Posted 10/06/09 at 10:00:00 AM by Justin Kerr

Home broadband routers are remarkably complex devices that few ever take the time to truly understand. As long as the lights are blinking, and webpages load, most people are inclined to leave them be. The few brave souls who venture into the firmware are often rewarded with a maze of menus that betray the true complexity of these underappreciated appliances. Wireless channels, security modes, and even port forwarding can be frustrating concepts for those without a networking background, but are absolutely critical to understanding how to optimize your home network.

In this guide we will teach you the finer points of security, as well as give you surefire ways to boost your router's performance. Topics covered include:

• How to Safely Secure and Isolate a Network
• How to Maximize Your Route's Broadcast Strength
• How to Make Your Router Play Nice with Skype and BitTorrent
• How to Improve Transfer Speeds with QoS and WISH
• How to Expand Your Network by Stacking Routers

Read on to get started!

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Posted 08/04/09 at 11:30:47 PM by Norman Chan

Third-party router software has been around for a while, but we can’t help but keep recommending it to users who want to add undocumented features to their home network. Our favorite router firmware package is still Tomato, which we favor for its compatibility with a wide range of router brands and models, user-friendly interface, and powerful feature set. We’ll show you how to upgrade your router’s firmware to the newest version of Tomato and then configure the Quality of Service settings to manage your network traffic.

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Posted 09/30/08 at 04:55:23 PM by Andy Salisbury

Going green is something that just about everyone is worrying about these days, and NETGEAR is no exception. Having recently announced a new line of Wireless-N routers with the Prius driving consumer in mind, they’ve finally thrown their hat into the eco-friendly ring.

NETGEAR’s new routers will be shipping in packaging that has been made from at least 80% recycled materials, as well as boasting a fancy new on/off switch that will allow users to save energy when the network isn’t in use. There’s also a separate on/off switch that will allow users to turn off only the router’s wireless component.

The inside of the routers will be getting quite a makeover as well, "The enhanced wireless speeds and greater coverage provided by Wireless-N technology enables the simultaneous use of applications such as voice-over-IP, video and multimedia streaming, console gaming, and Web surfing. The launch of these new Wireless-N networking solutions makes it easier and more affordable for consumers to replace their existing routers or modem routers and upgrade their WiFi networks to support these more bandwidth-intensive applications. The new product family is feature-rich in terms of performance capabilities and ease of use as well as energy-efficiency,” says Som Pal Choudhury, NETGEAR’s senior product line manager for advanced wireless products. And when he says affordable, he means it. These bad boys will run you only $89 for the router, and $119 for the router with a built in DSL modem.

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Posted 01/10/08 at 08:02:39 PM by Michael Brown

Real-world testing yields surprising results.

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Posted 10/17/07 at 01:56:04 PM by Michael Brown

We test wireless routers based on Draft 2.0 of the IEEE 802.11n at Maximum PC Lab North

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