what network hardware do you like?

[BriGy86]

i currently have a linksys router and it seems fine, other people like Dlink

so what hardware do you like or recommend and why?

(ill add a poll a little later cause i want to be able to put more stuff in it from peoples suggestions)

brands i can think of now are

-Linksys
-Netgear
-Dlink
-Belkin

let me know of any others and ill add them to the poll

 

[spherrod]

I like D-Link, Linksys and Netgear. Had some bad experiences wth Belkin though.

Support a Europe wide sales force on mainly D-Link hardware - not had any hardware failures at all so pretty happy with that. Use the odd Linksys and Netgear device in the office - no issues yet

 

[BriGy86]

ok, thanks for the input, im just waiting to see if people add other brands i haven't listed so i can put them in the poll later

 

[spherrod]

Forgot to mention that at home I use an SMC ADSL Router which has worked great since day 1

 

[BriGy86]

the brand is SMC? never heard of that one i don't think

 

[spherrod]

Yep - SMC

http://www.smc.com/

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: BriGy86
the brand is SMC? never heard of that one i don't think

SMC has been around for well over 10 years.

they used to make (and probably still do) ethernet adapters and business class ethernet hubs.

 

[BriGy86]

poll added

 

[loup garou]

Dell for cheap switches.
WatchGuard for inexpensive gateways for small offices.

 

[JackMDS]

With all due respect Mr. BriGy86 this type of Polls are utterly ridiculous. It follows an assumption that there is One Brand that is across the board better than any other Brand, and that prices and sale do not matter.

If I want a Good Wireless 802.11g Router (WDS too) for a decent price I would buy one of the Buffalo line.

If I want an inexpensive 802.11g Super for casual work I would buy a D-Link.

If I want rock bottom cheap WDS I would buy the Belkin 802.11g.

If I want Inexpensive Jumbo Frame Switch, I would buy the SMC Giga Switch.

If I want a pre 802.11n I would buy the Linksys SRX.

So which one of these is the better, best, or other empty superlative term. Brand?

:sun:

 

[SleepWalkerX]

i've only had a linksys switch and linksys router so i haven't got to try out the other brands. but linksys works great for me, never had any problems, and with my wrt54g flashed i couldn't be happier.

 

[SaigonK]

Netgear for home and some small office use...for my corporate stuff I buy Nortel for my Layer 1 through 7 stuff and for my core routers/firewalls it's Cisco

 

[BriGy86]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
With all due respect Mr. BriGy86 this type of Polls are utterly ridiculous. It follows an assumption that there is One Brand that is across the board better than any other Brand, and that prices and sale do not matter.

If I want a Good Wireless 802.11g Router (WDS too) for a decent price I would buy one of the Buffalo line.

If I want an inexpensive 802.11g Super for casual work I would buy a D-Link.

If I want rock bottom cheap WDS I would buy the Belkin 802.11g.

If I want Inexpensive Jumbo Frame Switch, I would buy the SMC Giga Switch.

If I want a pre 802.11n I would buy the Linksys SRX.

So which one of these is the better, best, or other empty superlative term. Brand?

:sun:

sorry just wondering what people have had good luck with

mine would be for a home network, maybe some wireless but its not a must, and im also not looking to pich every penny i can

and the brands that would be available to me are netgear, linksys, dlink, and belkin

 

[JackMDS]

No point to buy a Wired Router since they are only few $$$ cheaper than Wireless and most of them were not updated (features wise) in more than two years.

As far as my experience goes the best deal in Wireless Routers comes from buffalo.

Stable, fast, WDS, and fully Windows Wireless Network compatible.

If you like to play around and Hack the Linksys WRT54g would be a good choice too.

You can get more general info here: Link to: Wireless What Should I Get?

:sun:

 

[Nocturnal]

As far as home networking equipment goes, I haven't had any trouble with Linksys. If it was for a corporate environment, that'd be an entirely different ball game.

 

[Changlinn]

I have used and tested a heap of brands. I stick with/recomend Netgear (non-yum-cha, ie non plastic crap), Linksys, some D-Link (you can be unlucky with these guys), Cisco(except I can't afford it) and an Australian brand Alloy(make decent stuff cheap for locals). For firewalls, snapgear(cheap), cisco(expensive), and checkpoint(uber-expensive)
Stear clear of compaq home and small business switches and routers, 90% of belkin are bad, or badly designed so stear clear of them as well. Other than that, I am pretty neutral to the rest, billion are really cheap, but I haven't used them personally and have heard mixed reviews.

 

[BriGy86]

i was wondering about metal vs plactic parts

would metal be any better?

i don't plan on stomping on mine everyday, just gonna sit on my desk

 

[JackMDS]

Let see.

When a person loses part of his skull the Neurosurgeon install a metal plate to cover the brain.:clock::light:

On the other end; Artificial Heart is mainly Plastic.:brokenheart:

Routers?

Nah! It does not matter. The Wireless Radio inside comes with its own Metal cover.

Besides I am just touching a Netgear new Wireless 802.11g Router.

Guess what? It is plastic! :shocked:


:sun:

 

[BriGy86]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Let see.

When a person loses part of his skull the Neurosurgeon install a metal plate to cover the brain.:clock::light:

On the other end; Artificial Heart is mainly Plastic.:brokenheart:

Routers?

Nah! It does not matter. The Wireless Radio inside comes with its own Metal cover.

Besides I am just touching a Netgear new Wireless 802.11g Router.

Guess what? It is plastic! :shocked:


:sun:

you're a funny guy, haha

anyway the place i work at sells mostly linksys, netgear, and dlink

all of which sounds pretty good, im just gonna look at the features they have

off the top of my head i know there was a wireless linksys router that supported A, B, and G i think it was fire walled too

any other features i should look for?

 

[Changlinn]

the cover has nothing to do with how good/robust etc it is, just with netgears, the plastic ones tend to be made in china, and are of average quality, hence the yum-cha nickname, the metal ones are usually made in japan if I remember rightly and are of better quality, I have seen the plastic equivelents break pretty quick, I think the plastic ones only come with a 3year warranty too, the metal ones a 5 year warranty... So no nothing to do with the case, just that is linked to the quality of construction, heh I have been using a plastic d-link access point for almost 5 years that has never skipped a beat, but thats dlink.

Edit: Oh yeah personally I am not one for having an all in one device, I like the fact that my ap is seperate from my router and dsl modem, means I can have the ap in a seperate location to my router, and if my modem dies I can still use the router for what not same with the ap and router.

 

[nweaver]

Cisco.....


had to be said (yes, I use it alot)


For NIC's, I think Intel builds the most reliable wired NIC. Their wireless has an odd roaming algorithm

 

[spidey07]

And just to chime in on Cisco...

They aren't necessarily the "best" hardware. There are others that outperform them.

Its just the fact that you can make a cisco router/switch do just about anything possible and its pretty easy.

Cisco's strength is IOS. A very high up guy at cisco (consulting engineer...one of the few that report to John Chambers directly) said "cisco is a software company, make no doubt about it, we just happen to provide the gear to run the software"

 

[nightowl]

Cisco...Many times the hardware is better once you get past the marketing numbers but the real strength lies in the ability to do many different things and at the same time too.