I just moved into a new apartment and i have to sit on the floor because I have no wireless yet. Im trying to get a decent router because the one I have at home always disconnected on me. I dont wanna go through all that trouble so im trying to make a good investment. The most id spend on a router is about $50 which should be good enough.

I have a dell laptop with N capabilities. I heard N was the new thing but i dont know the difference between G and N to tell you the truth lol. anyway, can anyone recommend a really good router within my budget? I heard the LINKSYS WRT54GL is a good router but it only has up to G capabilities.

Please shed some advice. thanks

One thing I like to advise is http://www.dslreports.com/ for Q&A. The info goes beyond the bells and whistles and often you'll find out what works with your other equipment and your service provider.

You don't need Wireless N. Wireless G routers will be fine and is backward compatable with Wirless N network cards. Take a look at the NETGEAR WGR614. It's usually $39.99 and is sold in most stores that sell networking equipment. The LINKSYS WRT54GL is a good router, but usually costs around $20 more than the Netgear. If you don't plan on updating the firmware I'd say to get the Netgear.

That being said I just want to mention that there are two things that work against wireless networking: distance and environment. If you have a large apartment with very thick walls and the router will sit at one end of the apartment with the computer on the other then Wireless N or a repeater may be necessary.

When my old DLink died recently I installed a LinkSys WRT54GX2 that I had picked up at some point from a deal here. If I had used that router as my main instead of the DLink I never would have needed to add the second access point upstairs. The 54GX2 in the basement covers the whole house and yard. In fact the signal upstairs is stronger than the signal coming from the Linksys access point that is in the middle of the main floor. I don't know if the GX2 is still available but it has great wireless coverage. It seems to get better signal the further away you are from the router. The only reason I still keep the WRT54GC set up as an access point is to use it for the access restrictions for the kids computers.