Let\'s not kid ourselves, Best Buy\'s Geek Squad division isn\'t exactly a respected establishment in DIY circles, and referring someone to Geek Squad for tech support is like, well, does this even need an analogy? No offense to any of our readers who may work as a Geek Squad tech, but you know what they say about a few bad apples.
What\'s even worse -- and we thought unthinkable -- is when the manufacturer of one your computer parts suggests calling Geek Squad to diagnose your failing gear before they\'ll replace it. That\'s exactly what one user who wrote into The Consumerist claims happened when his Netgear DGN2200 wireless router with DSL modem went on the fritz.
\"Five calls to [Netgear\'s] tech department and it is still not working,\" the user claims. \"On the fifth and final call they suggested I call the Geek Squad (approximately $139 for them to come to our home) to troubleshoot it and if it proves the modem is bad they will send me a new unit at that time (which I only paid $79 to begin with).\"
It doesn\'t take a math whiz to figure out that\'s a bum deal. Assuming it all went down the way the user claims it did, let\'s hope this was an isolated incident.
We’re calling it - the days of the standalone 3G dongle or modem are numbered. In their place, a new class of portable router has emerged. The AXIMCom MR-102N is one such device. Packed into a small device, marginally larger than a cigarette box, is a 3G modem, wireless router and battery pack that will create a wireless LAN anywhere, anytime. The AXIMCom MR-102N is very easy to set up. It has an Ethernet port, USB port, power switch and AC input. The Ethernet connection is used for the initial set-up so that you’re not creating an open wireless hotspot before you’ve done any configuration.Unlike many of the routers in this class, the MR-102N supports a variety of advanced network settings such as port forwarding and VPN.
We tested the AXIMCom MR-102N with a USB modem from Optus. We powered on the MR-102N, plugged in the modem and went into the browser-based configuration utility. This was both Windows and Mac friendly. Given that it worked with both Firefox and Chrome, we’d expect the same from Linux.
Setting up the modem required that we choose the brand from a drop down list and then enter the APN settings. Once that was in, we could choose whether to connect automatically or on command. One of the handy things about the MR-102N is that it’s not only able to use USB modems. If you’re an iPhone user and have tethering enabled, you can connect your iPhone and share its 3G connection. You can also use Windows Mobile and Android phones in the same way.
Perhaps the most important thing we can say about the MR-102N is that it just works. Once we’d gone through the initial set up, the MR-102N delivered a reliable Internet connection to an iPhone, iPad, netbook and notebook computer. Battery life was reasonable with several hours of use on a single charge.
Range over the 802.11n radio was solid with ping times only falling once we several several meters away. The signal didn't completely drop away until we were over 12 metres away and with a solid wall interfering with the line of sight.
For $199, the AXIMCom MR-102N delivers an easy way to use your existing 3G data service and share it with multiple devices. With support for all Australian carriers and a bunch from other countries as well, the MR-102N makes a worthy travel companion.
If you're upgrading to a faster, stronger wireless router, don't chuck your older Wi-Fi box. With the magic of DD-WRT, you can turn your older wireless router into a range-expanding Wi-Fi repeater to cover everywhere you need a connection.
The advent of wireless home networks grew slowly in the past decade, but reached the point at which nearly every home with a high-speed connection had a wireless router that shared Wi-Fi connections throughout the home. Now Wireless N has become the standard at electronics retailers, promising faster connectivity with your wireless devices, faster transfer and streaming speeds between devices, and better connectivity. So what's to be done with your home's first wireless router?
Our suggestion is to install the open-source DD-WRT firmware on your router and turn it into a repeater for your main router, expanding your Wi-Fi signal to reach every nook and cranny of your house, and even into your backyard or garage, if needed. You'll be able to use the same password and security scheme, you won't need anything except a power outlet for the repeater when you're done, and most of your devices will automatically switch between the two signals when needed.
We've previously run down how to install DD-WRT on a Linksys router to give it many, many more features, including the repeater function we'll cover here. If you've already installed DD-WRT, then, skip to the section on repeater configuration. One notable difference in this guide, too, is that I'm installing a custom build of DD-WRT, the "micro" flavor, on a Linksys WRT54G ver. 6, or "version 6." Adam wrote his original guide in 2006, with a fully-DD-WRT-compatible Linksys WRT54GL router, and at that point, those who picked up a blue Linksys box without knowing about open-source firmware were pretty much stuck. Now there's a huge array of supported devices, and even my sadly restricted Linksys can run a Micro build, and Micro now includes a repeater function.
Update: A Note on Speed
Some intrepid bandwidth watchers, Will Smith among them, have pointed out that their own experiments with repeating signals has left them with slower connections. To be honest, I was using the repeater mostly for Google Reader in bed, and browsing and web working from outside the house, so I hadn't seen a noticeable drop in speed. A few tests at SpeedTest.net tell the tale. Pictured at left here is the result from my main router, a Buffalo model with Wireless N (detailed here), connecting from my upstairs office to the downstairs living room, then Buffalo, NY to Toronto, ON.
This result is through the modified Linksys WRT54G ver. 6 router about 10 feet away, connected as a repeater to the Buffalo router downstairs, and then tested again through Toronto. There is, as you can see, a download speed difference, and if I'd been using my Wireless N modem, it might be even more severe. So take a repeater for what it is—a slight trade-off in speed for a greater reach, with your mileage varying based on your hardware and connection. You might also note, though, that using SpeedTest's Android app, I actually received better download speeds from my office through the repeater than through the main router—for a smaller antenna, perhaps, connectivity can sometimes win over latency concerns.
What You'll Need
• Compatible router: Grab that old-but-still-works router and flip it over. Get the model number off the label, and write down the MAC address, while you're at it—the locations for both, on a standard Linksys "blue box," are pictured above. Type the first few characters of your model number into DD-WRT's router database, and look for your model to pop up. If you get any kind of green "Yes" listed with your model, you're in the clear—even the most pared-down DD-WRT build, micro, supports the repeater function.
• Firmware files for your router: In that same router database, click on the line that relates to your router model, then grab all the files listed there. You may not end up using all of them, but once you've taken your router offline, even if it's not your main router, you'll want to have all your files available offline.
• Print-out of your instructions: There's a good chance, if you've got a fairly popular router, that you'll have access to specific router model instructions on the DD-WRT wiki. You'll usually see a link on the same page as your firmware files; if not, go ahead and search the wiki. If you don't have a printer, or hate wasting paper, use a print-to-PDF tool like doPDF or the Nitro PDF Reader for Windows, or the built-in PDF functions in Mac or Linux. The reason, again, is that you want to be prepared in case you lose internet connectivity on one or more routers during the flash process.
• Ethernet cable & computer with Ethernet port: Enough cable to comfortably reach from your computer to the router you're working on, and a computer without any networking problems that you know of.
• A pen and paper: The paper for notes, and the pen for both writing and pressing and holding down the reset button on your router.
• At least an hour's time, and patience: Instructions for most routers are laid out in step-by-step detail, with very specific instructions. Even so, you do not want to rush things, or load the wrong file at the wrong time. Doing so opens the potential for a "bricked" router, one that doesn't work and can't be accessed or set back to its default, factory-fresh state. That's not going to happen to the patient, cautious firmware flasher, though.
Get Started
As stated above, different routers will take different paths to installing DD-WRT. There are some common procedures, and a general path, to getting it installed, though, so you can read along as I follow the DD-WRT Wiki's instructions for a WRT54G version 6 installation.
• Do a hard (30/30/30) reset on your router: A "hard" reset, or a "30/30/30," means locating the reset notch on the back of your router, then inserting a pen and holding it there for a total of 90 seconds—30 seconds at first with the power on, then yank the power cord and wait another 30, then plug the power cord back in and wait 30 seconds, all while still holding the pen. It seems a bit excessive, but trust me—I've had friends with electronic engineering skills explain just how finicky, and sometimes random, physical memory chips like those in routers can be at holding their settings or otherwise not completely blanking out.
• Set a static IP address on your computer: Most DD-WRT guides want you to set your computer's IP address, the one it draws from your router, to 192.168.1.7, and set a subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. How do you do this in your computer, without the router being accessible?
Head to Windows' Network and Sharing Center, usually by right-clicking on your network connection icon in the system tray, or heading there through the Control Panel. In the left-hand panel, click "Change adapter settings," then right-click on your "Local Area Connection" offering and select Properties. Under the Network tab, select the "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and hit the Properties button. Now in the General tab, change the first radio switch button to "Use the following IP address:", then enter 192.168.1.7 in the IP Address field, and 255.255.255.0 should fill itself in under "Subnet mask." Make sure you've got the IP entered correctly—Windows can skip the "7" part if there's only a single digit in the third section—and hit OK when you're done.
Firmware Installation
Now we're gonna get serious. Connect the Ethernet cable between your computer and the router—be sure to insert the cable into one of the numbered ports, not the port labeled "Internet" that's slightly distanced from the others. Turn off any wireless connection to your main router, unplug any broadband cellular modems, and so forth.
In the case of my WRT54G ver. 6, I had to create a customized flashing image for my router, with a designated MAC address written in. The MAC address is a supposedly unique identifier given to all computer hardware that can access the internet, one that allows networks to allow and block hardware based on this address. Your internet provider and the the cable modem they provided also tracks the MAC address of your router, and can deny service if a different router than the one the modem is used to servicing suddenly appears. So I followed the instructions for downloading GV5Flash.zip, unpacking its contents, then running the vximgtoolgui application and filling in the MAC address I wrote down from underneath my router, and pointing the app at a place to drop the resulting .bin file.
Now you're going to pull off one of those "hard," or 30/30/30 power cycles—hold down reset for 30 seconds plugged in, 30 unplugged, then 30 seconds again plugged in. When you're done, wait a few seconds, open your browser (making sure your computer's still connected by cable), point it to http://192.168.1.1, and you should get a prompt for a username and password. The default for my router in this mode is "root/admin"—yours can likely be found at RouterPasswords.com, or in your own DD-WRT instructions. After entering that combo, you should see the default router screen. A Linksys default usually looks like this:
In most cases, you're next going to head to the Administration section (circled in the pic), then click the Firmware Upgrade sub-section. It's usually a simple affair: a Browse button to find the file you want to upload, and an OK/Apply button to set it in motion. From here on out, unless you have my same exact router, you'll possibly have a different set of one or two files to upload, in a very particular order—follow your own DD-WRT customized instructions. In general, though, you'll be doing a procedure along these lines:
Uploading a "prep" file that gets your router ready for a new firmware.
Waiting a solid five minutes—no cheating.
"Power cycle" the router (a simple unplug, 30-second wait, then re-plug).
Re-connect to 192.168.1.1, see the "Management Mode" window, then upload your (possibly customized) specific DD-WRT image and hit Apply.
After seeing this nice little "Upgrade Success" message, wait another full, honest five minutes.
Open a TFTP program, usually provided among your DD-WRT files, and point it at 192.168.1.1 (your router). Select your specific DD-WRT firmware (a micro build, in my case), then set the retries to 99—But! Before hitting "Upgrade," power cycle your router, wait a few seconds after re-powering, then go for it. When your TFTP app has a green light and success message, wait another full five minutes, then come on back.
Undo the static IP setup you put in place on your computer from the Network and Sharing settings. Unplug and re-plug your cable, then open a browser. If you can connect to 192.168.1.1 on your computer browser and see a setup page for DD-WRT, do a (final) 30/30/30 "hard" reset on your router, then check that you still see the DD-WRT setup. If so, you're all set up!
Setting Up the Repeater
Now that you've got your oldie-but-goodie router set up with DD-WRT, you can set it up to pick up the signal from your primary router and re-broadcast it within its own radius. Here's how to do that.
With your computer still hooked up to the now-secondary router, head into the DD-WRT setup screen. It will ask you to set a better password and username at first, so go ahead and do that—you'll probably want to set up the same admin/password as your primary router to avoid confusion. Once you're in, your setup screen will look something like this, as my Micro setup on my Linksys appears:
First up, click on the Wireless tab, then choose Basic Settings. Switch "Wireless Mode" to "Repeater," and the "Wireless Network Name" to the same as the main router you're going to be re-broadcasting. Don't worry about the bridged/unbridged radio buttons—they'll set themselves later. Hit the "Save" button at the very bottom, but do not hit "Apply Settings" just yet.
In the "Virtual Interfaces" section, below that main "Wireless Physical Interfaces" section you just modified, hit the "Add" button, then enter a new name for your repeater—don't use the same as your router, or else suffer the wrath of confused devices. Adding "Repeater" or "2" to the end of your main router's name is pretty sensible in most cases. If you prefer an access point that doesn't broadcast its name, save that for switching off later—while we're testing our repeater, we'll be using basic settings to make sure the connection goes through. Hit the "Save" button at the bottom again.
With the main Wireless tab still selected, head to the "Wireless Security" sub-tab to the right. You'll see two interfaces again—a "Physical Interface" and a "Virtual Interface." In the "Physical Interface" section at the top, fill in the same exact security settings as your primary router—the security mode, the algorithm (TKIP or AES, generally), and the password any device would use to connect. You might need to jump back into your primary router settings to confirm these—that's fine, but do so from another device. Under the "Virtual Interface" section, set up the same exact security settings as your primary router, again. Hit the "Save" key at very bottom again and, again, avoid "Apply Settings" for the moment.
Jump over to the Setup tab at the very top, then scroll down to the Network Setup section under Basic Setup. The main thing to do here is slightly alter the "Local IP Address" from what your primary router is. If you connect to your main router at 192.168.1.1, for example, set this repeater router to something like 192.168.2.1, or another number that you can remember in the second-to-last position. Hit (you guessed it!) Save.
Finally, head to the Security tab up top, and in the Firewall section, disable the "SPI Firewall," and un-check everything under the "Block WAN Requests," except "Filter Multicast." Hit "Save" at the bottom one last time. Finally, head over to Administration, double-check that you've got your administrator password written down or remembered, and hit "Apply Settings" at the very bottom. Your router will reset itself now, so give it time to do so.
Unplug your computer's Ethernet cable, turn on a wireless device, and see if you can find your new repeater bridge. Connect to it, use the same password you'd use for the main router, and you should have success. If not, run through the steps and double-check your settings. DD-WRT's wiki page for WLAN Repeaters has a good deal of troubleshooting advice, so check there too.
You've now got a second Wi-Fi station in your house that picks up signal from the main router and offers it out to devices that are farther out. It's likely not as fast a connection between devices—it's wireless G, in most cases, as opposed to N. Then again, at this point, there are very, very few services or streaming applications that make full use of Wireless N's crazy bandwidth potential, so your Hulu streaming, web browsing, and other usual internet life will likely be unaffected.
In my own case, my wife and I don't have to use modern-day divining tricks in our very non-linear Victorian home to keep a spotty Wi-Fi signal to an iPod touch or Android phone, and a side patio has just become a preferred secondary home office for the summer. As a bonus, my closest neighbors now know that I'm a serious, serious nerd when they fire up their laptops. Here's hoping you find similarly fun and free uses for a Wi-Fi repeater.
How is your repeater working out for you? Do you have any suggestions on making the repeater more convenient, or another guide for DD-WRT, Tomato, or another firmware? We'd love to hear your comments, questions, and tips in the comments!
internally. A brave Instructables user shows how to go whole-hog on the blue box with extended antennas, fan-cooled overclocking, and the DD-WRT interface.
Instructable author NostalgicStone offers plenty of warnings before jumping into the details of his hack, and for good reason: it's not the safest way to run a Wi-Fi router. It's also not a pretty sight to have a PC fan running on top of a router, if you have to keep it in plain view. With all that said, this total upgrade is really appealing to those of us who lack Wi-Fi in particular corners of the house, don't have to worry about how pretty the router looks, and don't mind tearing open electronics to do things like install heatsinks.
Hit the link for the full read-through and results testimonial, and share any similar router upgrades you've seen (or pulled off yourself) in the comments.
We've shown you one way to turn your wifi router into a repeater, but if your router doesn't have the firmware or your walls aren't wireless-friendly, you can get similar results with the addition of a device called a powerline adapter.
While we definitely love hacking our routers with new firmware, it does have a few downsides, most notably the fact that it's a pain to install. Furthermore, you may not be comfortable installing third-party firmware that hacks your device, if your router doesn't have the required firmware available. Technology blog Tested points out that a couple powerline adapters can help give you the same results by connecting your old router to your network through the power lines already installed in your home.
Essentially, instead of wirelessly "extending" your network, you'll be turning your old router into an access point and putting it in the dead zone of your house. It'll still need to be connected to the network, though, which is where the powerline adapters come in. Powerline adapters plug into your A/C outlets and connect to your network. You don't need any kind of electrical experience to get them working. You could, of course wire it up via Ethernet, but you probably don't want Ethernet cables running all through your house—so powerline adapters are a pretty awesome way to go.
You'll need to tweak quite a few settings on your router to make this work, and powerline extenders aren't super cheap—you could probably pick a few up for the same price of a regular wireless network extender—but if you have a house that isn't wireless extender-friendly (due to thick walls or a strangely shaped house), this is a great way to get wireless everywhere you need it. Hit the link for the full guide, and let us know your experience with powerline extenders in the comments.
Windows only: RouterPassView is a freeware application that taps into a router's configuration file, allowing you to recover important data like router login information, wireless network keys, and more in the event any of that important information goes missing.
Once you load the configuration file into the program, it displays your (supported) router's passwords, wireless keys, and login information. It can also decrypt ISP usernames and passwords. It could be really handy if, say, you're troubleshooting a less tech-savvy friend's router or if you happened to lose that information yourself.
RouterPassView supports a limited number of models, so you'll need to check the web site to see if your router will work with the program. It includes some popular router brands like Linksys, D-Link, and NETGEAR. Support for additional routers is planned for the future. RouterPassView is a free download for Windows only.
We've all had those routers that just don't cooperate, and every once in a while lose connection and need to be rebooted (or rather, unplugged and then plugged back in). Here's how to do it without walking across your whole house.
If this happens to you a lot, your router may have a larger underlying issue that needs to be fixed—perhaps the firmware needs an update, or your router is not cooperating with your ISP and you need to give them a call. If it happens only once in a while, though, and you have yet to find a defining solution (maybe you just have a cheap router), here's an easy way to reboot your router without having to be near it.
Note that you'll need to have administrator access to the router. If this is your personal, home router, this is easy. Chances are, the router is still using the default username and password for that model, which is readily available information. You can also do a hard reset of your router by using a paper clip to press the reset button on the back. If you'd rather not restore the factory settings, though, and you have a backup of your config file, you can also use previously mentionedRouterPassView to find your username and password.
To reboot the router when the connection goes down, just type in your router's IP address in the address bar of any browser. The IP address should be easily viewable in your computer's network preferences, though it's usually http://192.168.1.1 or something similar. Every router's settings page is different, but you should be able to reboot the router just by going to basic settings and hitting the "save" or "apply" button without making any changes—this will reboot your router and hopefully get your connection up and running again.
This information is an amalgamation of information from commenters over at Lifehacker Australia and a bit of Googling. I've tested it as much as I can, but I can't verify that this works for restoring lost connections that require an unplug/replug (since I cannot reproduce the event that would cause that type of connection loss), so let us know if this works for you in the comments.
Dear Lifehacker, I just moved into my first apartment, and bought my first Wi-Fi router. It's a standard Linksys "blue box," and seems to work fine, but I'm wondering—are there any settings I should be looking to change?
Good question! For most broadband home users, a Wi-Fi net connection "works" once you plug in the cable and power on the Linksys box, but there's more to having a secure, convenient, and easy-to-use network than just connecting.
Gina walked through setting up a home wireless network in 2006, using a Linksys WRT54G router as the hardware. Her instructions on the physical setup, and reaching the router's configuration page, still stand, but her security steps can use some updating—especially since she herself proved later on how easy you can crack a WEP-encrypted Wi-Fi password.
If you wanted to get really geeky, and unlock a lot of great features, you could power up your router (depending on your model) by installing DD-WRT or the more user-friendly Tomato on your router. But assuming you're just looking to get started with a Wi-Fi network and not start hacking firmware right away, we'll start with the basics.
Head to your router's administration page, then, by connecting to your router (usually linksys), opening a browser to it (usually 192.168.1.1), and entering the default username and password (written in the manual, but usually some combination of "admin," "default," and blanks).
I'm recommending at least four changes and look-intos for the typical router:
Change the SSID and Administrator Password
If you set up your router with an installation CD, there's a chance you've already tackled these steps. If not, head to the "Admin" or "Administration" tab in your settings, and in the main "Management" tab, change that password from whatever its default is.
Why bother? If you're going to leave your network "open"—or not requiring a password to connect—it's crucial to have your router administration password in place, as anybody who's half-familiar can point to 192.168.1.1, use a site like RouterPasswords.com, and then do ... well, all kinds of hincky stuff. Even if you're going to password-protect your system, it's still a smart idea to prevent anyone from messing with your settings.
Want to lock down administrative access even further? Turn off "Wireless Web Access" from this password page. Maybe it's too much of an annoyance to require that router configuration changes require a physical cable connection, but it's also a good way to ensure only those inside your house can mess with your network.
Before you go too much further, too, head to the Wireless tab, and change the "SSID Broadcast Name" in your "Wireless Settings" sub-section. If you keep your router named "linksys," you not only might encounter problems with neighbors who have simply plugged in their new routers, but you'll also train your computers and devices to always connect and accept connections to networks named "linksys"—not always a smart move when you're outside your home.
Change Your Security Settings
Even if you've already set up a password for your network, head to this page. It's under the "Wireless Security" section of the Wireless tab—and not under "Security," a design decision I've never quite fathomed.
If you haven't set up a password, do so now. As with any net-related password, don't make it weak. Use non-dictionary words, add numbers and special characters, and make it as long as you can remember. And change the security mode to WPA2 Personal. WEP is easily cracked, as noted above, and the first WPA has proven fairly easy for hacker-types to get into. WPA2 Personal isn't perfect, but it's the home networking security standard at the moment, and most devices made in the past few years can connect through it.
Open and Forward Any Needed Ports
If you're a BitTorrent user, good software like uTorrent should be able to automatically find an open port and connect through it. If it doesn't work, or if you need to pull off more advanced home network tricks, like screen control from outside your home, encrypting outside browsing through a home SSH proxy or giving tech support with a VNC connection, you'll want to open up the "Port Range Forward" section under the "Applications & Gaming" section.
The layout is a bit confusing, but it's actually a simple setup. Name your port whatever you'd like for reference in the "Application" field, add the port "range" in the two "Start" and "end" fields (usually they're the same number, for a single-number "range"), then choose the IP address of the computer you'd like incoming requests routed to, and click "Enable." In other words, if you want incoming SSH requests sent to your main desktop, add an "SSH" entry, assign it a port (22 is standard, though you can change it for more security from scanning attacks), and direct it to your home desktop's IP address.
But, wait, how do you know which IP address your home computer is on, and how do you reach it from, say, Panera? Good question! We'll tackle that in this next section.
Set Up Dynamic DNS
In the Setup tab, there's a "DDNS" section that allows you to hook up your router to a Dynamic DNS service, like our personal favorite, DynDNS. Gina previously covered the setup of your router to DynDNS in her guide to assigning a doman name to your home web server. Follow her steps, and when you want to remotely access your home computers, you can point your software to something like samsmith.dyndns.org, instead of trying to guess what IP address Time Warner/Comcast/Verizon has assigned you.
You'll also need to make sure your home computers stay on the same internal IP addresses assigned to them by the router—192.168.1.105 and the like. Adam's covered that in his remote BitTorrent guide. The basic explanation is that you set your steady, almost-always-on computers to an IP address that's lower than the "dynamic," changing numbers given out by your router.
Those are four settings we recommend peeking into as a new router owner. There are more security measures you can take, like filtering out all but a few accepted MAC addresses (i.e. specific computers/devices) or hiding your router name entirely from those who don't know it, but the average home network owner would probably find those more time-consuming than truly helpful. Your security needs and setup will certainly vary.
Good luck with your new router, and may your browser never tell you of pages not found,
Belkin is an old hand when it comes to wireless devices as well as other computing peripherals, and this time round they have a new range of 802.11n wireless routers for you to choose from, basically with a handful of models to suit just about any needs there are out there. These new wireless routers feature fun and powerful applications, and comprise of the Surf, Share, Play, and Play Max Wireless Routers which will allow you to play music, games, and HD videos while sharing photos and enable wireless printing from just about anywhere in your home.
Belkin has specially designed such applications to enhance your wireless experience, where they are a snap to set up while keeping you online with the most optimal connection always. For instance, the Self-Healing app will automatically detect and resolve network problems while running routine maintenance scans in order to provide you with the clearest wireless channel. All Share, Play, and Play Max Routers will come with the Print Genie application which enables one to wirelessly print from any computer on the network in your home, while Memory Safe will perform an automatic backup your photos and files to an external hard drive (needless to say, you will need to pick up the external hard drive by yourself) so that you can be sure all your digital memories are archived in a prim and proper manner.
The use of advanced Dual-Band N technology in Belkin’s Play and Play Max Routers are more than capable of providing the best speed and performance. Simultaneous networks will eliminate interference while enabling you to optimize performance for media-intensive activities, including streaming HD movies, gaming online, and downloading large media files for those who love Torrents. As for apps that are available on the Play and Play Max routers, you will be more empowered by your music more than ever before. Music Mover will play your whole music library on a range of smart devices including the Xbox 360 or PS3, where creating your own tunes is but a touch away. The Daily DJ app will unveil daily personalized playlists to stay in step with your current mood. Prices range from $79.99 to $129.99, depending on the model of your choice.
You won't see the word "router" or Linksys anywhere on the box for Cisco's Valet. No, "it's the simple way to create your own wireless hotspot." It's the router for everybody else. That's the idea, anyway.
Home networking is gross. Truth. Lots of numbers, stuff that doesn't work for reasons you can't understand. Cisco, since they make a lot of routers, knows this. Which, it turns out, is a major reason they bought Pure Digital, the makers of the Flip Camera—to make their stuff easier to use. The first non Flip product of that swallowing is the Valet, and its slightly more capable upsell, the Valet Plus.
Design
Though $100 and $150, respectively, their specs aren't impressive: No dual band, 2.4GHz only, no USB ports, and you have to plop down the extra 50 bucks for the Plus to get gigabit ethernet ports. (You also get an extra antenna and boosted input/output speed.) What you do get is an approachable looking, almost Apple-like router in the case of the Valet Plus (sorry, it's true), a USB key, and 24/7 phone support, which is supposed to add up to ease of use.
The USB key that plugs into your computer's supposed to take care of all of the hard crap for you, setting everything up after you plug the Valet in. It works, actually—within a couple of minutes of plugging the key in, two wireless networks popped up, NiceCat (secured) and NiceCat-guest (unsecured, but with a browser-based password for visitors), ending the reign of generic SSIDs, with default admin passwords ready for me to noodle with.
The rub is that the Cisco Connect software that's supposed to make the Valet easy to use—you know, part of the reason you're paying $100-$150 for fairly basic routers—also comes with the more feature-packed new E Series Linksys routers. The difference is that you don't get a USB drive in the box, you get a CD with the software (which you can use to make a USB key).
Connect handles the utter basics, some better than others. For instance, guest access is really easy to set up, but when it comes to adding new devices to the network, it's not all that helpful: "Refer to the device's documentation to learn how to connect it to a wireless network, then, on the device, use the wireless settings below to connect the device to your Valet." Which, if you don't change the password it provides for you, is a mess of unmemorable gibberish, though it offers to copy it to your clipboard.
Anything beyond basic tweaks requires a deeper dive into the purple monstrosity that is the Linksys router system menu we've known and loathed for years.
Performance
But even when you're willing to get your hands dirty, some options are automated beyond your control. Notably, you can't force the Valet to make the 2.4GHz network wireless G-only or N-only. It's a mixed B/G/N network, always and forever. So, you incur a performance penalty on wireless N since you're not able to run it as a pure N network—combined with the Valet's lesser internal specs, it's noticeable when you compare transfer speeds across a network to its more capable cousin, the E3000, which was nearly twice as fast when it was placed in N-only mode on the 5GHz band (and still slightly speedier when it was set to a mixed N network on 2.4GHz, like the Valet).
It doesn't suffer for range, though, at least in the testing environment I used. Typically, we've tested routers at Brian or Jason's houses in California, where there's lots of space, and little urban wireless interference. Instead, I put the Valet and E3000 to perhaps more brutal range tests: How well they handle the interference from a massive flustercuck of wireless networks inside a NY high rise. We're talking 30 other wireless networks at any given test point. Using iStumbler, I couldn't pick up either router more than 2 floors above or below my apartment, 50 feet (horizontally) away, but at the worst point for both routers, the E3000's 2.4 GHz band managed only a 10 percent stronger signal than the Valet, despite its vastly more impressive six-antenna array. (5GHz is notably worse at penetrating walls than 2.4GHz, so the E3000's other channel didn't come into play at the fringes of the range test.)
It's an Expensive Half Solution
For a basic router, the performance in other words, is okay. It's not suited to heavy duty file swapping and streaming, like a dual-band router (things like Netflix worked just fine.) The range is pretty respectable. And it's missing basically every power feature you'd want, but that's not really the point of this router. It's supposed to be the one your mom can setup. From that perspective, though, it still doesn't really solve some key networking stumbling points:
For instance, networked storage for backups. (I know that sounds complicated, but the basic idea, backing up wirelessly, is something even technonoobs would like to be easy.) Or even fixing the Linksys router menu we've all used forever. Why not improve it too? Or, in addition to hiding everything behind an okay bit of software (which is now standard across the whole Linksys line, devaluing it a bit) why not try to explain some basic networking too, like Nikon cameras for new photographers attempt to explain concepts like aperture?
The Valet doesn't radically reinvent the router to make networking remarkably more accessible, it just makes it easier to stumble through, as long as the demands being made of it are relatively simple, too—making the $150 asking price a bit much, up front. The one feature that may justify the cost, however, is 24/7 phone support. If it's truly decent, the support could save you a night of troubleshooting with your parents.
Easy setup works pretty well
Range isn't too shabby for a basic router
24/7 phone support
Missing power features and some manual controls, like wireless network type
The E3000 is Cisco's new king of Linksys routers, replacing the WRT610N. It's a pretty minor upgrade to the previous simultaneous dual-band beast, with a major exception.
Price
$180 MSRP.
Models
As you'd notice if you were a router nerd, Linksys has ditched all of the old model numbers—but the same basic stratification comes into play. E3000 is the top of a pile of new routers, replacing the WRT610N. Going down the line, you've got two lesser E series routers that both run $120: the E2100L, which runs Linux out of the box for tweakage, and it has a UPnP server too. The E2000 has selectable dual-band support and gigabit ethernet. Then there's the $80 E1000, which is the new "cheap" option for wireless N.
Verdict
It's got new software that replaces the old and busted Linksys EasyLink Advisor, making it easier to setup. In fact, it shares it with Cisco's new Valet router for that's expressly designed to be easy to use. In a nutshell, it sets the router up for you, complete with a non-"please hack me and steal my internet" SSID that's secured, and lets you easily manage basics like guest access. That's a good thing.
The problem is that the actually decent interface doesn't extend to its other feature versus lesser Cisco routers (like the new Valets), which is a built-in UPnP server that lets you stream media from whatever storage you've got plugged into the USB port. UPnP is still managed by the ancient Linksys interface that's been around for years and years and years. You just try explain to a normal person who wants to stream some movies to their Xbox what the hell is going on here.
Once you do figure it out how to set up access, it works pretty well. You can add and remove files using computer's own file browser as a networked drive, and I was able to stream music to my 360 without a hitch by merely selecting the drive as an A/V source. Video, on the other hand, never worked—for some reason my Xbox never saw them, despite seeing the server clearly. And where's the iTunes server, BTW? D-Link's laws-of-nature-defying photo frame-cum-router has one.
As you can see, it's pretty solid at moving stuff around, on par with my older WRT-600N, the two generations ago version of the E3000. (A transfer of a 1.56GB file to the attached storage took 8 minutes and 45 seconds.)
As for range, typically, we've tested routers at Brian or Jason's houses in California, where there's lots of space, and little urban wireless interference. Instead, I put the E3000 (and it's family-friend cousin the Valet) to perhaps more brutal range tests: How well they handle the interference from a massive flustercuck of wireless networks inside a NY high rise. We're talking 30 other wireless networks at any given test point. Using iStumbler, I couldn't pick up either router more than 2 floors above or below my apartment, 50 feet (horizontally) away, but at the worst point for both routers, the E3000's 2.4 GHz band managed about a 10 percent stronger signal than the Valet and my WRT600N.
All in all, you're getting a solid chunk of router for the money, since you're bound to find it cheaper than the $180 official price. It's no photo-frame/NAS/BitTorrenter like D-Link's greatest, but the E3000 has a few more router-y things it doesn't, like solid simultaneous dual-band 2.4GHz and 5Ghz wireless.
And that's what it pretty much comes down to: If you need simultaneous dual band, and don't want a Time Capsule, this is probably your router.
New software makes it easier to setup
A lot of router goodness for the money
Missing iTunes server, and other perks like BitTorrent downloaders
The storage interface sucks, and makes the UPnP feature less awesome than it could be
Franklin Wireless supplies modems (primarily of the CDMA variety) to a number of carriers across the Western Hemisphere, and they've introduced a handful of rather interesting new products in that vein here at CTIA this week. First up, the U600 is an EV-DO Rev. A / WiMAX hybrid USB modem with a 270-degree swiveling USB connector for those ridiculously hard-to-manage ports (ahem, Apple), integrated GPS, and zero-CD installation -- all pretty standard features these days, and we saw a Sprint-branded unit at Franklin's booth which leads us to believe we'll be seeing it at retail shortly.
Much more interesting, though, was a pair of pocketable WiFi routers -- the R526 and R536 -- that support EV-DO and EV-DO / WiMAX, respectively. Most of the units were unbranded, but we did spy an R536 done up in snow white with a Clear logo slapped up top, so you can pretty much gather that this thing will be filling a glaring hole in Clear's lineup (right now, the best you can do is a USB modem plus the Clear Spot, which is basically a branded Cradlepoint). What intrigued us about the R536 the most was the fact that it's got the functionality of an Overdrive packed into a smaller, more MiFi-esque form factor without any of the Overdrive's bells and whistles, so it'll be a great alternative as long as it performs well and has enough juice to last a couple hours off the power grid; the 3G-only R526, meanwhile, had an Ethernet jack stuck on the side, which is kind of cool in the rare event that you need to connect a WiFi-less device and you don't want to go through the hassle of installing a new driver. The R526 launches in April (with what carrier, we're not sure) -- as does the U600 -- while the R536 should start to trickle out in May.
Belkin's new line of 802.11n wireless routers—the Surf, Share, Play, and Play Max—come with clever little apps to diagnose network problems, print wirelessly from networked computers, back up files, move music libraries, and create playlists.
The routers will be available in April for prices ranging between $50 and $130 with matching wireless USB adapters priced between $50 and $70.
Surf Wireless Router - $49.99
• Surf the Web, email, and instant message from anywhere in your home • 802.11n • 2.4GHz – Perfect for data and web traffic, and file- and picture-sharing • Dual-plane antenna positioning and unique implementation of MIMO technology provides three-dimensional coverage, which means consistent signal, even through walls and floors • Pre-configured wireless security • Wi-Fi Protected Setup - 256-bit WPA/WPA2 and 64/128 WEP encryption • VPN Support: PPTP and IPSec pass-through • Compatible with Mac OS X v10.6 and v10.5, and Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP
Share Wireless Router - $79.99
• Easily share and access documents, photos, and files from multiple computers • 802.11n • 2.4GHz – Perfect for data and web traffic, and file- and picture-sharing • Dual-plane antenna positioning and unique implementation of MIMO technology provides three-dimensional coverage, which means consistent signal, even through walls and floors • 1 USB port supports external USB hard drives or USB printers • Pre-configured wireless security • Wi-Fi Protected Setup - 256-bit WPA/WPA2 and 64/128 WEP encryption • VPN Support: PPTP and IPSec pass-through • Compatible with Mac OS X v10.6 and v10.5, and Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP
Play Wireless Router - $99.99
• Provides the fastest, most reliable speeds for streaming video, playing music, and online gaming • Simultaneous 802.11n Dual-Band for speeds of up to 300Mbps • 2.4GHz – Perfect for data and web traffic, and file- and picture-sharing • 5GHz – Perfect for streaming media and video games • Dual-plane antenna positioning and unique implementation of MIMO technology provides three-dimensional coverage, which means consistent signal, even through walls and floors • 1 USB port supports external USB hard drives or USB printers • Pre-configured wireless security • Wi-Fi Protected Setup - 256-bit WPA/WPA2 and 64/128 WEP encryption • VPN Support: PPTP and IPSec pass-through • Compatible with Mac OS X v10.6 and v10.5, and Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP
Play Max Wireless Router- $129.99
• Stream HD videos, play games online, and download large media files • Features high-speed Gigabit ports for media-intensive applications and simultaneous Dual-Band networks for maximum speed and coverage • Simultaneous 802.11n Dual-Band for speeds of up to 300Mbps • 2.4GHz – Perfect for data and web traffic, and file- and picture-sharing • 5GHz – Perfect for streaming media and video games • Dual-plane antenna positioning and unique implementation of MIMO technology provides three-dimensional coverage, which means consistent signal, even through walls and floors • 2 USB ports to support external USB hard drives and USB printers • UPnP server • Pre-configured wireless security • Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ - 256-bit WPA ® /WPA2 ® and 64/128 WEP encryption • VPN Support: PPTP and IPSec pass-through • Compatible with Mac OS ® X v10.6 and v10.5, and Windows ® 7, Windows Vista ® , and Windows XP
Play Wireless USB Adapter - $69.99 Surf & Share Wireless USB Adapter - $49.99
• Connects your desktop or notebook computer to a wireless network • Provides optimal range and distance when paired with an 802.11n router • WPS security with the push of a button
One of the great parts about these routers are, of course, the applications which make life—and basic media management tasks in particular—just a little bit simpler:
• Self Healing: Automatically detects and resolves network problems and runs routine maintenance scans to give you the clearest wireless channel. Available on Surf, Share, Play, and Play Max. • Memory Safe: Automatically backs up precious photos and important files to your external hard drive. Available on Share, Play, and Play Max. • Print Genie: Print wirelessly from any computer on the network from anywhere in your home. Available on Share, Play, and Play Max. • Music Mover: Play MP3s from your music library on your home stereo wirelessly. Connect your external hard drive on which you store your music to the router-and move music from your computer to your stereo through devices like Xbox 360 ® and PlayStation ® 3. Available on Play and Play Max. • Music Labeler: Automatically identifies and labels your track with the correct title, artist, and genre. Available on Play and Play Max. • Daily DJ: Get daily personalized playlists from your music library based on your mood. Available on Play and Play Max. • Torrent Genie: Downloads large media files like movies, music, and games, even when your computer isn't on. Available on Play Max. • Bit Boost™: Prioritizes traffic on your network for video, gaming, and VoIP, letting you easily select your most important data streams for seamless network traffic. Available on Play Max.
Our suggestion is to install the open-source 
In the "Virtual Interfaces" section, below that main "Wireless Physical Interfaces" section you just modified, hit the "Add" button, then enter a new name for your repeater—don't use the same as your router, or else suffer the wrath of confused devices. Adding "Repeater" or "2" to the end of your main router's name is pretty sensible in most cases. If you prefer an access point that doesn't broadcast its name, save that for switching off later—while we're testing our repeater, we'll be using basic settings to make sure the connection goes through. Hit the "Save" button at the bottom again.
Jump over to the Setup tab at the very top, then scroll down to the Network Setup section under Basic Setup. The main thing to do here is slightly alter the "Local IP Address" from what your primary router is. If you connect to your main router at 192.168.1.1, for example, set this repeater router to something like 192.168.2.1, or another number that you can remember in the second-to-last position. Hit (you guessed it!) Save.
Easy setup works pretty well
Missing power features and some manual controls, like wireless network type
New software makes it easier to setup
Missing iTunes server, and other perks like BitTorrent downloaders
The storage interface sucks, and makes the UPnP feature less awesome than it could be
