I'm getting Wild Blue broadband this week and need to set up wireless networking. This unit is lots less costly than a base station, but I have to determine if it will work with my Macs--- http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...53&dcaid=17653

The specs say PC support only, but I have worked with a wireless set up where a PC and a Mac shared DSL through a linksys.

Anyone have info about this?
thanks

See this thread:
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=47316
I threw out my Linksys and bought the D-Link DI-524 and I'm much happier now.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/D-Lin...oductDetail.do

That Linksys router is used by thousands, maybe even millions, of Mac users. I've seen threads about it here, on the Macworld forums, and on the Apple discussion forums. Linksys does not actively provide Mac support, but because the router follows networking standards (which are independent of Mac or PC), it can basically be set up with any computer that has an Ethernet port and a Web browser. Like your Mac. It will probably come with a setup CD that can be ignored because it contains a setup "wizard" that only works for Windows and is unnecessary if you follow the directions for configuring through your web browser.

I have both a Linksys and a D-Link and both companies have their strengths and weaknesses.

As I tried to explain in the other thread, not providing Mac support is a serious weakness that I find inexcusable.

One problem I had with the Linksys was that I often needed to use Internet Explorer in order to administer the router. While they may have fixed that problem, their lack of support makes me wonder what other potential problems wait for Mac users with Linksys routers.

I have a D-Link 624, which is great, and then I bought their wireless extender, which is a piece of junk. I find that inexcusable too. (BTW yes, my Linksys can be administered from Safari without a problem.)

All of these companies are cutting corners to try and win the price wars for these commodity products. If you go to the hardware forums on broadbandreports.com, it's pretty funny. For example, if you go to the Linksys board, you're likely to see posts like "I've had it with Linksys and their cr*ppy products and support. Netgear here I come!" Then, if you go to the Netgear board, another person will post "Netgear is junk! Screw you Netgear, I'm switching to D-Link!" Then, if you go to the D-Link board, there will be posts like "Will D-Link ever get their firmware right? I'm so tired of these spontaneous router reboots, you've lost my business forever. I'm switching to Linksys, now there's a class act!" and around and around it goes...

I have used Linksys Routers with my Macs since they were first placed on the market. I have used IE, Safari, Firefox, Opera even Netscape and never had a problem with the built in browser interface in the Linksys boxes. I am currently using a Wireless G Broadband Router connected through a Cable/DSL 4 port switch (just to give me some extra ports). Absolutely no problem!

I agree with you that opinions vary widely about the quality of the products and their software. That being the case, when making a buying decision hard facts are both hard to come by and valuable. It is a fact that Linksys doesn't support the Mac, but they do support Windoze. Since there are no other hard facts people can rely on, this fact should carry a significant amount of weight for Mac users.

I have to deal with dozens of routers and APs in my work. If I run into a support issue with a D-Link, I simply throw it away and give the user a Linksys. D-Link support is useless (yeah, they say they support Macs...but fail to have qualified support techs for any platform). The products usually have serious bugs. Failure rates are high.

Another one like that is Belkin. Just crap.

If I have to support a router/AP, I want it to be a Linksys, Netgear, Buffalo, or Microsoft.

As I said in another similar thread: My complaint against Linksys isn't about their technical support. It's about their support policy, which is designed to exclude Macs in much the same way that many IT departments try to exclude them.

The quality of the products and services offered by a company is a separate issue. If you don't like what they provide, don't buy from them. But company policies are also legitimate concerns, and when a company has anti-Mac policies, I don't think it is a good idea for Mac users to support that company.

Sounds great. What companies make routers that aren't junk (IE, not Belkin & D-Link) and do support Macs?

Apple.

This whole controversy seems a bit shallow to me.

If you need support, go for an AirPort, it looks good and works.

If you look out for cheaper options, support will vary, but if you spend a little time to understand basic networking, you'll be able to sort it out on your own. Apples network stacks are just plain standard and RFC-compliant, there's nothing magic about it.

It's everybodies choice.

If I was in charge of support for any router/AP vendor, I'd certainly make sure Mac/Linux/other Unix users get reasonable attention because that would benefit my PR-image enough to justify the extra cost, but that's just me.

Has anyone used or needed support for a macsense (www.macsense.com) router?

Yes, but years ago. Their service was excellent and their routers were extremely Mac friendly. I would have bought one of theirs instead of the D-Link, but they don't have an 802.11g router. I don't know why they never caught on with Mac users, because I really liked their routers.

You can also try
macwireless.com

Personally, I use the Linksys wrt54g router but replaced the Linksys firmware (pretty limited) with dd-wrt. There are 3 or 4 open source firmware projects out there for the wrt54g. Support is very active by the developers and I am extremly happy. This firmware is night and day from what Linksys offers.

i've heard about it, but could you please tell a bit more -- e.g. what are the advantages of running modified firmware? what could it give to an end-user?

I just picked up a new WRT54G this weekend with the intention of loading the Sveasoft firmware on it, to use as a QoS device for an Asterisk server (VoIP PBX software, also open source). The newest Linksys software includes a lot of powerful features similar to those in the open source firmware, so we just kept the stock version. The router was a version 3.10 according to the model label.

Well, they certainly took all the contributed stable bits from the GPL'ed code they so reluctantly released some time ago.

This is really a brilliant case where opening the code for a device has been a Good Thing not only for the community of people who have hacked some unbelievably cool things together, but also for the manufacturer who gets a competitive advantage over less hackable devices.

Truly. I've been trying to explain the concept of open source to a client who is looking at a $90k product vs. my recommendation of an OS equivalent. I think I'll use this router example.

"And they give this away. Free? And they are in business? With bills to pay? But they give it away..."

Netgear WGR614 802.11g Wireless Router for $20 shipped after rebate
Amazon.com offers the Netgear WGR614 802.11g Wireless Router for $39.99. This $20 mail-in rebate yield a net price of $19.99. With free shipping, it's the lowest total price we could find by $10. Rebate ends December 31.

http://dealmac.com/deals/Netgear-WGR...te/100922.html

Has anyone tried the Netgear WGT624 Super G 108 Mbps Wireless Router? My linksys wireless G2 is circling the drain as far as internet connection is concerned. Odd thing is that it connects flawlessly to my printer. Go figure.

Another question - does anyone have a link to downloadintg the Linksys firmware update? The linksys.com link supports only windoze. Many thanks.

Typical DSL speeds top out at well under 20 Mbit/s, so a "108 Mbps" router won't solve your problem, the speed enhancement is proprietary and not a good idea to buy until a faster-than-g-standard gets adopted.

Using TFTP, you'll be able to updgrade your Linksys even if it does not yet support browser-based firmware-update.

For an interesting alternatvie firmware have a look here:

http://wiki.openwrt.org/

Well I just bought and connected the new D-Link Airplus Extreme G wireless router. The installation was a breeze and there were even screenshots for Mac installation. This was a replacement for my Linksys which joined the heavenly choir last night.

Linksys Router with Mac powerbook
 

Hi
I've understood it's possible to set up security etc for a network using a linksys router with a mac. I've been told you have to attach the laptop directly to the router using a cable as the software doesn't work for macs. However I have no clue how to go about this. Wondering if anyone could take pity & direct me to some simple directions...emphasis on 'simple' as I'm no tech wiz ;) Also, the router I have is a bog standard Wireless-G of lowest grade. It's working ok but the signal doesn't seem reliable in some parts of the house so I'm thinking I may need to upgrade to a model with better range? There were at least 3 models above the one I got.
thanks!
Marie-Claire

Check out this thread.

If you want some help going through the process step-by-step, send me a private message and I'd be happy to help you out (we can coordinate a time tomorrow to set it up). I got the same help with my first router, so figure it's time to pay back the favor.

Once you get going it's not hard at all.