suggest a router for a small office?
- Thread starter Soft
- Start date
I'd suggest something like this...
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_365&item_id=034269
It's a Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router, model WNDR3400. It has 4 gigabyte LAN ports for your wired machines and it supports 2.4 and 5.0 GHz wireless (but make sure your laptops support the 802.11n wireless protocol). The setup is fairly simple, you access the router through a web interface, but be sure to do your homework first so you understand what the settings mean. It also allows you to attach an external USB hard drive that can act as a NAS (network attached storage) unit so everyone can have a convenient place for backups. I wouldn't suggest using a USB drive as a common file share, the speed will probably be too slow unless you are dealing with fairly small files.
One thing to consider before going wireless, what is the physical layout of your office? If everyone is in the same room, or at least the same floor and the dividing walls are basic drywall/glass partitions then your best results will be if you can locate the router fairly centrally and up high. You will want it located close the the modem as well. These routers have a pretty good range, but anything over about 50 to 60 feet in a direct line is pushing it.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_365&item_id=034269
It's a Netgear N600 Wireless Dual Band Router, model WNDR3400. It has 4 gigabyte LAN ports for your wired machines and it supports 2.4 and 5.0 GHz wireless (but make sure your laptops support the 802.11n wireless protocol). The setup is fairly simple, you access the router through a web interface, but be sure to do your homework first so you understand what the settings mean. It also allows you to attach an external USB hard drive that can act as a NAS (network attached storage) unit so everyone can have a convenient place for backups. I wouldn't suggest using a USB drive as a common file share, the speed will probably be too slow unless you are dealing with fairly small files.
One thing to consider before going wireless, what is the physical layout of your office? If everyone is in the same room, or at least the same floor and the dividing walls are basic drywall/glass partitions then your best results will be if you can locate the router fairly centrally and up high. You will want it located close the the modem as well. These routers have a pretty good range, but anything over about 50 to 60 feet in a direct line is pushing it.
I would suggest a Linksys WRT54 Router running Tomato firmware, this allows monitoring of data. I helped on a setup recently with a friend, it was not a current model from Linksys but an older one. The learning curve for Tomato is a little steep but works very well, so I am told by the users.
Just google it, lots of info out there.
Just google it, lots of info out there.
