Maximum PC

Hello all.

I currently am running my household with a combination modem/wireless router. I wish to get a gaming router or just a better router, whatever I decide. I need to know, before I start to seriously look around:

Can I get a new router and use my current combo unit for the modem only?

Can I/Would I need to disable the router in the combo unit, or can I connect and configure the new router and it would take over the router job without disabling anything in the combo unit?

Or do I need to get a dedicated modem and the new router, thereby getting rid of the current unit?

Currently running a 2-Wire 2700HG-B modem/wireless router

You should be able to turn off all routing capabilities in the setup. I have never used 2wire products, but look for something like bridge mode. You will need to do this before connecting the new router.

I checked in the settings and in the advanced settings, I have something that refers to "ATM encapsulation" with a drop down menu that has "bridged LLC" selected. I am not sure of the settings in here, but that doesn't look like what you are pointing out.

I will get a screenie posted here of the settings menu, I checked all over the info, but don't see anything that jumps out at me as far as anything to shutdown the router in the modem.

Why do you want a new router and what do you want it to do for you?

Well, I guess because I want to. I want to just look into my options, such as a gaming oriented router. I want to learn more about this stuff, not that it matters really why I am looking into a new router. I am just asking for assistance on what is necessary to do this, if I choose to do it. Maybe along the way I can learn more about home networks, etc.

I think you should learn first, buy second.

A 'gaming router' is a regular router in a fancy box with an inflated price tag.

That’s not entirely true; the box isn’t really all that fancy. Gaming routers do come with some pretty nice features. Most are firmware based, like the QoS presets, and other fancy little menu driven router features. Gaming routers also come with a 4 port gigabit switch, and wireless antenna with a little bit more range, along with some other stuff. I do agree that they are way over priced, and you can pick up a decent router with a gigabit switch, and damn near the same firmware for almost half the price.

This Dlink DIR-655, is probably the best bang for buck router out there. It has a really good firmware, bult in 4 port gigabit switch and draft-n wireless.

That's exactly what I'm dong here, this is one of the resources I like to go to for help and info. I know gaming specific routers cost more, that is why I am looking at used. I have 6 computers and all of them run on used parts I got either from great folks here, or on ebay. So I am not a total dummy when it come to spending my limited funds. But I am also anavid gamer, and any good measureable increase in performance is worth it to me.

Like guys that spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on their car to get an extra 50 hp out of the engine. To each his own, right?


So, any more ideas on a best course of action with my original issues?

See Hitman's post for a suggestion for a new router.

My suggestion is that you don't need one.

IMO, as long as your current setup has at least WPA encryption and is working properly, no need to get anything else.

If you need to upgrade, that's where personal preference comes in. Do you like your gateway (modem/wireless router combo) or do you want a separate setup? People will swear by each set up. I personally like the combo unit - less cords and only takes up one electrical socket.

Thanks all for the input. We are just kind of straying from my original goal of particular information.

I just want to know if anyone has any pointers as to if:

1) a dedicated router will take over the router job from a combo modem/router on it's own after installation,

2) or if I need to disable the router part of the modem/router so the new router will be able to do the router job

3) or will I have to toss the modem/router and get another modem to be able to use the router.

obviously 1 is the best case scenario and requires no tinkering from me. But, in my time with computers, almost everything needs tinkering.

I can live with 2, but I was curious if anyone else has had to do this.

If 1 and 2 are impossible, and chucking my current setup altogether and getting 2 different pieces of hardware, then I likely won't bother changing anything.

Hitman mentioned a bridge mode. I have been through the setup and don't see anything that looks similar to that. I just want to do this research so I can make an informed decision on whether or not this is a project I want to tackle.

My current setup works. I want to try to make it work better if I can do it at a reasonable price, and use of my time. I don't plan on doing anything that will take food out of my kid's mouths. I just like to work on this stuff. I didn't have to spend hundreds of dollars over the last 3 years to build a bunch of computers to do folding, but I wanted to.

You do not need to buy a new modem. Cross (3) off your list completely. (whew! ).

If you buy a new router, you will want to connect it to your modem. While your modem will still 'route' the connection from the modem to your new router, it won't be doing much more than pushing the data along to your 'real' router. This will cause a slight performance hit because you are adding a new device to the chain.

You can't disable the router part of the modem because then it won't be able to push the data to your actual router.

So .. you really don't have to 'do' anything .. most routers are plug-n-play. You will, of course, have to play with your security settings to ensure that your network is secure .. but now you have two routers so you have two levels of security between the internet and your PC. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how anal you are about security.

You can disable the router.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r185788 ... ys-WRT54GL

My ISP doesn't allow this; I have to spoof my modem's MAC address in my router in order to get it to work. I really didn't want to have to explain that.

You're right, though, and I sit corrected. (too lazy to stand).

Same here, I run my modem in bridge mode, and my router spoofs the Modems MAC address.

Awesome, thanks a ton guys, for all the tips and info you provided. I'll go in there and do a little more digging around and familiarizing and googling for this stuff. This is all good info too, in case I need to help a family member with things like this . Kinda tough being the professional mechanic and the shadetree coumpter guy in the family