September 26th, 2008 · No Comments
If you started out your home network system with just one router and now have more devices that need to be connected you may need to have cascading routers. Cascading routers is basically a way of having two routers work together. The best way to have cascading routers is for one to be a wired router and the other to be wireless. This is because you need one router to be very stable and to be capable of doing most of the work. Wireless routers are no good for this; a wired router is the way to go as your main router.
Speed
Your primary router, the wired router, should be a secure one but it may not be the fastest router. Your wireless router will most probably be the faster one here. Though your second router need not be wireless, it can be a wired one too. Though it is important for the primary router to be wired. Choose routers that will give you high network speed and good network features. Otherwise you could be faced with a very slow connection.
Primary Router
When setting up cascading routers make sure that your primary router is the one that manages firewalling, filtering, DHCP, port forwarding, and logging. It is very important that your primary router handles the DHCP. Any ISP configurations, port forwarding and so on that is still on your secondary router needs to be transferred to your primary router.
Optimal Performance
For the best performance you should make sure that both your routers have the same IP block. Otherwise you will have trouble sharing files, and other computers on the same network will not be able to access all the resources on your network.
Secondary Router
As mentioned above you should have disabled things like firewall management and port forwarding on your secondary router. However you should leave a filter on your secondary router, only if it is a wireless router. If it is a wired router than the primary router should handle all filtering.
This keeps out any unwanted spyware or other intrusions on your network. To ensure that both routers can communicate you should add the LAN MAC address of your primary router to your secondary router. When configuring cascading routers you want to make your WAN as useless as possible. So set your WAN to a static IP address. Now you can set up cascading routers at home. It may take a little trial and error but you can do it.
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Tags: Routers
September 22nd, 2008 · No Comments
The market for routers and switches has become increasingly competitive in recent years. Many companies are now all claiming to have quality products that will blow you away with pricing to match. Cisco routers and switches may not be the cheapest on the market but they will certainly give you your moneys worth.
If you want quality products from a company that has been around long enough to be well established then Cisco routers and switches is the right place for you to start looking. You also benefit from the research that this company puts in to ensure you are happy. There is a comprehensive tech support available to you at every step of the way.
More than Functional
A lot of cheap routers are popular precisely because they are cheap. These cheap routers and switches are also very easy to install and function enough to do the job decently. Sounds like a dream come true so far right? So why would you bother paying for Cisco routers and switches, which are definitely not cheap? Remember that you get what you pay for.
The answer is that Cisco routers and switches come with a comprehensive list of features that are very important when you are looking at setting up a router. With Cisco routers and switches you have IP access lists, fast switching (CEF), policy routing, SNMP access and the typical DHCP server found on all routers. This is not a complete list, but a fraction of what your routers will have if you go with Cisco.
Great Tech Support
Cisco is in all honesty not the easiest router to set up. This is where it loses out to other models. However it makes up for this by constantly improving its features and products to make it easier for consumers to set up Cisco routers and switches. To boot there is also a very good technical support team that will help you to install your hardware. This is great for anyone who is not experience in installing a router.
There is even a website that will translate commands given to you during the installation process. The tech support team will help you through almost anything. You should not have any problems trying to configure anything when you buy Cisco routers and switches. It may take a little longer than the average router to install but in the end its definitely worth it. Hows that for comprehensive?
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Tags: Wireless Routers
September 19th, 2008 · No Comments
When you do an honest comparison of high speed and wireless routers, there’s not too much of a difference between them. There’s usually a very discernable difference in cost, with the wireless router being the more expensive. But does the wireless router justify its expense? For a lot of people’s home computers, the answer is no.
What Are We Talking About?
In order to do a detailed comparison of high speed and wireless routers, it would probably help for you to know what a computer router is. It’s a great big device that helps send one packet of information to where it’s supposed to go. Without routers, there wouldnt be email or instant messaging and a lot of other geeky stuff.
The customer you gets a little router in the form of a modem that sends your electronic information to the main router at Verizon, Comcast or whoever your internet provider is. That router can then send your information along to routers of other internet networks and to individual computers. This modem or router is what connects you into the information superhighway.
What They Look Like
A physical comparison of high speed and wireless routers will not reveal too much of a difference. They both look like little black or grey boxes. They both have little LED lights to let you know if the unit is functioning or if there is a problem. However, one (the wireless) costs a heck of a lot more than the other.
What’s The Big Deal?
In the advertisement comparison of high speed and wireless routers, the latter is given a lot more advertising dollars. You see WIRELESS screamed at you from full-page newspaper ads to television ads to those annoying little banners above your email. Some people (and all companies pushing wireless) claim that wireless networks are faster, faster and then even faster.
However, wireless technology is not for everyone especially if you are budget conscious. For example, this writer is self-employed in her own freelance writing business and does everything from one desktop computer her mother’s (Hi, Mom!) Because of where I live, wireless is not available, but high speed cable is.
But if I ever had to do serious traveling and had to work from a laptop, then wireless would be a necessity. In business terms, comparison of high speed and wireless routers leaves the high speed in the dust.
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Tags: Wireless Routers