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When purchasing a router for your wireless network, you will be presented with a large number of different options from different vendors.

The first thing you need to do is to choose the type of wireless router you will use.

In general you can choose from Wireless-B, Wireless-G, and Wireless-PreN. The differences among these three technologies are very subtle, with the slowest being wireless B and the fastest being Wireless Pre-N. It would seem like an easy decision to make to select the Wireless Pre-N as the fastest technology ‘must’ be the best. In fact this assumption is not correct.

The problem in choosing is twofold.

First, todays cable modems generally cannot take advantage of the speed available to the wireless G and pre-N routers.

This situation is analogous to driving a Porsche in bumper to bumper traffic. While the car has the POTENTIAL to hit 150mph, you will never get to that speed in busy city traffic. Thus, for most people you should SAVE YOUR MONEY and stick with a wireless B or wireless G router.

Second, the standards for Wireless B and G are generally set, while the technology standards for Wireless Pre-N are not standardized.

In general, wireless B and G are pretty much the same no matter which brand of router you choose. Wireless Pre-N, however, does NOT as of yet have a standard. What this means in plain terms is that you may buy a wireless Pre-N router (which as you recall from the above section that is overkill for the speed of your cable connection) from a company, and then find later on that it is not compatible in the future. Although many companies say that their routers will be upgradeable in the future, it is probably a best bet to stick with wireless B and G and then consider Pre-N in the future once the standards are set and the cable modem connections can take advantage of the speed Pre-N offers.

The second thing you need to choose is the brand of the wireless router.

My personal experience has been with Linksys/Cisco routers and has generally been very good. Before you purchase a product from any company it is important to check the reviews for this company and the specific product. Again, I have used Linksys, Netgear, and D-Link products with success in the past. I do recommend however, to keep all of your wireless equipment with one brand. While not necessary, it may be helpful for minimizing potential configuration problems.

Please contact me with any questions or comments.