<p>We have PCs, but all the kids have Apple products, both phones and computers. Every time they are home they struggle to get on the wi-fi. In calling tech support, they told me that NetGear or LinkSys are best for Apples & PCs.</p>
<p>I looked at the NEtGear at Costco.com and a review says it does not work for Apples. Anyone have an inexpensive wi-fi router for home use that will easily and simply connect to both Apples & PCs?</p>
<p>I have never had any trouble connect my Macbook to any router and I have used my computer at my parents and inlaws as well as other relative’s homes. Actually, I find my macbook connects quickly wherever I am, whereas my husbands PC laptop takes a bit more clicking to get connected, although his laptop is older.</p>
<p>The last router anyone in my family purchased was a Belkin that my daughter picked up at Costco about 2 years ago. Worked just fine with all laptops and Kindles.</p>
<p>We have a Linksys that works for both PC and Macs (we have two of each). I should say it works most of the time. A couple of times a week we need to unplug both the Comcast modem and the router, wait a minute, and plug them back in to restore internet access. We can’t get Wifi in the part of our house that’s the farthest from the Linksys, and our house is not very large. Whether the Wifi is working or not is not related to which devices are in use; that is, if it fails on one computer it fails on all of them.</p>
<p>We have D-link and had D-link previously and use Comcast.</p>
<p>Routers should work with both mac and PC. If there are any problems, it’s likely to be an issue with settings or hardware/firmware quality/issues with router/wireless card. </p>
<p>Check the Mac wireless settings to see they match those on the PCs/router.</p>
<p>I have netgear 5G at home, and we all have Macs. We were using the router provided by FIOS, but we weren’t getting the speed we paid for, so I bought netgear. Now when I check on the speed, it is lighting fast. When we are home, we have 3 macs, iphones, blackberry, and roku. Both H and D2 like to do streaming on their laptops.</p>
<p>The real choices are not Mac v. PC but the bands. A cheap router will run on one band, usually 2.4Ghz. More expensive ones may run only on 5GHz. The lower frequency tends to conflict more with appliances while the higher one may not reach as far - though I’ve never experienced that. The better routers are dual band. </p>
<p>It used to be you bought router that might not be “n” compliant. That’s the better version of the wifi standard - though soonish to be supplanted by better. Any router now should cover all the basic standards. Be aware that if you have slower stuff - like something that only runs on the g standard - the entire network may slow to that speed.</p>
<p>You may want to look for a combined modem that has wifi and ethernet support. There are good modem models for DSL and cable modems now. There is no need to have a separate router.</p>
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<p>The 802.11 B/G/N standard differences are mainly important for those who frequently transfer files across computers on the same wireless network. </p>
<p>It makes no difference with your connection to broadband internet unless you’re using one of the high/fast corporate tiers of internet service in which case, you won’t be in the market for a consumer-grade router. </p>
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<p>If they’re provided by the cable modem/DSL folks, some models…even recent ones may not have the latest wireless encryption protocols. </p>
<p>One friend’s DSL modem/wireless router only has WEP wireless encryption which is not only exceedingly obsolete*, but also has higher resource processing overhead compared with newer more secure wireless encryption protocols like WPA 2. </p>
<p>Ended up being asked to help him to disable that cable modem/router’s wireless and connect a separate router with more secure wireless encryption protocols. </p>
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<li>Has been obsolete since the mid '00s.</li>
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<p>IF you look at prices, you’ll see dual band routers are more expensive. Perhaps counter-intuitively, one of the cheaper dual band ones is Apple’s Airport Express. It also has two ethernet ports, one for connection to your cable modem and the other for a local network, a USB port so you can attach a printer and an audio out. Price is $99. I have 2, with one connected to the modem and another connected to my stereo receiver. That second one extends the wireless network - for a total price of $200 - and lets me broadcast music directly to my stereo speakers. Set up consists of plugging it in, naming and selecting whether I want to extend a network or make a new one.</p>
<p>We successfully used an Apple Time Machine and for reasons unknown to me, just switched to the Netgear dual band 11ac WiFi Router R6300. Both worked well for Macs</p>
<p>For Wired Routers, there is absolutely no difference in PC or Mac. </p>
<p>When you say WIFI does not work on certain routers for PC or MAC it is most likely that the signals are not strong enough at the location the computer resides. Otherwise, there will be a lot of problems at Starbucks or McDonalds where free WIFI is offered. To resolve a signal problem, try to add wireless repeaters or access points through out the house. There are cases that it could be the configuration of the router is too restrictive, but for that you have to have good knowledge in routers to screw it up.</p>
<p>BTW, a $99 router is consider expensive in my book.</p>
<p>We had an Apple Airport Extreme that we used for the kids’ apartment and that worked well. It was around $170. It had a port for an attached network drive or printer. We currently use a Motorola Surfboard which is a combined cable modem and wireless router. It was also around $170. Neither of these have had any problems. The Surfboard has a nice feature in that you can only connect to it wirelessly with physical access to the router. To connect for the first time, you have to push a button on the router and you have five or ten minutes to connect to it. This means that people outside your house can’t just connect to it and it should defeat most attempts to hack your router.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether or not Motorola makes a router-only product.</p>
<p>We have gone through numerous Belkins, D-Links, and Linksys routers. They seem to die or develop problems after a few years. Our newer ones, while more expensive, seem like they are more robust and I really love the Gigabit Ethernet (it makes copying files from computer to computer pretty fast) and Wireless N (I think that they are dual-band).</p>
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<p>Unless the wireless router is really a low-end line within a given brand, you’re living in a very large house, or you live in older apartment buildings built with thick/metal laden walls/ceilings which could impede wireless signals, most wireless routers you get in a store or cheaply on CL should be enough to cover the entire residence. </p>
<p>The used linksys WRT54GS router I picked up some years back for $20 off CL works great in my 2 bedroom apt and in my friend’s pre-war apartment, his linksys WRT54GS covers 3/4 of his apartment with roommates despite the heavy presence of metal in the walls/ceilings. </p>
<p>Fortunately, his roommate living in that uncovered 1/4 isn’t the type to need internet access in his bedroom or else a wireless repeater would be required.</p>
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<p>I head that off not only by using a decent encryption protocol, but also turning off broadcasting of my wireless network ID. That keeps the casual wireless piggybackers off.</p>
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<p>Both of the linksys routers my friend and I have have been running strong for 5+ years…and we got them used of CL for $20 each. Still running strong to this day.</p>
<p>His previous wired only belkin router did become flaky…after he stupidly left the window open and it got soaked from a rainstorm.</p>
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<p>We live in a four-story residence and the router is in the basement. I ran a cable to the first floor (an incredible amount of work) but anyone wanting to use broadband in the second and third floors has to use WiFi. Wireless G was essentially useless on the second and third floors. Wireless N is okay on the second floor for streaming video. I haven’t tried the third floor but I suspect that it wouldn’t be that good.</p>
<p>We have metal duct-work for our HVAC, metal pipes, a steel I-Beam and a false ceiling in the basement and those might impede wireless signals from the basement.</p>
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<p>I think that everyone is using higher levels of encryption these days unless you still have to support older wireless products. Two of our neighbors have open wireless so I think that interlopers would go after their networks over anything showing a lock.</p>
<p>Most people I know who have open wireless do so because they don’t know how or can’t be bothered to properly secure and set up their wireless router in the first place themselves or with the assistance of a tech. </p>
<p>Like one older cousin who feels no one will bother using his family’s wireless connection in an upper-middle class tri-state area suburb. Umm…yeah…sure. Obviously never heard of wardriving/wardrivers and refuses to believe they’ll ever come down his way. :(</p>
<p>cobrat - you really have a thing about upper-middle class. It is in every one of your posts. Could it be that some older cousin just doesn’t how to config their router?</p>
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<p>One of the neighbors is an IT tech and has Secret-Level clearance. He works on networks, operating systems and databases. I’m pretty sure that his technical level is fine. We really don’t have a lot of strangers coming into our neighborhood too.</p>
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<p>I’ve offered to come over on a visit because it usually won’t take me more than 15 minutes…and that’s if something is seriously wrong or I need to take precautions for things like updating to newer less buggy versions of firmware from the router manufacturer’s website. </p>
<p>Cousin doesn’t see the need due to what IMO is a false sense of security and an attitude of extreme complacency. I also go over to his place once every few months to visit his parents and younger siblings and their families.</p>
<p>In contrast, his father and younger brothers who lives nearby had me configure their wireless router per my recommendations. Took me less than 10 minutes each to get them all set up and ready which left plenty of time to just hang out.</p>