bang for the buck". Check it out... Here's the page for it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR841N-Wireless-Router-300Mpbs/dp/B001FWYGJS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1435237842&sr=1-1&keywords=TP-LINK+wireless+router Note: Eventually, we will buy another one of those TP-LINK routers, to provide Ethernet and WiFi to another area of the house. ETA: I am puzzled by why your DD uploading stuff would slow down your other activities. I assume your Internet service is Asynchronous because usually the majority of traffic is downloading, and not uploading. In our case, most of our bandwidth is for downloading... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I do not know about routers, but I do know several things can slow down the Internet in one's house. 1. First, it sounds like you have way too many devices accessing your Wifi. Call your provider and see what the maximum recommended is. 2. Check your upload and download speeds if you haven't done so already. Those speeds are inversely proportional to the distance from the router. Providers are offering ridiculously fast Wifi speeds now. For example, ours is 300. But, many routers cannot handle those high speeds anyway. So find out what speed your provider can offer and make sure you buy a router to match. 3. If distance is the problem, like in a large house, multi-story, or concrete walls, consider getting an extender to place a few rooms beyond the router. 4. Consider getting multiple IP addresses which allow for more devices in the home. Spread the love, in other words. 5. If you have a main device that needs the most download speeds, consider buying an Ethernet-like device that converts all electric outlets on the same circuit into ethernets. That way, the plugged in device gets the full benefit of the internet capabilities that you purchase irrespective of the modem capabilities or distance from the modem. These have a limit of about 100, however, last time I checked. Perhaps the technology has improved. 6. Computers also have a maximum amount of speed they can handle. Purchasing a great big fast wireless like Verizon offers is pointless on old computers. Remember, I have no clue what I am talking about. I am only relaying some of the things we explored when DD started her online interactive streaming. It was quite an ordeal with lots of failures before we found the right equipment and provider for all she needed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Our internet provider always provides one with their service. If it stops working well or needs an update, they allow a trade-in with a small fee. Does your provider offer something like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 We have one of these TP-LINK routers.. I have it configured for use as a "WAP" (Wireless Access Point") and there is a cable from the Switch sitting on my desk, to that router, which is in the other end of the house. It provides Ethernet (wired connection) to the bedroom it is in and WiFi to that room and to the other end of the house. If this unit will do what you need to do, there is a "lot of bang for the buck". Check it out... Here's the page for it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WR841N-Wireless-Router-300Mpbs/dp/B001FWYGJS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1435237842&sr=1-1&keywords=TP-LINK+wireless+router Note: Eventually, we will buy another one of those TP-LINK routers, to provide Ethernet and WiFi to another area of the house. ETA: I am puzzled by why your DD uploading stuff would slow down your other activities. I assume your Internet service is Asynchronous because usually the majority of traffic is downloading, and not uploading. In our case, most of our bandwidth is for downloading... Thanks, Lanny. I was looking at that one, but had no idea if it would work for me. I do like the looks of it. And honestly, it probably is when dd is downloading stuff that slows it down. She does a lot of that too. I am just clueless, lol. I do not know about routers, but I do know several things can slow down the Internet in one's house. 1. First, it sounds like you have way too many devices accessing your Wifi. Call your provider and see what the maximum recommended is. 2. Check your upload and download speeds if you haven't done so already. Those speeds are inversely proportional to the distance from the router. Providers are offering ridiculously fast Wifi speeds now. For example, ours is 300. But, many routers cannot handle those high speeds anyway. So find out what speed your provider can offer and make sure you buy a router to match. 3. If distance is the problem, like in a large house, multi-story, or concrete walls, consider getting an extender to place a few rooms beyond the router. 4. Consider getting multiple IP addresses which allow for more devices in the home. Spread the love, in other words. 5. If you have a main device that needs the most download speeds, consider buying an Ethernet-like device that converts all electric outlets on the same circuit into ethernets. That way, the plugged in device gets the full benefit of the internet capabilities that you purchase irrespective of the modem capabilities or distance from the modem. These have a limit of about 100, however, last time I checked. Perhaps the technology has improved. 6. Computers also have a maximum amount of speed they can handle. Purchasing a great big fast wireless like Verizon offers is pointless on old computers. Remember, I have no clue what I am talking about. I am only relaying some of the things we explored when DD started her online interactive streaming. It was quite an ordeal with lots of failures before we found the right equipment and provider for all she needed. We generally only have 2 or 3 devices going at a time. I just wanted to be sure any router suggestions were compatible with all those different devices (again, I have no clue how that works). Our internet is through our phone company and is painfully slow compared to other places. We only have two options out here in the sticks, and the other one is worse. I did a speed check with both the wifi and with the modem hooked directly to my computer. It was wayyy faster (relatively speaking) with the direct hookup. Our internet provider always provides one with their service. If it stops working well or needs an update, they allow a trade-in with a small fee. Does your provider offer something like that? No. Ours only provides a modem. The cable company provides a router, but everybody around here hates it and complains about it being down and messing up all the time, so I will stick with the phone company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Oh, and our whole house is the size of some people's living rooms, so distance is not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertBlossom Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 First, check and see which routers are compatible witb your ISP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 By the way, it does not matter how many are actively being used at a time. It is how many devices are actually in the home. Most devices are randomly downloading stuff when we are not actively using them. For example, a 3DS can download when not being played as well as your cable television. Computers download from Microsoft and Apple even when not in use. Finally, anything connected to a cloud is randomly downloading. I was shocked, too, when I found that out. We have 5 people who live in the home. There are eight computers, 6 cell phones, 4 smart boxes to Verizon cable, one Apple TV, one XBox, one Wii, two Playstations, three 3DS, and one smart alarm system. The Verizon representative who was helping us said all devices can be trying to access at any given time irrespective if someone is sitting in front of it actively using it. So when setting up the right WiFi, you need to count devices, not people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Oh dear. Now I'm back at square one and lost again. I have no idea how you find out what routers are compatible with your ISP, nor how to set up the "right WiFi" for the number of devices. Sometimes I hate technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 We have this Belkin 600 which works well for us. We have rural Internet which affects speed more than the router. The router has 3 -4 computers, a server, a tablet, a phone, a printer, and a Roku attached to it. Ds did hardwire his computer to the router for faster speeds, but the rest are on wifi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 OP if you have already looked at the TP-LINK WiFi Router that we purchased (and I plan to purchase another one for another area of the house, which already has an Ethernet cable, but now there are 2 computers in that area, so eventually, both will be able to use Ethernet and there will be stronger WiFi there). We have a very large house, with concrete walls with steel rebar in them. Like you, we in the country. At this time, the only Broadband Internet is the phone company ADSL, which was fine until we switched to their new TV service, but each TV requires 9 Mbps service and they had to greatly reduce our Internet speed. We are hoping/praying that another provider (TelMex) will install service in our huge rural subdivision this year. Our phone company provides an ADSL Modem that provides WiFi and has 4 Ethernet (LAN) ports. I have an inexpensive Ethernet Switch next to that, to provide more LAN ports. If that TP-LINK WiFi Router will do what you need to do, you would be well served. It is the #1 Seller on Amazon. You can go to the TP-LINK web site and you can probably download their Installation/Quick Reference Manual and their User Manual, to see if it will do what you need to do, if the high level information doesn't clarify that. In our case, we get DHCP (private IP addresses for each device) from the ADSL Modem, so I configured the TP-LINK Router to work as a WAP (Wireless Access Point) to provide WiFi to the other end of the house. It is connected to the Switch on my desk. IMHO, you should: (a) Ask your ISP (your local phone company) if they can provide a different ADSL Modem, like ours, that provides WiFi and has at least 4 LAN ports. (b) Buy an inexpensive Switch if you need more LAN Ports © Buy the TP-LINK device if you need WiFi or Ethernet in another area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 OP if you have already looked at the TP-LINK WiFi Router that we purchased (and I plan to purchase another one for another area of the house, which already has an Ethernet cable, but now there are 2 computers in that area, so eventually, both will be able to use Ethernet and there will be stronger WiFi there). We have a very large house, with concrete walls with steel rebar in them. Like you, we in the country. At this time, the only Broadband Internet is the phone company ADSL, which was fine until we switched to their new TV service, but each TV requires 9 Mbps service and they had to greatly reduce our Internet speed. We are hoping/praying that another provider (TelMex) will install service in our huge rural subdivision this year. Our phone company provides an ADSL Modem that provides WiFi and has 4 Ethernet (LAN) ports. I have an inexpensive Ethernet Switch next to that, to provide more LAN ports. If that TP-LINK WiFi Router will do what you need to do, you would be well served. It is the #1 Seller on Amazon. You can go to the TP-LINK web site and you can probably download their Installation/Quick Reference Manual and their User Manual, to see if it will do what you need to do, if the high level information doesn't clarify that. In our case, we get DHCP (private IP addresses for each device) from the ADSL Modem, so I configured the TP-LINK Router to work as a WAP (Wireless Access Point) to provide WiFi to the other end of the house. It is connected to the Switch on my desk. IMHO, you should: (a) Ask your ISP (your local phone company) if they can provide a different ADSL Modem, like ours, that provides WiFi and has at least 4 LAN ports. (b) Buy an inexpensive Switch if you need more LAN Ports © Buy the TP-LINK device if you need WiFi or Ethernet in another area. We have an ADSL Modem as well. It is the only thing offered by our phone company. I just got a new one of those, as the one I had was the very first one they had when we first got DSL in our area. It only has a power cord, the place to hook the phone wire, and the place where you hook it too the computer. No other ports. It is currently hooked to my old Trendnet router, which is hooked to my Mac. Everything elsewhere in the house is on the wireless. I have no idea what LAN ports are for, but will go look it up. I haven't needed them before now, as things are working as they are. Just slower than before I got the new modem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 We have an ADSL Modem as well. It is the only thing offered by our phone company. I just got a new one of those, as the one I had was the very first one they had when we first got DSL in our area. It only has a power cord, the place to hook the phone wire, and the place where you hook it too the computer. No other ports. It is currently hooked to my old Trendnet router, which is hooked to my Mac. Everything elsewhere in the house is on the wireless. I have no idea what LAN ports are for, but will go look it up. I haven't needed them before now, as things are working as they are. Just slower than before I got the new modem. OK. I suggest that you call or visit the local office of your ISP (the phone company). Ask them if they have another model ADSL Modem that has at least four (4) LAN (Ethernet) Ports and that provides WiFi. The first ADSL Modems we received from our phone company were like the one you have (no WiFi and only one LAN Port). Then, when they began offering TV service, we jumped at the chance to get that and we divorced Directv Colombia, our previous TV provider. When we got the TV service, I took our old ADSL Modem (one LAN port, no WiFi) to their local office, and they gave me a different ADSL Modem. This one has four (4) LAN (Ethernet) Ports and it also provides a WiFi signal to this end of the house. The ADSL Modems we have had from the phone company are the DHCP Server for our home network (LAN). The DHCP Server provides a Private IP address to each device. For example: 192.168.1.9 is a private IP address. The Ethernet cables have RJ-45 connectors on each end. Something like the plug on the end of your phone cable, but larger. I have an Ethernet cable going from one LAN Port on the ADSL Modem to the (very) inexpensive 8 Port Fast Ethernet Switch sitting next to the ADSL Modem, to give us the ability to connect more devices that are hard wired. My laptop and DDs micro tower are connected to the Switch by cable. The Two TV sets are each connected to a LAN port on the ADSL Modem by cable. The TP-LINK WiFi Router, which I configured to work as a WAP (Wireless Access Point) doesn't need to do anything but provide Ethernet to the other end of the house and WiFi to the other end of the house. So, it doesn't need to serve DHCP (IP addresses) or do anything else. It is connected to a LAN port on the Switch. We have another Ethernet cable going into the Master Bedroom Suite and eventually (soon I hope) we will get another of those TP-LINK WiFi Routers and I will configure it as a WAP (Wireless Access Point) since there are now 2 laptops at that location and one of them is on Ethernet and the other is using WiFI, which is not as fast or as reliable as Ethernet. The cable is there, all we need is another WiFi Router. I suspect the TP-LINK unit will do what you need to do and for $20 including shipping, you could do a lot worse. In reading your post that I quoted here, I wonder about you buying a very inexpensive 8 Port Fast Ethernet Switch, hooking your ADSL Modem via Ethernet cable to that, and then doing this with your existing Trendnet Router, Assuming that provides WiFi to your home. If you have a small home that is of typical USA construction possibly one Router serving WiFi will be sufficient. NOTE: You must not have more than one device serving DHCP (IP addresses) on your network. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Thanks, Lanny. The modem we have IS the newest and latest that our phone company offers. I actually just got it a couple weeks ago. We are quite behind the times here. I am going to give that router you linked a try. I just need something to provide WiFi to the rest of the house. We only have one phone jack and can't possibly run wires all over the house, even in this tiny place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Relax, OP. This really isn't that complicated. The TP_LINK box Lanny shared is a solid little wifi router - easy to use and picks up very little interference. We have used them happily in smaller homes (my brother's house and DD21's apartment) and they really are simple to set up. DD21 is not technical AT ALL (musician) and was able to set it up in her apartment at school all by herself. Put it next to the your Modem and run the cable between them and you should have great coverage for a small house. Here is the really important thing.... and you CAN'T skip this step. When you set up the router using the software they give you, there are two passwords you HAVE to set. 1) CHANGE THE ADMIN PASSWORD on your router. The software will walk you thru this, but absolutely do not use the default. Write it down somewhere you won't lose it. This is the password that lets you change settings on the router.... like wifi passwords. 2) PASSWORD the WIFI connection. This is the password people use to connect their devices. Always require a password to use it - no Guest connections without a password....... unless you want neighbors using your internet connection for free....... On the higher end, we have 10-12 wifi devices connected at any time plus 4 or 5 wired connections, often heavy-duty gamers using skype and whatnot. We use a Netgear like this one. http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wi-Fi-Gigabit-Router-WNDR4300/dp/B008HO9DK4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435257381&sr=8-1&keywords=wndr4000It really is plug-in-and-go and serves a huge house + we can pick up our wifi signal out in the street on an acre lot. Probably overkill for what you need, LOL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 OP You need to get some very basic information (from your ISP if you cannot log into your ADSL Modem) to see how it is configured You need to know, for example: (a) The IP address of your ADSL Modem (probably something like 192.168.1.1 (This is a private IP address and there are 3 ranges of private IP addresses). Millions or Billions of private networks use the same private IP addresses for their local networks (LAN). (b) I think it is called the SSID or something of your account. It will be something like name_of_your_isp_0123 © Password to log onto the WiFi. You do not want just anyone to be able to use your WiFi. If someone comes to visit us, we give them the password for our WiFi The phone company Tech Support should be able to give you that information over the phone, if you cannot log into your ADSL Modem to see what it is. When you configure another Router, as a WAP or whatever, you need to configure it to use the same SSID and password and you need to turn off the DHCP if it is on the same IP subnet (eg. 192.168.1.x) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Since you have a mac, I'd recommend apple's Airport. The Airport Time Capsule if you can afford it. It's a great router, super easy to set up, never has glitches and it will act as a backup drive for your mac in Time Machine. I think it does it hourly. If you ever lose your hard drive, and need a new one or a new computer, you can transfer everything over to the new computer and it'll look just like the old one. We love ours. https://www.apple.com/compare-wifi-models/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKim Posted June 29, 2015 Author Share Posted June 29, 2015 Whoo hoo! I think I did it! I got the one Lanny recommended from Amazon, and so far, so good. Thanks all! :hurray: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 Whoo hoo! I think I did it! I got the one Lanny recommended from Amazon, and so far, so good. Thanks all! :hurray: Well done OP! :hurray: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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