06-04-2007, 08:24 AM
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#1
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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Wireless routers and NICs
Can someone recommend a wireless router and NIC? I'm not looking to break the bank here. These are what I'm currently looking at, as a reference point:
LINKSYS WRT54GL IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless-G Broadband Router - Retail $63
MSI PC60G 32bit PCI2.2 Turbo G Wireless Adapter - Retail $18 |
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-04-2007, 08:52 AM
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#2
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 78
Name: Beryls
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Linksys has always worked well for me, it may not cause problems using two different brands for router and card but i would suggest buying both linksys router and nic. They're built to work together and would have the best compatability. Just my 2 coppers
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06-04-2007, 09:56 AM
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#3
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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The Linksys wireless NICs are $50.00 a pop. Not gonna happen. I just won't triple the monetary output for a NIC just because it's the same brand. I mean, they should all function the same way, right? RF?
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-04-2007, 10:29 AM
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#4
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 272
Server: Thunderaxe
Guild:
Chaos
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Go here first. Check out the routers in the supported list and go from there. WRT increases the value of your router 100 fold easily, and makes a 50$ router into a 300$ router in one fell swoop. |
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__________________
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
-Elbert Hubbard
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb"
-Benjamin Franklin
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06-04-2007, 10:32 AM
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#5
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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Yeah, that router can be flashed to DD-WRT. Already checked that.  |
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-04-2007, 06:55 PM
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#6
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,273
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It really doesn't matter all that much, except you might run into times when a REALLY cheap product will not perform as well (for instance, I would try to stick with at least well-known brands). They should all work together if they follow the IEEE standard... and if they say 802.11a/b/g on them, then you should be good to go.
Belkin seems to have some very affordable network products, give them a look-see... I just picked up a USB wireless adapter from them for $30, when Linksys was charging $60 for the same thing. The Belkin one works great.
I like Linksys routers... I have two, plus a Linksys cable modem. All three have been very good to me.
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__________________
"Behind this mask, there's an idea... and ideas are bulletproof." -V for Vendetta
My blog - The Last Bastion
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06-04-2007, 07:07 PM
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#7
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Hardware Guru
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 843
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firewallguide.com, especially their wireless security page, has a whole bunch of info about wireless security that I couldn't cover nearly as well.
You'll want to do a bit of research on wireless security, because running things by default will usually leave you wide open to the entire neighborhood. Do NOT use WEP. Use at least WPA, and better yet WPA2. CHANGE THE PASSWORD ON YOUR ROUTER. The hackers know all the default passwords.
Not bothering with locking your wireless internet down will make your neighborhood pedophile very happy.
Oh yeah, a quick cheatsheet on how fast each protocol is:
802.11 = 0.25MB/sec
802.11b = 1.375MB/sec
802.11a = 6.75MB/sec
802.11g = 6.75MB/sec
802.11n = 67.5MB/sec
For perspective, 67.5MB/sec is just about as fast as a Raptor 150GB drive can feed it. Wired ethernet 10baseT is 1.25MB/sec, 100baseT is 12.5MB/sec and Gigabit Ethernet (1000baseT) is 125MB/sec.
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Last edited by evilsofa : 06-04-2007 at 07:13 PM.
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06-04-2007, 08:42 PM
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#8
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,273
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Got your letters a little screwy there. a and b seem to be reversed. b and g are the same speed?
WPA with a full-lenth random pre-shared key I believe is still just about unbreakable for any but the most determined and skilled hacker (and what would be on your network that those few would want anyway)? Oh, and changing your router passwords. 
I certainly could be wrong, but I think doing a lot of the other stuff just ends up making your wireless network hard to use and doesn't add that much to the security.
I thought WPA2 was for corporate networks which had a dedicated server for swapping keys... I am very likely not remembering correctly, though. 
EDIT: never mind, I looked it up. There's WPA2-personal and WPA2-Enterprise, with the latter using a dedicated server. |
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__________________
"Behind this mask, there's an idea... and ideas are bulletproof." -V for Vendetta
My blog - The Last Bastion
Last edited by Fozzik : 06-04-2007 at 08:54 PM.
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06-04-2007, 09:16 PM
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#9
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,273
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Just checked my config (I did research a while ago and took a lot of things into consideration, but I don't really remember it all ).
Looks like I'm set up well...
So I guess I'm ok. Was paranoid for a minute or two. The real trick is making your passwords really strong and still being able to remember them.  |
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__________________
"Behind this mask, there's an idea... and ideas are bulletproof." -V for Vendetta
My blog - The Last Bastion
Last edited by Fozzik : 06-04-2007 at 09:19 PM.
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06-04-2007, 09:34 PM
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#10
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Guild Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 512
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I have the linksys WRT54G or whatever it's callled...and it's great. No problems at all with it and tons of people have it so that means tons of different OS version for it. I installed one that works great, very customizable |
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06-04-2007, 10:54 PM
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#11
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Hardware Guru
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 843
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fozzik
Got your letters a little screwy there. a and b seem to be reversed. b and g are the same speed?
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a had issues with corruption due to interference, so they reduced the speed for b to make it more stable. They fixed these issues with g, making g have the speed of a and the stability of b. b equipment was also much cheaper than a equipment.
Something to keep in mind is that b and g operate on the very crowded 2.4Ghz frequency, while a and n operate at the much better 5Ghz frequency. This is why n adapters are much more expensive.
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06-05-2007, 08:13 AM
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#12
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evilsofa
firewallguide.com, especially their wireless security page, has a whole bunch of info about wireless security that I couldn't cover nearly as well.
You'll want to do a bit of research on wireless security, because running things by default will usually leave you wide open to the entire neighborhood. Do NOT use WEP. Use at least WPA, and better yet WPA2. CHANGE THE PASSWORD ON YOUR ROUTER. The hackers know all the default passwords.
Not bothering with locking your wireless internet down will make your neighborhood pedophile very happy.
Oh yeah, a quick cheatsheet on how fast each protocol is:
802.11 = 0.25MB/sec
802.11b = 1.375MB/sec
802.11a = 6.75MB/sec
802.11g = 6.75MB/sec
802.11n = 67.5MB/sec
For perspective, 67.5MB/sec is just about as fast as a Raptor 150GB drive can feed it. Wired ethernet 10baseT is 1.25MB/sec, 100baseT is 12.5MB/sec and Gigabit Ethernet (1000baseT) is 125MB/sec.
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Yeah, I'm familiar with all of this stuff. I'm more looking for range and dependability. The router is going on the main floor or my house, and NICs in the basement and top floor will have to pick it up. (3 up, one down).
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-05-2007, 09:06 AM
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#13
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Hardware Guru
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 843
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DCpunk
Yeah, I'm familiar with all of this stuff. I'm more looking for range and dependability. The router is going on the main floor or my house, and NICs in the basement and top floor will have to pick it up. (3 up, one down).
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b and g have a range of about 100 feet indoors, while n has twice that. b and g suffer from interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, bluetooth devices and more. If you're looking for range and dependability, n is it, especially if you have neighbors.
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06-05-2007, 10:02 AM
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#14
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evilsofa
b and g have a range of about 100 feet indoors, while n has twice that. b and g suffer from interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, bluetooth devices and more. If you're looking for range and dependability, n is it, especially if you have neighbors.
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At $75.00 a pop for an 802.11n NICs, not gonna happen. I'll have to stick with g. I have nothing except a microwave that I rarely use that would interfere. As for the neighbors... I guess that's something I'll just have to deal with as I live in a townhouse. I can't run the cableing in this place because it has vaulted ceilings, and I don't wanna hack up the owners walls (I'm renting).
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-05-2007, 01:08 PM
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#15
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 272
Server: Thunderaxe
Guild:
Chaos
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nothing wrong with G. I have a bluetooth enabled headset, and a cell phone sitting on my desk and I use my laptop wireless right next to them all the time. Data protection is your biggest worry. My suggestion - use the full 64 characters with a page from a random book with numbers interspersed in the spaces.
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__________________
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
-Elbert Hubbard
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb"
-Benjamin Franklin
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06-05-2007, 01:20 PM
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#16
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dakyres
nothing wrong with G. I have a bluetooth enabled headset, and a cell phone sitting on my desk and I use my laptop wireless right next to them all the time. Data protection is your biggest worry. My suggestion - use the full 64 characters with a page from a random book with numbers interspersed in the spaces.
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Thanks for that info and the suggestion.
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-05-2007, 01:31 PM
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#17
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,273
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Or you can head to this link. Each time you refresh the page, it provides you with completely random full-length strings of characters. The linksys router will only allow a maximum 63 characters, and they have to be alpha-numeric. |
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__________________
"Behind this mask, there's an idea... and ideas are bulletproof." -V for Vendetta
My blog - The Last Bastion
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06-05-2007, 01:58 PM
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#18
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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nice! thanks Fozz-master.
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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06-05-2007, 03:48 PM
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#19
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 27
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If you buy a linksys wrt54g make sure it's NOT the most recent v5 unit.
I had one of the first editions of the wrt54g which was great for many years and hosted many different flashed firmwares. When that died I bought a v5 without checking.
The recent v5 units are massively stripped down, and generally don't have enough storage to be flashed with anything useful. Mine also crashes or locks up at least once every day or two (with p2p apps running). I also suspect it's quite a bit slower.
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06-05-2007, 04:25 PM
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#20
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,053
Server: Shidreth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakkath
If you buy a linksys wrt54g make sure it's NOT the most recent v5 unit.
I had one of the first editions of the wrt54g which was great for many years and hosted many different flashed firmwares. When that died I bought a v5 without checking.
The recent v5 units are massively stripped down, and generally don't have enough storage to be flashed with anything useful. Mine also crashes or locks up at least once every day or two (with p2p apps running). I also suspect it's quite a bit slower.
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Yeah, I've read quite a bit about this - apparently the v6 is no better. They say to go v4. I think I'm going to get the one I linked though. It seems to be the most versatile, and apparently it's the best selling wireless router in the world. Frickin Linux geeks. /sigh
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__________________
WWED? (what would Ed do?)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Atoyota
I'l never say a man and a women are equal, that's insane!
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by emilyliam
You, like us, are just some bored mother****er who posts on the internet. You are not my buddy, with whom I would expect to have little in jokes about raping me, hilarious as you might find that.
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