Greg -

Over the years, I had SMC, DLink, and Linksys wireless routers and have changed them out as new models came out on the market. They are both good routers. I've never had an installation or failure problem with any, covering a total of 6 different routers at home and at work.

Both of the models that you posted are from 2003. If you are looking for the most up-to-date and robust security protection, you won't get them from these two models. You'll want to get 128 bit WEPS (adequate for home use) and WPA (adequate for small business) encryption. IEE802G routers which fine for home use, 802B is both slow and out of date. You'll also need to buy wireless cards of the same brand as your router to take advantage of any "Turbo" or "Speedboost" features, but you can mix and match brands and run at standard speeds. There are faster routers (802M or Mimo) routers, but the exact standards for this level of performance has not yet been set. Running a different brand card on these new routers causes the entire network to slow down, so it's best to stay away from the Mimo routers for now.

Netgear is typically more expensive of all the brands, but it is also the choice of tech heads because it's hackable. The installation menus are simple and they are reliable.

DLink had a bad reputation a few years back, but has made continous improvement to their products. Also they are very easy to install and are cheaper than Linksys.

Netgear routers are also robust and are around the same price as DLink, but the menus are much more complicated. Not a real popular brand.

Belkin was a low end brand, but has brought some competent products to the market. I have dealings with Belkin as a client. They are a pretty focused customer.

Anyways, if you want to keep it around the $40 range, take a look at the DLink DI-624 $40 and Netgear WRT54GS $60, or Belkin Wireless G Router $35. The Belkin model lacks WPA encryption, but it auto-detects your computer settings and self installs in 3 minutes and best of all, has a lifetime warranty.

I've seen all three on sale with rebates over the past few months, so keep on the lookout. Factor in the price of the cards too.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike

This is the part where I stop pretending to have any idea of what is going on as regards tech, call the 800 number and start hyperventilating as the the poor guy in India ("Hi, this is Brad!") starts reading from his script.

Mike, be careful or you will find yourself flying LAX-MCO to set up a network this weekend.

__________________

I would get a ZYXEL, 330W or a X-550
awesome products got 1 of each and they work flawlessly

Thanks, one question though. The Linxys model I listed does show the 128 bit encryption. Am I missing something?

"Enhanced Internet Security Management Functions: Internet Access Policies with Time Schedules, Website Blocking, IP and MAC Address Filtering; Port Filtering; Wireless MAC Address Filtering; Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) Firewall; and NAT Technology
Wireless Security with up to 128-bit WEP Encryption
Wi-Fi Protected Access(WPA)"

WRT54G looks good. Configure the WEP+MAC . Although they both can be broken in, but should be OK for home use. Can never get enough security.

not that you travel much but I have the new linksys wireless G/A travel router before I got 3G card and I like the size and ease of setup as compared to the firmware on the WRT54G.

Just to be clear, I want a router in order to have a more robust and lass conflicting firewall. I do not have a laptop, so I won't even be using the wi-fi. Is there a better and or cheaper solution for me?

if you want a more robust firewall, just use software in combination firewall from your local ISP. bring wifi into the picture just opens you to a whole can of worms in terms of security.

Wifi is the vulnerability. Some kind of software firewall should do the job fine ie. Zonealarm.