there are hundreds of different model/brand of router and network card out there but are there big differences between them ?

I use my computer mostly for online games (world of warcraft and lienage2). which brand/model you recommended ?

thank you

I would recommend Linksys. Not only is their equipment Cisco Certified, but it will outlast most netgear/dlink routers. I would say go for a standard Linksys b/g router, with a linksys wireless card. It will provide great speed and reliability.

I used to use the LinkSys routers exclusively (and we still use them at work) - but they died too easily on me - so I switched to NetGear and haven't had a problem yet. I believe that the cause was due to power fluctuations in my area - the NetGear seems to be better able to handle them than the LinkSys.

There isn't much of a difference between the network adapters themselves, although if you get a Linksys or Netgear or one of the larger names you shouldn't have any driver headaches.

The routers are a different matter. Almost all consumer routers out there currently are crap. They have issues with dropping connections, freezing, even blacking out for periods of time. Linksys used to make good ones, but since version 5 they changed their firmware to something more problematic, and gimped the hardware (less cache memory).

Linksys does make one non-gimped router called the WRT54GL. (The trailing L is important, if it ends in G or GS it's the wrong one.) It uses a reliable linux-based firmware and has all the memory the pre v5 models had. If you'd like you can even flash the firmware with a 3rd party like WRT-DD and turn a $70 router into a $1000 one. The stock firmware it comes with is fine if you want to stick with that, though. You seriously won't find a better router out there unless your budget starts at a grand.


EDIT: this is mostly in reference to the wireless router market. The Linksys wired series of routers are still fine, I think.

also....I just found out that I am using three cables with three different color : yellow gray and blue...are they color coded ? which means one color is faster than the others ?

thank you

Colors don't mean jack.
Among the Belkin brand if you have a yellow cable it usually means it's a crossover cable, meaning you were connecting two computers or two hubs together instead of a computer to a hub/router/switch. But even that's not absolute. Just because you have a yellow cable doesn't mean it's a crossover, and just because it's not yellow doesn't mean it couldn't be a crossover.

I have been using the Linksys Network Everywhere NR041wm router for 7 years now and am very please with it. I do not use a wireless network. All of my computers are wired and when I work on a computer without a wired connection I install a 3Com 3C905b-tx card. They have been around forever and are well supported. The are also supported through 3Com for Linux. You can buy them used for as little as $5.

Oh, i so agree with arcman, i wore linksys underwear for SOHO routers, until the WRT54G V-5 routers cam out and switched firmware and dumped the buffer down. they have been crap ever since, you had to flash them before you could even sell them over the counter, what a nightmare of calls we got after selling a hundred or so, like arcman said, lost connection, wireless, net side, just losing settings. we have tried a newer one, the rangebooster, WRT54GR, it seems better, but i still have a bad taste in my mouth, D-Link makes a solid router as well, and the belkins have a lifetime warranty.