Should I Upgrade My Old Wireless Router?

Should I Upgrade My Old Wireless Router?

I have an old wireless router, and I mean stone age old (5 years). There is nothing wrong technically with the router, it serves my wireless needs at home but it is really darn old. A search on Belkin's site for F5D7230-4 actually turns up a different old model so I scrounged up this old review for you to get a sense of what I'm running: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1572451,00.asp.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 221

Total answers/comments: 2

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Guest [Entry]

"I completely agree with @cwrea - if it only supports older, less secure protocols, it's time to upgrade.

You mention you're using WPA-PSK, which is version 1. The only reason not to upgrade to WPA2 is if some of your devices can't connect to it (e.g., My old Dell Axim PDA can't do past WPA).

If you aren't going to upgrade to an N router, I would recommend the Linksys WRT54GL router. I have one and they're a solid performer, and if you're into customization, you can load the Tomato Firmware or DD-WRT firmware onto the router and enable all kinds of super-advanced options like antenna power, etc. One of my favorite sites, Lifehacker, provided guides for using Tomato and DD-WRT.

If you're ready to go the N route (haha, route... router... get it?), Linksys has a multitude of sexy, fancy routers. I personally fancy the WRT160NL with StorageLink (a USB port for easy-as-pie network storage)."

Guest [Entry]

"Don't know why people insist on ""wireless security"". While this wireless technology is broadcasting (rather than some future wireless technology which might be point to point curved in space - picture a ether-cable if you will), there is no real secure way to do it. Plus what's to worry about?

If you really want to secure your data, do it so on your machines. Use passwords there. And backups. Tho I still vow for the best way for securing data is hiding it under your nose, at open.

But if you insist in upgrading, which isn't a bad idea, I'd suggest to get Fonera! I can never get tired of promoting it even though I haven't tried it myself! :P

The idea is it sets up two networks. One is open and free internet for anyone, which you can configure to be wide open or pay to use. The second is your local network, which can also be open, but its default is WPA2 or whatever you want to put a key on. Now this is what every router should do!"