Maximum PC

The above title pretty much explains it. I have a modem that is functional but believe it is dying. The evidnce would be internet troubles fixed by a simple modem reset. It is a modem router combo. Would like to replace it with one but am open to suggestions.

Our house network has 3 laptops 1 tablet and 3 smart phones and one xbox 360 connected at any given time. Of course usually not all at once but more than 1 most of the time.

Would like strong wifi, we live in a rural area so range is priority over security (pretty much not worried at all because its unprotected right now). Also want to be able to set up basic port forwarding for the xbox and the possibiltie of adding a network pc.

I have a general understanding of the technology but have no specifics. So any advice would be appreciated. I am lost in this area as to what is fluff to convince you to buy and what is real. Also dont what brands are good and what is best for us without over kill or undershooting our needs. And as cheap as possible but also reliable. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I'm under the impression that most modem/wi-fi hotspots are from the ISP themselves and they don't allow you to muck with it. But I'm running on the experience every time I'm in a place with one of these, there's a password either on a printed piece of paper from the ISP or on a label somewhere.

If you want maximum flexibility, get a modem and a separate router. I would avoid 802.11ac Wi-Fi for now, as it's still in draft and nobody seems to have any indication of its range. But with 802.11n, you can get a maximum range of 200ft indoors, 800ft outdoors.

Well, we had the modem router combo so decided not to use the ISPs as they would have charged us to rent it or designed to work with their system more than others. Which is why we have the one we do now. It came from a local provider but we didnt have one so we bought theirs. We moved and I set up the one from the local provider to work with our current AT&T. So I know how to set up the modem to acces AT&T's network. They gave us a specific user name and password. So I can take any modem and make it work with their network. As far as I know at least.

So I guess my next question is. What would constitute a "good" modem and router? Our internet speed is not high enough to make it worth getting something with high speeds. Our average down speed is 1.3mbps and up .25mbps. As I said we live in a rural area and this is all they will give us. (It took a month of consistent calling to get that)

Whats the difference between this TP-LINK TD-8817 and thisNETGEAR DGND3700-100NAS. Besides the wireless router and higher data transfer rates. I really have no knowledge of what I need.

I apologize for my ignorance. I am just lost in this department. Thank you for your quick reply and your time. I am grateful for your assistence.