Netgear Rangemax: worth the extra £ÃÆ ’‚£Ãà¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚£ ? Quick advice needed!

After a thunderstorm fried all the LAN ports on my ADSL modem/router last week, I am off to PC World to acquire myself a new one this lunchtime (I have a £25 DSG voucher to spend).

Having a quick look at the website, I see the Belkin and Linksys products all at reasonably comparable prices in the £40-£60 range, then this one by Netgear at twice the price:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...514&tabIndex=1

Now, I have medium-term plans to build a garden office where I can retreat to work, and don't want to run cables out there (except for the mains power), so I need wireless internet with good range. I don't currently get that from my Belkin (whose wireless connectivity, while naff overall, was bizarrely unaffected by the lightning strike).

'Rangemax' sounds exactly what I need. But is it? You have about 90 minutes to offer your opinions ...

GO!

[Aragorn]

IMO, I would go with a Linksys router (such as this package) and take your laptop (friends laptop?) down the garden to test the range. You can always take it back and 'upgrade' if neccy.

IIRC, you can get after market range boosters as well - replacement aerials / pringles tins!

HTH

[Stuart]

I've been told an external antenna with the old Pringles trick works well.

[handyman]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

I've been told an external antenna with the old Pringles trick works well.

You can buy a similar commercial product as well ....
http://www.cantenna.com/

[altis]

I too recommend you get a descent aerial and mount it in a sensible location - they can make an enormous difference.

Check out this site - they have loads of useful information buried in their FAQs (click Wireless on the LHS)
http://www.solwise.co.uk/

Thanks for the advice so far. You have an extension ... I'm going to go on my way home from work instead. Anyone got anything to add?

[Neil]

That Netgear router is class in my experiences.