Home wireless routers allow you to connect multiple devices together wirelessly into a network to share resources and access the internet. Examples of some of the devices you can connect to your network include desktop computers, notebook computers, external hard drives, PDAs, stand alone or all-in-one copy / fax / printers, media players, entertainment devices and more all without wires.
If you setup your network to be 100% wireless then you will need to ensure that every device that you want to add to the network has a wireless network adapter installed otherwise they will have no way to access the network. If these are not already in the computers, you'll need to purchase them and add them in. Once all devices are configured and set up you will be able to share files and resources across the network.
Security is especially important when using a wireless network. Basically, anybody within the range of your network who has the right equipment can access it if it is not secured. Therefore we recommend safety features such as WEC or MAC address filtering. This is a unique hardware identifier that gives each network device its own identity.
WEP, or Wireless Encryption Protocol, is another way to identify your network devices. It establishes a shared key between the access point and clients, using the key to encrypt and de-encrypt the data that is transferred between them. This is enough security for most home network uses.
“ With the numerous factory resets I have done while unsuccessfully working with Netgear support, Backup/Restore worked well to get system working with devices & users again before downtime window closed. ”
NETGEAR 10G/Multi-Gigabit Dual WAN Pro Router with Insight Cloud Management | PR60X“ This router is working smoothly and appears fast. ”
TP-Link ER7206 SafeStream Gigabit Multi-WAN VPN Router“ Highly configurable, much easier to use than many Cisco products, rather inexpensive compared to its competition ”
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ER-4 - router - desktop (UBI-ER-4-US)“ This router keeps up with gigabit Internet without a problem. Running iBGP, vlans, DHCPv6-PD, and a VPN tunnel, it still processes packets without issue. ”
Ubiquiti Networks 10-Port Gigabit Router with PoE Passthrough and 2 x SFP Ports (ER-12)“ I use it with my WiFi router. The WiFi network in my home is much more stable. ”
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ER-4 - router - desktop (UBI-ER-4-US)