Building a wireless network that doesn't suck.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Hopefully in a month or two I will once again be able to be engaged in the intrawebs whilst at home.
I plan on having a wireless network going and I'm probably going to have multiple PS3, 360, and computers leaching off the signal all at once.
What's the best router/whatever for me to get? Will I be able to play live while my son is d/l porn on his laptop and my chick is watching netflix instant watch?

[cka]

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...s&Order=RATING

any of those would probably do just fine

edit: also set up QoS if you're gonna have shitloads of stuff connecting to it

[Timber]

Will I be able to play live while my son is d/l porn on his laptop and my chick is watching netflix instant watch?

That just depends on how much bandwidth you've got and if your son is capping his d/l speed on porn torrents.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...s&Order=RATING

any of those would probably do just fine

edit: also set up QoS if you're gonna have shitloads of stuff connecting to it

So I could spend anywhere from $20 -$2000 and it'd all work out the same in the end? Aces.

[Spent]

I cant recommend ASUS routers enough, I've had Dlinks and Linksys before, Linksys seems to last longer than Dlink in my experience, but eventually both companies have died on me. The ASUS router is the best one I have ever owned, model RT-N16. I run this one as a repeater off the main one we have had now for 6 years - the WL500W. You really can't go wrong with either, hope that helps.

[general_tao]

Get one of those old Linksys routers with the opensource firmware, those that are compatible with tomato firmware or the other one i forget. Just google "tomato firmware" and you'll get a bunch of info on how to "mod" your 50$ router into a 2000$ one.


EDIT: I got an old school Linksys WRT54G V3.1 (I think). The thing is a tank, been running non stop for 5-6 years now. I flashed the firmware a while ago to Tomato 1.18 because my ISP (a DSL reseller) allowed me to use MLPPP to bypass throttling for torrents. The firmware allows me to increase voltage to my antennas for better transmission and QoS perfectly and bla bla bla, basically giving me the options of a very high end router for 50$ I paid like 6 years ago. Worth it IMO.

[cka]

So I could spend anywhere from $20 -$2000 and it'd all work out the same in the end? Aces.

without venturing into business grade stuff (the $500+ ones), yes

just buy a few wrt54gls and mod them with ddwrt/tomato/whatever like general_tao said

[stormy]

I'd get an N router if your planning to do all that stuff wirelessly. Also you shouldn't buy routers by brand, you need to go by the chipset they use and always check reviews of the specific model you're looking at. I have netgear wdr3700, it's awesome but on the expensive side.

[epmode]

Get one of those old Linksys routers with the opensource firmware, those that are compatible with tomato firmware or the other one i forget. Just google "tomato firmware" and you'll get a bunch of info on how to "mod" your 50$ router into a 2000$ one.

I did this with a $60 ASUS router. It was fun but a lot more trouble than I expected.

In the end, I was not able to flash the router with the correct firmware in Windows 7. Just wouldn't work. Had something to do with the timing of certain innernet functionality with the OS. Luckily, I have an XP dual-boot which allowed me to do it just fine.