what router for a T61 and older PCs?

[Bfskinnerpunk]

I have a very old 802.11b wireless router. I suppose it's time to upgrade once I get this T61 in my hands.

Just being sure that there are no suprises, are there any "N" routers to avoid given that I am getting the "Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN" wireless card in the new lenovo?

I suppose I'm going to go to Best Buy or Circuit City to pick up one of their routers... nothing exotic.

My older computers are around 2001 vintage with windows XP... I am going to assume that the new routers will communicate with them, right?

Kelton

[treydur]

using D-Link Dir-655 with no issues here. And i use it heavily with multiple clients/OS/Connection interface

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=530

[sjthinkpader]

If you want to try different new wireless technology without bothering the ISP end, do this:

1. Set the old router wireless to off, note the gateway address and subnet mask. Also note wireless security settings.
2. Set any new router DHCP to off, set IP address to same as gateway address plus increment. e.g. If gateway address is 192.168.1.1 then set new wireless router to 192.168.1.2. Subnet mask to same as old router. Write the IP address you set on the new router. Set wireless security to same as your old router. Now this new router is effectively set as an Access Point.
3. Connect this Access Point to your old router via LAN ports on both ends.

You can buy any cheap wireless router/AP with latest technology and change it frequently. The ISP end will never need to be change.

Originally I did it this way because my router is also the VoIP adapter and cannot be changed easily. But now I found that I can change my AP easily. The latest is a $30 Airlink101 300N 11n Draft 2.0 wireless router. The last one was an 11g MIMO and the one before that was a super-G and the one before that was an 11a/b. Now I have 270/300mb 11n connection.

Don't be afraid to get a cheap one because they frequently use same chipset inside as an expensive one. I found that an expensive router doesn't necessarily work longer anyway.

Almost all new wireless router is backward compatible with your older computer with 802.11a, b or g NIC cards.

[bill bolton]

You can buy any cheap wireless router/AP with latest technology and change it frequently. The ISP end will never need to be change.

This is not a good idea.

You should always put your newest router at the interface to your uplink device (whatever it is). The data throughput performance of older routers is often much lower than with current routers.

Your overall Internet throughput may be limited by internal processing constraints and or limited uplink interface speeds on older routers... as many users have discovered as ISPs have offered higher link speeds, through technologies such as ADSL2+, DOCSIS 2.0 or FTTH etc!

Cheers,

Bill B.

[bill bolton]

are there any "N" routers to avoid

Most of the current crop!

To get the full 802.11n Draft 2 performance levels that the 4965AGN is capable of, you need a router which supports the 802.11n Draft 2 specification for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz radio bands, which only a few commercial products do at the moment, i.e. the Linksys WRT600N

Keep in mind that 802.11n is still in development as a standard and a final specification is unlikely to be issued by the IEEE until 2009.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[sjthinkpader]

You can buy any cheap wireless router/AP with latest technology and change it frequently. The ISP end will never need to be change.

This is not a good idea.

... ADSL2+, DOCSIS 2.0 or FTTH etc!

Cheers,

Bill B.

No such luck yet for me. No DOCSIS 3.0, FTTH just a 3Mb aDSL here in the Silicon Valley. I venture to guess they are not available down under either.

Japan is another matter, they have FTTH and are installing DOCSIS3.0 now.

You are right that to utilize 300Mb 11n, I need gigabit ethernet in the house; which I don't have yet. Here is thru put info downloading photos from my NAS thru this 11n Draft 2.0 link.

11n thru put (47KB file)

You can see the 3rd antenna installed in my A31 LCD cover, Signal strength 2, is somewhat weaker than the two standard Thinkpad antennae. My card is 2T3R so ithe 3rd antenna is only used in download.

For practical matter, 100Mb internet link for most of us will be years in the future.

[Bfskinnerpunk]

Jesus, you guys got real confusing real fast!

That's cool... thanks for the tips.

[hoya]

I've been using the Apple Airport Extreme set to 802.11n only mode (5.8ghz) which yields the best performance. it works flawlessly with my T61 4965 Intel Card.

it sounds like you have a mixed environment so the Linksys WRT600N would be a good choice since it can simultaneously broadcast both channels. your T61 could be on 5.8GHz while your b and g equipment could be on 2.4Ghz.

[bill bolton]

I venture to guess they are not available down under either.

ADSL2+ (up to 24Mbps) and Docsis 2.0 HFC cable (20Mbps and 30Mbps) are widely available Australia, and some areas have FTTH. I'm running on a 30 Mbps Docsis 2.0 HFC link, and have ADSL2+ and 20Mbps HFC on offer to my location from other ISPs.

For practical matter, 100Mb internet link for most of us will be years in the future.

Links that run faster than 10Mbps are quite common in many Western countries today. For those users all you need is a router that only has a 10Mbps Ethernet connection between the router and the broadband modem, which is the case with many older routers, to start to be limited by the router.

The bottom line is that many older routers have internal processing throughputs of not much more than 10Mbps and are unable to utilise the full performance of the uplink speeds commonly provided by ISPs in many parts of the world (if not in the US).

Cheers,

Bill B.

[sjthinkpader]

Yes, majority of the U.S. is still on 3Mb cable and aDSL. Some areas have 16Mb cable. Verizon FiOS (FTTH) have 50Mb service mainly in the northeastern states. AT&T is deploying FTTC in our area but data is limited to only 3Mb.

It is great that you live in an area with fast service. This is entirely at the wimp of the carrier on which area they will deploy.

10Mb routers and modems are gone mainly due to failures. Consumer level hardware simply don't last that long. Most of them will not last more than 5-8 years. On the average I go thru a DSL modem and router every 3-4 years. And brand really doesn't matter that much as chipsets inside are very similar.