Computers & Networking

[GeminiGirl]

I bought the netbook over the weekend and am having no luck connecting to my wired high-speed. I'm able to connect for about 1 minute and then it kicks me off. I use an ethernet cord.

I have no trouble using wifi at Starbucks or McDonald's. 

Any thoughts?

I called the provider and was told I should just get a wireless router. I have a desktop and a gaming device so wireless is probably the best solution so I don't have to constantly deal with connection issues. (Of course, it's cheaper to get the connection working).

But, I'm now interested in any suggestions for which wireless router is best for my needs. I live in an apartment so I definitely want to make sure that it will be secure.

[Entropy]

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GeminiGirl wrote:

I bought the netbook over the weekend and am having no luck connecting to my wired high-speed. I'm able to connect for about 1 minute and then it kicks me off. I use an ethernet cord.

I have no trouble using wifi at Starbucks or McDonald's. 

Any thoughts?

I called the provider and was told I should just get a wireless router. I have a desktop and a gaming device so wireless is probably the best solution so I don't have to constantly deal with connection issues. (Of course, it's cheaper to get the connection working).

But, I'm now interested in any suggestions for which wireless router is best for my needs. I live in an apartment so I definitely want to make sure that it will be secure.

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Keep in mind that even if you only use the wired ports most of the time, a wireless router lets you easily share a high speed connection between multiple machines.

Typically, at least with most cable modems, a modem must be fully power cycled when a different machine is connected to it and you're not using a router.

The Linksys WRT54GL + Tomato or DD-WRT firmware is an excellent combination, but beware that this combo voids the GL's warranty.  (It is, in my opinion, worth it though.)  The GL is an OK router even with stock firmware, but nowhere as good as with one of the third-party firmwares.