Re: [Sheflug] Networking Question

[Alex Hudson <home [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2006-01-05 at 01:55 +0000, Wonkey Donkey wrote:
> Currently we have a KCorp 10/100 wireless router, which is flaky to
> say the least, and its speed is uninspiring, whether wired or
> wireless.

Hmm... I have a KCorp silver lifestyle wireless AP, and it works
great :) It's not an ADSL router, though.

> Is there any difference to using gigabit connections in linux, compared to 
> 10/100, and does anybody know of any decent gigabit broadband routers ?

There isn't any difference in the connection. 

If I were you, I would probably keep your current KCorp for ADSL and
wireless (unless it really is flaky) and buy a decent wires-only 100T or
better switch. An all in one unit will save space, but generally they
only have one onboard processor which is doing all the work for the
ADSL, wireless and wired system. They usually don't have enough grunt to
do that well; the wired side ends up waiting for the processor to come
collect packets to bridge into the wireless/DSL side.

Gigabit still comes with a price premium, and at the consumer end of the
market it really doesn't make much speed difference IMO. If you
definitely want Gigabit, there is stuff like the Netgear GS108 which
will set you back £60. 

Netgears that come in blue metal boxes are generally pretty worthy
devices - I'm not sure which bad reviews you've been reading, but they
do have a range which comes in odd shapes which I don't know much about.
The blue box range, though, I've always found to be rock solid.

Cheers,

Alex.

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