Info about my computer (should it be relevant) is below.
Short Story: I desired a new router/modem just to see if it would improve internet consistency. However, I ended up buying just a router. I have a modem and can link them up. Should I keep this setup, or switch back to my old Router/Modem combo, while looking for another Router/Modem?
Long Story:
My internet, for the most part, is fine. However, I still experience the occasional disconnect. My internet will go off for less than a minute about 5x a week. This is fine for browsing, but sucks for gaming. My ISP is AT&T, and I have 3 Mb max DSL. Years ago, it started having a bunch of disconnects after I tried an upgrade (6 Mb max) for a year. The techs came out about 6 times. As a result, I downgraded my service back and got an AT&T 2Wire Router/Modem combo out of the deal. I know people say this device sucks a lot, but it's been at least doing its job. General browsing is fine, gaming has the disconnect problem only sometimes, and there's only one device to think about.
However, I've recently started wondering if the quality of the modem was in fact affecting the consistency of the connection. The techs tried different modems when troubleshooting everything, but none were high quality.
So, I got my eye on this:
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wirele...words=wndr4500
I ended up buying it at Best Buy (they had it for sale). However, me being a complete dummy, I thought it would be a combo Modem/Router. It's just a router. I was gearing up to take it back, but I started wondering if maybe this could work out. I pulled out an old (but good) modem I had, linked them up, and got the internet going in almost no time.
Right now, this setup seems to offer no benefit over what I had before. I used my 2Wire to play games, surf the internet, and provide Wi-Fi to my Samsung Galaxy Player. I tested and can do all the same stuff on this setup, but it's still the same stuff. Nothing seems to be going any faster, and I haven't played around on it long enough to see any disconnects. Is there any reason to keep this separate router and modem setup, or should I just take the router back and perhaps look for another Router/Modem combo?
My comp info:
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.1
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 3, 32 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 1
Processor Count: 2
RAM: 3062 Mb
Graphics Card: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family, 128 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 35055 MB, Free - 6949 MB; D: Total - 476937 MB, Free - 261564 MB;
Motherboard: Dell Inc. , 0M3918, , ..CN708214B5049M.
Antivirus: Avira Desktop, Updated: Yes, On-Demand Scanner: Enabled
Short Story: I desired a new router/modem just to see if it would improve internet consistency. However, I ended up buying just a router. I have a modem and can link them up. Should I keep this setup, or switch back to my old Router/Modem combo, while looking for another Router/Modem?
Long Story:
My internet, for the most part, is fine. However, I still experience the occasional disconnect. My internet will go off for less than a minute about 5x a week. This is fine for browsing, but sucks for gaming. My ISP is AT&T, and I have 3 Mb max DSL. Years ago, it started having a bunch of disconnects after I tried an upgrade (6 Mb max) for a year. The techs came out about 6 times. As a result, I downgraded my service back and got an AT&T 2Wire Router/Modem combo out of the deal. I know people say this device sucks a lot, but it's been at least doing its job. General browsing is fine, gaming has the disconnect problem only sometimes, and there's only one device to think about.
However, I've recently started wondering if the quality of the modem was in fact affecting the consistency of the connection. The techs tried different modems when troubleshooting everything, but none were high quality.
So, I got my eye on this:
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wirele...words=wndr4500
I ended up buying it at Best Buy (they had it for sale). However, me being a complete dummy, I thought it would be a combo Modem/Router. It's just a router. I was gearing up to take it back, but I started wondering if maybe this could work out. I pulled out an old (but good) modem I had, linked them up, and got the internet going in almost no time.
Right now, this setup seems to offer no benefit over what I had before. I used my 2Wire to play games, surf the internet, and provide Wi-Fi to my Samsung Galaxy Player. I tested and can do all the same stuff on this setup, but it's still the same stuff. Nothing seems to be going any faster, and I haven't played around on it long enough to see any disconnects. Is there any reason to keep this separate router and modem setup, or should I just take the router back and perhaps look for another Router/Modem combo?
My comp info:
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.1
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 3, 32 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 1
Processor Count: 2
RAM: 3062 Mb
Graphics Card: Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family, 128 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 35055 MB, Free - 6949 MB; D: Total - 476937 MB, Free - 261564 MB;
Motherboard: Dell Inc. , 0M3918, , ..CN708214B5049M.
Antivirus: Avira Desktop, Updated: Yes, On-Demand Scanner: Enabled
