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I have a two year old Belkin wireless router and I think it's on its last leg because it keeps dropping the connection every other day. When I call the company they say the signal is fine.
We have a pc and mac computer that are both hooked up to the router.
Now I need a new one and really don't know if I should get a Belkin or if there is something out there that is better and faster? What do you recommend? it needs to work well for MAC and PC
Well, wireless protocol is wireless protocol, so it doesn't really matter whether it's a Mac or a PC, but I would recommend the Netgear WNR3500L, a decent open source router with a number of features and it's not expensive, think I paid $79 at Staples.
I have had good results from Belkin's routers, at least more than LinkSys. I bought a Belkin Wireless G Plus MIMO router two years ago, and haven't had a single problem since. These routers cost from $40.00 to $60.00, and sometimes less than that on sale.
Have you checked for a firmware update for your existing router?
It really is rare for a router that WAS trouble free to suddenly start to die. Overall they are pretty reliable pieces of equipment. Have you brought anything else into your house that might be causing interference? New microwave? New wireless house phone?
The only time I've ever had to replace a router for myself or for anyone else was to upgrade to a newer Wifi standard (like from "B" to "G").
I used to have problems with my router dropping signal/low signal. Have you ever checked your signal strength/tried moving the router? I used a program called NetStumbler to monitor my signal as seen by the system..... re-oriented my router/antennas, picked up around 30DB.
Since then rarely have no connects/dropped connects...
I agree with Peregrine. For a 2-year-old router to suddenly be on its last legs sounds odd. I would suspect that the equipment itself is fine, but that either (as Peregrine suggests) there's an update needed OR there's interference.
Any new or relocated wireless gizmo in your house (wireless phone, TV remote, etc.) can be causing the interference. We recently had a conflict between our router and our wireless phone - turns out both were working on the same channel. With the help of our internet provider, who took me step-by-step, I changed the channel on the router and now there's no interference and my router doesn't drop the signal anymore.
Are you sure it is the router? MacBooks made in 2008-today have known wireless issues (software problems switching between full/half duplex signals as well as problems auto-adjusting the channel on which it receives).
Macs have have wireless issues that Apple refuses to fix (buy an apple router! is their answer).
If you check to see if the dropped connection is only on your mac, I can tell you what you need to do to get around the problem.
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