Wii and Wireless Router

[mabhz]

Hi..

I'm currently shopping for a Wireless Router to use with Wii (and DS!!), so i'd like to ask you folks if there is any specific detail I should pay attention to or I can just grab the cheapest one avaliable???

Any "limitations" or "specific requirements" from Wii in terms of router technologies and specifications??

Thanks!

ps - Im thinking about Linksys WRT54G. Anyone uses this?

 

[asdfnick]

just pick up the best cheapest one you can find. Theres no detail, just make sure its a G wireless router.

 

[FR3344LL]

ps - Im thinking about Linksys WRT54G. Anyone uses this?

i've got a WRT54GS which won't allow the Wii to connect wirelessly
although i think it's just my router. i'm currently connecting wirelessly
via a WRT55AG (as an access point) thru' the 54GS..works well but
is a bit of a bind as i'm using up two power sockets.

i think i'll invest in a netgear 624 or similar next pay day....netgears
nice and easy to set-up and have some good security features.

as "asdfnick" as pointed out, you can just go for the cheapest, but i
would personally spend a little bit more on a "known" brand such as
netgear / d-link / belkin as they will offer better after-care service than
the el-cheapo brand if it's required. their wensites have very useful
knowledge bases too to help with problems.

one thing to remember also, is that the Wii offers the superior WPA
type encryption, the DS (iirc) only allows WEP? if thats the case
to connect both devices would compromise your wireless security
as you would have to use WEP which is much less secure than WPA.

hth

 

[mabhz]

Thanks, folks! But Im confused: isnt Linksys BETTER than D-LINK????

Isnt two antennas better than just one??
I live in a VERY old apartment, and the walls here are REALLY thick, with brick and cement, so im concerned about a router with low power to cut thru the walls....

Any recomendation, please???

 

[FR3344LL]

Linksys better than D-link?

depends on the model really.

my wrt54gs feels very "tacky" compared to previous routers that
i've owned..plus as mentioned it's wifi doesn't work with the wii.
but, a d-link router (not wireless, mind) was very slow with regards
to setting it up...the whole process took ages.

with regards to your house/building, if signal strength is a concern, why
don't you opt for one of the "rangemax" type routers? these use multiple
antenae (internal and external) to increase signal strength.

some (regular) routers can be tweaked (especially linksys 54's, but with
older chipsets) to increase the signal output or gain.

hth

 

[Byuakuya]

Any decent wireless router should do. I have a Netgear router which I got from my ISP (AOL) for joining with them. It works great. Goodluck.

 

[billcsho]

Check the sticky thread under Wii Online. It has several pages long of responses on this topic.

 

[Huggy Bear]

I have a Linksys wrt54g and it works great.

As for the DS using WEP and the wii using WPA you can try a USB access point for you PC.Such as this Just set it up with WEP for your DS and unplug it when not using it. I kinda remember seeing or hearing that Nintendo has a USB wifi adapter for the DS ... you might want to look into that.

Also, unless you are going through a few walls you should not have a problem. If you do I know that linksys has antennas you can get to extend your range. These may be a little pricey and others are out there, so you may want to shop around. Or you can make one out of a pringles can. I spoke of just of linksys but you should be able to get new antennas for most if not all wifi routers.

Hope this helps,
Huggy

 

[billcsho]

I am still using WEP-128 for encryption at home even all my routers are WPA2 compatible. To add security, I used MAC filter too. There is problem in roaming (bridging) using WPA and I still have my PDA and a wireless print server using 802.11b that supports only WEP.
As for the DS, I think it is indeed the same USB WiFi dongle for Wii.
Among the 8 wireless router in 5 different brands I have worked with, I found the WRT54G v.1 has the weakest signal even after hacked. I have also tried a 10db antenna, but it does not help much. With about the same cost for an antenna, you can get another compatible wireless router and set up wireless bridge to extend the range. After I added the second wireless router at home in bridging mode, I have strong signal all over my house.
Now I have 4 routers running at home all bridged together. The only problem with bridging is it will cut the bandwidth by half. Nevertheless, my DSL uplink is not even 10% of the wireless bandwidth so it does not matter. The advantage of bridging over antenna is that it adds wired access point to your home too. For instance, I have my 2 daughters computer plugged into the same router which wirelessly bridge to my main router with DSL uplink so I don't need to buy wireless interface for either computer. I have another router for my computer and printer server in my home office, and a third router for my USB HD/media server and an AIO printer in the family room. Each router costed me only $8-$20.

 

[mabhz]

Maybe I got it wrong, but i got the impression one of the posts meant DS and Wii CANT share the same wireless router because of different technology??

That would be unbeliveable!!!

 

[FR3344LL]

they CAN share the same router.

the difference is down to wireless encryption.
the Wii supports the superior WPA encryption whilst the DS uses the older WEP encryption.

the Wii can use WEP also, so to use both devices you would use WEP encryption.

 

[MrT]

just in case you havnt decided yet, i decided to take a punt on a cheap ebay ex-AT&T job like this

Wireless Router

(yes i know i posted in another thread, and no, im not pimping this guy hehe)

you can get them cheap as chips, and it word really easily, despite being an old refurb job. I couldnt justify spening £40+ on a new proper branded one, so i took a chance and it paid off.
Hope this helps!

 

[billcsho]

If you are in the US, there will be a Buffalo router on sale at CircuitCity from this Sunday for $25. It is not a decent price. If you are shopping for laptop, you may get a router for free. CompUSA has a few MIMO router for $30 after rebate, that is a good deal. I have 2 G router with built-in printer server that I paid $20 after rebate. The best deal was the Belkin router that I paid $8 after rebate 3 years ago. Even better, they are going to pay me back the retail value to settle a class action lawsuit. The stupid thing they did is advertising it as "54Mbps" instead of "up to 54Mbps". You know, the "Big Brother" (lawyers) is always watching.

 

[StealthSoul]

My wrt54gs linksys works fine, i just had to enter info manually on the wii.

 

[Happy]

You don't need to get a really good expensive one. I use a £20 belkin router for my Wii and it works perfectly. If you want you could search for a access point and it may pick up your neighbour's connections. I could use my neighbours but it's got a weak signal.