My brother makes fun of me cause I used to have a Hawking wireless router. It was the cheapest at the time – and maybe 5 or 6 years ago, that was like 80 bucks. Instead of the 100+ that Netgear or Linksys wanted.
It was a big step for us – we had been using a 100 foot blue ethernet cord that I thought complimented the carpeting rather nicely. However, Chapo had gotten to nibblig on the cord during the day and soon, our internet connectivity was flakey. So we made the leap to wireless.
Catherine’s computer had a wireless card built in. Her work treated her well. I was at Dejima, where we scrounged for hardware. The Cisco wifi card I got from them was a leftover from a tradeshow someone was at. But it was solid. For like 5 or 6 years.
Then connectivity started breaking up again. We blamed Comcast for a while. They said it wasn’t them. Though their customer service routine is pretty frustrating. I’m wondering what it is like when one uses them for their phone service and the cable modem goes out – I’d like to try VOIP someday, but not cause of the technology – just for the savings. Maybe there is no other reason to try it? Anyway, we eventually got them to replace the cable modem and things were better. Still, how do cable modems break?
Then a year or so later, things broke down again. But since a computer could connect to the cable modem, we figured it was the router. Router prices have gone down quite a bit and I was tired of the techno snobbery hassling I was getting (I joked how I was supporting Stephen Hawking by purchasing his wares, but I don’t think he’s affiliated) and so I went with Linksys. Thought we were safe.
But less than a year later, it’s busted. Man alive. Hawking had good stuff. But that was the past. Online reviews said Linksys was flakey. Who was left? Netgear. We have a Netgear wireless print server, but it is only that – a wireless print server, not a wireless router with a built in print server. And so we’ve never set it up. But it hasn’t broken to our knowledge either. So now we have a Netgear wireless router.
But I still don’t see how these things break – what’s solid state mean anyway?
At least the Cisco card has worked throughout…
I had the same travails for years. But ive had success with just an EV-DO card for the last year. I can use the computer anywhere and end up taking it with me alot now. There’s also “one neck to choke” if there’s a problem rather than trying to identify if its the service provider, the modem, the router, the PC card, the computer itself, etc. i havent really ever had a problem yet, though.
i’ve had pretty crappy experiences with both netgear and linksys. we’ve been really happy with our linksys (and dave said he liked his as well). i’ve also been happy with my… wait for it… apple airport express.