thank you all! Yes, through cable company. Why would i want to upgrade my router? Speed issue?
'Serenity'
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Why would i want to upgrade my router? Speed issue?
Speed will be pretty comparable for anything you'd be likely to buy now. Upgrade reasons would be more like, you have an unquenchable need for more ports to plug your gadgets into; or you want one of the fancy Apple things that also works as a backup drive/iTunes server/toaster/no not in the Cylon sense/okay maybe that too.
Using your own router can make your computer more secure than connecting your computer directly to the cable-modem.
our cable company supplies the router too, erin. though if it's a monthly charge, i recommend forgoing it because you can get one for $60-70. unless you're skeered of trying to set it up yourself. in that case, i'd recommend bribing a geeky friend.
I'd recommend getting your own router, too.
Time Warner Cable Exposes 65,000 Customer Routers to Remote Hacks
A vulnerability in a Time Warner cable modem and Wi-Fi router deployed to 65,000 customers would allow a hacker to remotely access the device’s administrative menu over the internet.
to supplement what tiggy said, best buy has decent deals on routers. I typically like linksys routers (mostly because I'm used to them and can get to the admin panel settings in my sleep) and I understand some linksys routers have 1 step setup that might be easy.
This is what I use.
It's cheap and it's never failed for me. You can get a faster wireless connection than g, but it's adequate if your network usage is mostly Internet and printing. I've reset it once and it turned out it was the modem that needed to be reset instead. The Linksys router I had before was a pain. That's just my experience. My BIL has a D-Link that has been trouble for him, but he tends to futz around with the security settings all the time, so that might be more of a user issue than a hardware issue.
I probably just got a bad batch of linksys routers. First one dropped connections every 10 minutes. Returned it and the next one worked for 30 minutes and then died in a cloud of acrid smoke. Returned it and kept that one, but I had to reset it every month and the wireless tended to drop.
I use Time Capsure for a router, as it does automatic backup as well. But the backup part only works with a Mac (using Time Machine).
Actually it looks like linksys routers are not as reliable as they used to be. WE had some good ones -- the latest has been bad. We haven't replaced it only because DH is good at making it behave. And Dh has done some looking around. there are a lot of complaints.