Cable wireless router

[D-Dan]

Hi guys

I've been charged with the task of getting the local setup with a wireless connection for customer use, and I have £70 cash in my wallet to buy a router. I have to buy this tomorrow, and there's no PC at the pub.

The landlord is wanting to setup an access point, password protected. He has subscribed to Virgin cable BB (no router supplied).l

The nearest quality outlet to me is Aria, and they have a Netgear WNR2000 at the right price in stock (and I was planning to call tomorrow for some media anyway). So, before I leave, does anyone have any experience of this router, can they confirm that it will work with Virgin cable BB, and can they confirm that it will allow password protected access?

Failing that, any recommendations?

PS - looks like I'm gonna have to lug PC2 up there to set it up, so I have that covered.

TIA

Steve

[ducky22]

The WNR2000 will work fine for you. It is, in my opinion, a very average router and there are better for the same price. Make sure you select 'WPA' rather than WEP or WPA2 as this is the most secure and offers excellent compatability. Some clients won't support WPA2 and WEP is useless.

The Buffalo WHR-G125 is a fantastic wireless router and you can pick them up for about £30-35 now a days. Almost all linksys routers are also excellent (been using a Link WRT54GS for years now). Most Buffalos and Linksys routers can also run 3rd party firmware such as DD-WRT and OpenWRT which adds a whole host of useful features. i.e. if the landlord wanted to bill people, then there are modules for this available.

No need for a PC! Simply connect the router to your computer at home, change the password and SSID (wireless name) then plug it into the cable modem. No further changes are required.

[Steve]

Just to reinforce what Ducky22 said you'll need a cable modem as well with wnr2000.

[ducky22]

Virgin don't supply broadband without a cable modem - the modem is 'leased' rather than something you own. Same with their set top boxes.

[Gary]

The WNR2000 will work fine for you. It is, in my opinion, a very average router and there are better for the same price. Make sure you select 'WPA' rather than WEP or WPA2 as this is the most secure and offers excellent compatability. Some clients won't support WPA2 and WEP is useless.

The Buffalo WHR-G125 is a fantastic wireless router and you can pick them up for about £30-35 now a days. Almost all linksys routers are also excellent (been using a Link WRT54GS for years now). Most Buffalos and Linksys routers can also run 3rd party firmware such as DD-WRT and OpenWRT which adds a whole host of useful features. i.e. if the landlord wanted to bill people, then there are modules for this available.

No need for a PC! Simply connect the router to your computer at home, change the password and SSID (wireless name) then plug it into the cable modem. No further changes are required.

WPA2 with AES is more secure in theory than WPA

WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) provides network administrators with a high level of assurance that only authorized users can access the network. Based on the ratified IEEE 802.11i standard, WPA2 provides government grade security by implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 compliant AES encryption algorithm. WPA2 can be enabled in two versions - WPA2 - Personal and WPA2 - Enterprise. WPA2 - Personal protects unauthorized network access by utilizing a set-up password. WPA2 - Enterprise verifies network users through a server. WPA2 is backward compatible with WPA.

[Sebby]

I've no experience of that router, Steve, but I have setup cable routers before and it's very simple. The only thing you'll want to play with is the wireless security. Otherwise, it should just work.

[ducky22]

WPA2 with AES is more secure in theory than WPA

WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) provides network administrators with a high level of assurance that only authorized users can access the network. Based on the ratified IEEE 802.11i standard, WPA2 provides government grade security by implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 compliant AES encryption algorithm. WPA2 can be enabled in two versions - WPA2 - Personal and WPA2 - Enterprise. WPA2 - Personal protects unauthorized network access by utilizing a set-up password. WPA2 - Enterprise verifies network users through a server. WPA2 is backward compatible with WPA.

I didn't word what I mean right :-P. I meant to say that WPA offers the most security for that level of compatability compared with WEP (most compatability) and WPA2 (most security).

I wouldn't opt for WPA2 unless you're sure everything will work with it. You will need to use 'personal' for both WPA and WPA2 as enterprise would require a server.

[D-Dan]

Thanks guys.

I settled on a Linksys router in the end, and set it up at home as suggested (I never thought of that lol).

Plugged it in, and tested with the WiFi on my mobile phone. Seems to have worked, although he hasn't actually set up his BB with Virgin yet, so it took me to the virgin setup page. Now, why on earth does setup insist on Windows or Mac, since it's all online? Wouldn't let me do it from the phone.

Mind you, I assume that access to setup was via the web, so it looks like it's working OK.

Thanks again.

Steve

[Rik]

Result. 

[Sebby]

Good stuff, Steve.

[Gary]

I didn't word what I mean right :-P. I meant to say that WPA offers the most security for that level of compatability compared with WEP (most compatability) and WPA2 (most security).

I wouldn't opt for WPA2 unless you're sure everything will work with it. You will need to use 'personal' for both WPA and WPA2 as enterprise would require a server.

thankfully everything I have works with full encryption using 63 ASCII characters on WPA2 Ducky