Recommended WiFi router?

[AndyT4097]

Anyone know of a router that they know for sure works with the Touch? My pay checks have increased and so I will be getting my Touch in a little more then a month so I just wanted to know if anyone recommended a cheeper router.

[jhollington]

Generally any compliant WiFi router should be fine. I'm not really aware of any mainstream brands that have specific problems, so something by Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, etc would all be good choices.

If you're a Mac user, the Airport Express/Extreme are always good options, but they are relatively pricey compared to other options and not strictly necessary.

If you're buying one just for the iPod touch, you can get an 802.11b/g router for a pretty reasonable price, and the iPod touch won't use anything faster than that. If you're looking to expand it for other home networking use, it might be worth spending the extra money for an 802.11n router.

[AndyT4097]

My notebook is about a year old and also uses 802.11G so no loss there. So any mainstream router? Nothing special to look for?

[jhollington]

No, not really. Just don't be taken in by these offers of "Turbo 802.11g" speeds and such... They're generally proprietary implementations (ie, they only work if you have compatible cards from the same vendor on the other end), and in fact turning these features ON can sometimes cause more problems than they solve.

I would just look for something that's easy to use and configure, and again stay within the reasonable mainstream brands and you should be fine.

[DerekVOF]

I'd watch out for Linksys routers. I know that many people on these boards have had issues with them. However, if you do get one, make sure you get the latest firmware update for your router -- that's seemed to fix many of the problems.

I'm using an old Microsoft MN-700 myself - works just fine. Also using Internet Sharing off my iMac which seems to get better range than my router.

[bobb-mini]

Ideally, one should get a router with the same chipset as the client(s). Experience says, in the same "family" the kids play nicer.

As said, Apple Airport if Mac user and $ no object. Otherwise I would look for an AP that has the same chipset as the notebook and potentially have that going 108 mbit (even wo turbo), it will not affect the Touch.

Eveybody gripe about the Linksys, but that's because there are so many out there. Personally, I have good experience with cheap routers, but they require more "fine tunning."

[Stay Alive 305]

Linksys WRT54G

It works great with my iPod touch, Xbox 360, downstairs computer, and upstairs computer connected all at once.

[GotHim]

I've had multiple Linksys products (B-router, G-router, print server), and have had problems with all of them. I had the WRT54G that Stay Alive 305 mentioned and had to power-off/reset frequently to get the net back working. I've used both D-Link and Netgear routers, and both have been rock solid. I love what I'm using now (Netgear RamgeMax Gigabit WNR854T) because it's the only one where I get a good signal everywhere in the house, and I've never had to reset it. It works with my iPod Touch, my kids PSP, my Palm, and our laptops with zero issues.

I bought the Gigabit version because I have a desktop, a backup drive and Xbox 360 that are hard wired and I wanted to speed. If your wireless only, you don't need to pay extra for that.