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Is a router worth it?

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Sorry for being so thick but having just asked AOL for my MAC code I have been offered the earth to stay with them including a free router (which is meaningless to me) plus cheaper subscription etc etc. My question is: My computer is about 2 years old and not a well known brand, does a router work with all computers and does it actually make any difference to connection speeds?
 
Routers need an Ethernet or wireless connection. You probably already have an Ethernet port on your computer and wireless is as simple as connecting an adapter to your USB port (if again you don't already have WiFi). Basically compatibility should not be a problem.

As for speeds, unless you are using dodgy equipment at the present, I don't think you'll see any difference. :hrmph:
 
Thanks. I think they just want me to sign into another contract.
 
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I'm guessing a new contract with a long term - 12 months or more?
 
most isp's now offer free routers,
so if you migrate away from aol then you might just get a free router anyway
i for one prefer my router to a modem, most if not all have built-in firewalls which gives better security protection and in my case i found stronger quicker connection
 
18 months. I'm bailing out.

Good decision - there are plenty of smaller ISps that deliver a good service without the long contracts.

I'd also echo Nodrogs comments - the additional security of a Firewall is a good reason for spending little or nothing on a router.
 
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I wouldn't say most of them are unreliable, that's too much of a generalisation. In fact some ISPs will give you a choice of routers, which is useful because then you can select one with the features desired. Routers can also be quite mind bending for novices to setup but if they come pre-configured then it’s practically plug and play. There's also the fact that somebody who doesn't know much about routers may not have a good idea of which are best anyway.

One of the few downsides to O2's service though is the router they've adopted, I've never seen such a terrible menu and options layout.. yuk. Trying to educate a friend on how to setup their O2 router was very trying :) .
 
Routers can also be quite mind bending for novices to setup but if they come pre-configured then it’s practically plug and play.

There is a problem with some routers and a bug with UPnPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPnP_AV_MediaServers. Not difficult to fix so I've heard.

AOL routers are USBs and not as efficient as the ethernet connction ones that for example Talk Talk supply. I take it you don't want to trust them? I am with them and have not had it too bad at all. I ws dreading going with them after what they did to me and my once uncapped AOL.

The problem is that ethernet requires a socket in the motherboard that some don't have. Cheap ones and perhaps old OEM ones? But you can get cards for them.

It's amazing what is available even for quite old machines. So check with someone's borrowed cable before you decide. If no socket just buy a card with the router you get.

Talk Talk senrt me a router with a choice so when you decide on your next ISP, find out that and it wouldn't hurt to ask them if they can give you a means of metering your useage while they are being nice.

As for dealing with their sales teams, just decide what you are doing and bnever stray more than a paragraph (three or four sentences at most) from the point you are trying to make.

They usually have a list of angles designed to get you off the subject bnefore they swing in with the talk-around. Just don't go there. You don't have to. You can just come straight back to the question you started with:
(Politley) "Well, thanks for that advice but can you do that for me?"

"Yes I know, thanks, but I just need a MAC, is there a problem?"

"OK. Thanks." (Pause then, politely) "That's interesting but, errrm.... can we get back to my query.....?"

There is never any need to be nasty, they are only going through the motions after all. :hrmph:BUT....:D
:crap:OTOH.......;)
...you are leaving and will be unlikely to meet them again,
:shrug:not even online.:shrug:
 
All the motherboards I have seen in the last few years have an ethernet connection as standard, and if yours doesn't, a NIC 10/100 card costs about £1 at a computer fair!!
Routers offer better protection, most have a built in firewall, NATs and other goodies, they use very little CPU time, unlike the USB devices that many ISPs provide, and offer marginal improvements to speed, up to 20% I read in a PC mag last year.
The other advantages are possible wireless connection and being able to connect multiple PCs and laptops to the same ADSL connection; I currently have 3 PC's and a laptop running wirelessly off of my Zoom X6 router.
 
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AOL routers are USBs and not as efficient as the ethernet connction ones that for example Talk Talk supply. I take it you don't want to trust them? I am with them and have not had it too bad at all. I ws dreading going with them after what they did to me and my once uncapped AOL.

Aol supplied a bog standard netgear dg834g with 4 ethernet ports and no USB connection when I was a customer.
 
Aol supplied a bog standard netgear dg834g with 4 ethernet ports and no USB connection when I was a customer.

I was given a BT Voyager 100 and after experiencing malware aka TalkTalk switch-over, was sent another Voyager 100.

TalkTalk sent me an Huawei MT882-CNXT-R. Since I was paying considerably more for the AOL disservice I can not imagine why they couldn't find me a better router.

Unless it was for exactly that reason: "Supply a disservice and they are bound to turn to TalkTalk" A situation that did work for them in my case but only because I was too poor to choose better.

Or is that what they want? "Find all the people who are too poor to think straight and we can control them. One ring-up to bind them, in the dakness find them"?
 
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