Posted on 07/27/2008 6:00:19 PM PDT by Yosemitest
What do you think of this router, printer server, and firewall?
I need a wireless router for a laptop with DSL service, 2 old printers, and a portable printer (USB)?
Other thoughts are a Belkin F5D8230-4 and a Belkin F5D7230-3.
I ran ZoneAlarm software firewalls for years and came to hate them because they were so hard to get rid of. I’ve had no experience with their hardware. Belkin is IMHO a low-end product.
I loathe Netgear.
I’ve had good service from Buffalo. I currently have 4 TeraStations, a router, an AirStation wireless-to-ethernet bridge, etc., and have never had a single failure.
I’m also a big fan of SMC networking products.
Prolly no help to you, but there’s .02 worth...
MM
However, when looking at a printer server be very careful to do your homework and get very specific information that says it WILL work with the brand(s) and model(s) of printer you plan to use.
If the literature and specs of the server do not specifically name your brand/model of printer, DO NOT assume that it will work. Likely, it will not.
I speak from experience. Caveat emptor.
Oh yeah...one other thing....as far as regular old wired routers go...get an SMC. They rock.
I'm checking out SMC Barricade g Wireless Broadband Router (SMCWBR14-G)now. My interest is in the ZoneAlarm Secure Wireless Router Z110G.
I’d like to get rid of Symantec products on my machines. What is the best free/cheap replacement?
I actually have some experience with the Belkin and the ZoneAlarm wireless routers. The Belkin is pretty solid with a wide range. The ZoneAlarm router is more secure, so setting it up has a little bit of a learning curve to do it right. Also, some of the features of the ZoneAlarm router require a subscription that will cost you $$$$. I set up the ZoneAlarm router for my brother-in-law and he found it annoying because when you actually make it secure, it locks so much stuff down that there are things you can’t get to or do on the internet without lowering the security features a bit.
Take a look at Spyware Terminator (freeware)
Go to downloads.com and get AVG. It’s free and effective. As far as spyware, I’m using both “SpyBot - Search and Destroy” and Ad-Aware. Both are free, and I’ll keep using them until I find a good replacement (or two). What’s weird is that both are current with updates and SpyBot has for the last 6 or 7 scans ended with “No threats found,” while Ad-Aware continually finds anywhere from 50 - 100 threats. I don’t know yet whether SpyBot is dropping the ball or Ad-Aware is making all that stuff up.
Are you sure you have you SpyBot Search and Destroy configured to prevent persistant cookies from loading? Betcha almost all those 50-100 issues Ad Aware detects are cookies.
leo laporte today was saying
don’t use zone alarm
if you have a router.
I might suggest SpywareBlaster 4.1Advanced WindowsCare v2 Personal 2.8 is a good system cleaner for Windows bad habit of getting out of line.
The Zonealarm system will provide extra security at a price, but unless you have very naive users (young kids?) who click on any link they see, it won’t provide much more protection than a good router and anti-virus software.
It’s more substantial negative is the proprietary Super-G Wifi system. Unless you have Super-G cards (atheros chipset, primarily in Netgear and D-Link cards) the router will run at standard 54mbps speeds.
I would recommend getting a Wifi-N router. Any new laptop will include a Wireless-N card, so it makes sense to get an N router even though the speed boost isn’t quite all the way to 300mpbs. N also features greater range, so you will see an improvement even with a standard G card.
I have the Belkin N1 router and have been very happy with it. You really want to avoid the Pre-N routers now that the final draft standard has been approved. You want to look for a router that supports the “Draft 2.0” specification, which is the final spec.
I’m using that exact SMC router (bridged with a second one to extend coverage on my property). They are very good.
My brother to me to check out an SMC 7004AWBR Barricade Wireless Broadband Router because of the connections.
Do you know if this router, 
Also, What do you think of the D-Link DI-724GU Gigabit Office Router?
My printers are old and have parallel serial ports.
Consider a D-Link DP-G321 Wireless-G Print Server USB 2.0/Parallel Port
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