internet, ps3 and xbox 360 wireless router help

[axlgnr]

ok so im sick of having to stop online gaming for someone wanting to use the internet I dont know much about wireless so if possible could someone post a list of things I would need to help solve this problem thank you!

[dragon]

Are you on Virgin media's cable service?

We ideally need to know if your on cable or Adsl to help with reccomendations.

Am I right in thinking at the moment you connect directly to the internet but want a router so that you can for instance have your xbox online at the same time as the pc?

[axlgnr]

yes you are correct, im on cable V+ box with a 255 virgin modem? its annoying having to keep swapping the ethernet cable from 1 thing to another, could do with having everything connected at the same time so everyone is happy. thanks for any help.

[dragon]

Originally Posted by axlgnr

yes you are correct, im on cable V+ box with a 255 virgin modem? its annoying having to keep swapping the ethernet cable from 1 thing to another, could do with having everything connected at the same time so everyone is happy. thanks for any help.

You need a cable/dsl router. make sure it's a cable/dsl router and not an dsl/Adsl router, the cable/dsl routers often have a standard network port (rj45) for the wan (internet) port to connect to an existing modem where as the ADSL/Dsl only ones have a built in ADSL modem to connect to a phoneline.



Personally i'd probably go for one with wireless even if you never use the wireless becuase

1) they aren't much more expensive, in fact because they are more common they are sometimes cheaper than ones without wireless!

2) You can always turn the wireless part off if your not using it but at least then it's there if you later decide you want it.


Personally I quite like the linksys WRT54GL (or the very simular WRT54G) and I suspect some of the others here will say the same. The only difference between the G and the GL is the GL is more customisable as there are other Firmware's for it (firmware being the software that controls the router) which add new features such as the ability to stop one person hogging the whole connection

Of course there are lots of comptable routers out there, and if you see one you like as long as you can tell us the make and model i'm sure someone here will be able to confirm that it will work or not.



Basically what you will do is Buy your choosen router.

Power down the Virgin modem.

Connect the Modem to the socket on the router labeld "Wan" or "Internet"

Connect your pc either via wireless or to one of the ports (sockets) on the back (usually labeled 1-4) (depening if you want it cabled or wireless, if its close to the router i'd suggest having it cabled, it usaually works better)

Do the same for the xbox.

Turn it all on and hopefully you should be back online.

Then all thats left is for you to login to the router and either Turn off wireless (if your not using it) or setup some security to stop your neighbours/passes by using your wireless. (It's usually done by visiting the routers setup pages with your internet browser, and again if you need help i'm sure there will be someone around here that can guide you though it)

[axlgnr]

thanks for the reply, I might aswell go with what you recommend!

Ill be back with problems setting it up soon no doubt haha!

[dragon]

Originally Posted by axlgnr

thanks for the reply, I might aswell go with what you recommend!

Ill be back with problems setting it up soon no doubt haha!

If your not in a rush wait and see what the others say first.

They may have a more sutible reccomendation.

For me the Wrt54GL works wanders but the first thing I did with mine was put one of the unofficall unsupported firmware's on it since I wanted the traffic management capablities.

It might be worth seeing who's got what on offer.

Generally Netgear and Linksys is usually quite good, I think d-link are ok since they revamped their user interface (D-link routers used to be horrible to setup)

With regards to the linksys It's only worth paying the extra for the wrt54GL model if you plan on playing with the firmware In my opinon as far as I know with the standard Linksys firmware they are the same in terms of functionality.

[axlgnr]

Is the WRT54GS any good?

[dragon]

The WRT54GS is very simular to the WRT54GL the only main difference being with the WRT54GL you can get unofficall firmwares that add features where quite often with the WRT54GS you cannot.

This is because the L is based on Linux and has slightly more Flash memory (the memory that holds the firmware)

the S is based on Vxworks and has a smaller Flash.

But based on the questions you've asked I'd expect that you maybe wouldn't be intesrested in playing around with the firmware and therefore the wrt54GS should do the job nicely.


Edit:

It might be worth checking which broadband package your one as I noticed some are now being offerd with "Free wireless router" so if your luckly you might be able to get one out of virgin

From other threads here I think it's a Netgear they are sending out so should be a fairly decent router.

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...ervice.do?id=2

[axlgnr]

thanks for your help dragon, Ive got everything set up now, pc and ps3 wireless but kept the xbox wired and everything seems fine! Going to get another pc set up in another room now, might aswell make the most of the wireless

[dragon]

Originally Posted by axlgnr

thanks for your help dragon, Ive got everything set up now, pc and ps3 wireless but kept the xbox wired and everything seems fine! Going to get another pc set up in another room now, might aswell make the most of the wireless

Yep.

May I suggest setting the secuirty on the router (wireless) to WPA-PSK if you haven't already?

Then all you should need to do is put the matching passcode into the ps3/pc and away you go.

The wpa passcode can be set to pretty much anything you like, but it's advisable not to set it to something in the dictionary or something thats going to be easy to guess.

WEP secuirty can be broken quite easily if someone really wanted to and it's a good idea to have some secuirty set on the router to stop your neighbours or passers by from connecting to your wireless.

[axlgnr]

yeah funny that you mention that because when I was scanning for the router I found someone elses aswell as mine so yeah ive done what u suggested

[hoggie]

Originally Posted by axlgnr

ok so im sick of having to stop online gaming for someone wanting to use the internet I dont know much about wireless so if possible could someone post a list of things I would need to help solve this problem thank you!

make sure the router you buy has the xbox360 logo.
then but the xbox'es ip outside the dmz/firewall

do the same with the ip of the PS3

[dragon]

Originally Posted by hoggie

make sure the router you buy has the xbox360 logo.
then but the xbox'es ip outside the dmz/firewall

do the same with the ip of the PS3

Rubbish....

Firstly the OP has already bought a router, secondly providing UPNP is working you shouldn't need to DMZ the console at all.

Thirdly having the xbox logo means diddly squat.

[hoggie]

Originally Posted by dragon

Rubbish....

Firstly the OP has already bought a router, secondly providing UPNP is working you shouldn't need to DMZ the console at all.

Thirdly having the xbox logo means diddly squat.

well sorry you seem to disagree
but i have had that set-up for over six months and not had one single bit of trouble with xbox360,ps3 or three laptops

and its a dam sight easier than port forwarding games.
and setting each bit of kit its own ip also adds to the security because there are no free ip's to allocate within the range you set

PS. haven't had a dropped connection on my wifi for months and in my area everybody has wifi.

so if thats rubbish

[dragon]

Originally Posted by hoggie

well sorry you seem to disagree
but i have had that set-up for over six months and not had one single bit of trouble with xbox360,ps3 or three laptops

and its a dam sight easier than port forwarding games.
and setting each bit of kit its own ip also adds to the security because there are no free ip's to allocate within the range you set

PS. haven't had a dropped connection on my wifi for months and in my area everybody has wifi.

so if thats rubbish

Upnp in the consoles sorts out the portforwarding for you,
Static IP addressing may or may not stop someone like all secuirty it depends on what they know and how determined they are.

DMZ only works for a single device also.

For arugment sake i've had 3 xbox 360's participate in halo3 matches over xbox live on my previous 8128kps down 448 kps connection using a voyager 2110 router and allowing Upnp to handle the port mappings