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+--- Thread: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? (/showthread.php?tid=167832)
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - jdc - 06-04-2014
KISS.
Whatever ATT supplies should be more than plenty for him. Mine was a motorola. Pfft, he doesnt need "n". Overkill. Comes with a nice long password.
Should be a no brainer to setup.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - pRICE cUBE - 06-04-2014
I see really nice wifi routers pop up for $20-40 every so often on the deal sites. If the modem has an ethernet port, which it usually does, get a deal wifi unit that has a reputation for being stable.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - silvarios - 06-04-2014
jdc wrote:
KISS.
Whatever ATT supplies should be more than plenty for him. Mine was a motorola. Pfft, he doesnt need "n". Overkill. Comes with a nice long password.
Should be a no brainer to setup.
I agree. If there's need for better local area speeds, n can be handy. However, from the gist of the OP, seems like this is a single computer connected to DSL for Internet access. Since most DSL users in the USA won't see speeds higher than 6 Mbps, and often times experience much slower speeds, even g should be plenty.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - silvarios - 06-04-2014
pRICE cUBE wrote:
I see really nice wifi routers pop up for $20-40 every so often on the deal sites. If the modem has an ethernet port, which it usually does, get a deal wifi unit that has a reputation for being stable.
This.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - N-OS X-tasy! - 06-04-2014
silvarios wrote:
[quote=jdc]
KISS.
Whatever ATT supplies should be more than plenty for him. Mine was a motorola. Pfft, he doesnt need "n". Overkill. Comes with a nice long password.
Should be a no brainer to setup.
I agree. If there's need for better local area speeds, n can be handy. However, from the gist of the OP, seems like this is a single computer connected to DSL for Internet access. Since most DSL users in the USA won't see speeds higher than 6 Mbps, and often times experience much slower speeds, even g should be plenty.
n offers other benefits besides greater throughput, chief among them being availability of the 5 GHz band, which offers more channels than g and no interference with other household electronics that use the 2.4 GHz band.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - silvarios - 06-04-2014
silvarios wrote:
[quote=GuyGene]
Apple Express. Done. Unless ATT has one for free.
I'll disagree. $100 router for a single $350 computer with a sub 6Mbps connection? Way overkill. If only requiring a single computer, simply use the provided modem. Unless it isn't a WiFi modem/router and such a connection is needed, then grab something sub $50.
To clarify my Airport Express stance. I own one, an older 802.11n model. Been a relatively pleasant experience for just over four years. While I don't discount the utility of such a device, without a clear need for any of the Express specific features, I would not go down that route.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - silvarios - 06-04-2014
N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
n offers other benefits besides greater throughput, chief among them being availability of the 5 GHz band, which offers more channels than g and no interference with other household electronics that use the 2.4 GHz band.
N doesn't actually guarantee availability of 5 GHz band. Lot of single band devices still on the market.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - Michael - 06-04-2014
Article Accelerator wrote:
[quote=Dennis S]
He has never used a computer except a few times at school before he retired from teaching. I saw him in Walmart and steered him to a Dell laptop with i3, 6 GB RAM and a 500 GB HDD for $350.
A $350 Dell laptop? That oughta work out well…
I've been buying low-end Dell laptops for years. I've always planned on just tossing them if/when they go bad. But, I've not ever had a Dell laptop have any problem except 1 needing a new keyboard when a key got stuck and I broke the holding device for the key messing with it. That cost me maybe $15 for a new Dell keyboard on eBay. I think I'm on my 3rd Dell laptop--I've just replaced them when new specs make the old look pitiful.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - N-OS X-tasy! - 06-04-2014
silvarios wrote:
[quote=N-OS X-tasy!]
n offers other benefits besides greater throughput, chief among them being availability of the 5 GHz band, which offers more channels than g and no interference with other household electronics that use the 2.4 GHz band.
N doesn't actually guarantee availability of 5 GHz band. Lot of single band devices still on the market.
Don't be pedantic, Nathan.
Re: Friend bought his first computer. What router does he need for AT&T DSL? - silvarios - 06-04-2014
N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
Don't be pedantic, Nathan.
Huh? I valued your opinion, I was simply offering a clarification.
Saw both a 2.4 GHz only router and 2.4 GHz only device on sale last night at the store. Yes, specificity is required in such a discussion. In fact, if I got the model right by searching on Walmart.com for a Dell system with the posted specs, seems to be a 2.4 GHz only card. Could be wrong, didn't list specific WiFi card model, but that's what I gathered from a little detective work
If you think I'm being pendantic because I actually read the original post and responding as such, so be it.