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spoll
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Joined: 08 Jun 2006
Posts: 67
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 Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 12:06 pm Post subject: What's the best router for Mac Mini and PC? |
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| My Buffalo Tech bit the dust and I'm looking for a good replacement, thanks! |
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Steve
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Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject: Let me give this a push since I have the same question. |
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| I have an old D-Link DI-604 router that I have used for the last 6 weeks since I got broadband cable for my mini and a voip phone. The trouble is that I don't think the router is good enough to handle both of them so I am looking for a new one. |
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Retrogamer
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Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 114
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Why would you think the router is not good enough? What kind of issues do you have? |
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Steve
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Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Retrogamer wrote: | | Why would you think the router is not good enough? What kind of issues do you have? |
Because I am losing my internet connection in regards to my voip phone and am missing calls when they go directly to voicemail. I was given this router by a friend who got a new one because I needed one for my voip phone. It is a model from 2001 and was never upgraded and is no longer supported by D-Link. The voip phone company ran a test over the weekend and over a 48 hour period they said I was disconnected numerous times, so it is either my internet connection or the router and I have had trouble with having to reconfigure the router. I just need a simple wired router that works with a mac. |
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Retrogamer
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Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 114
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Whenever I have VoIP issues, these are my steps:
1. Isolate the VoIP device on a network by itself (do not use your internet connection for data while in use). If the device works flawlessly in this kind of setup, then you don't have enough bandwidth to support both data and voice. Since voices is a real time protocol any heavy usage of the network will cause drops and malfuncions.
2. Test upload and download speed to see if they are constant and have not big "dips" in performance, this kind of behavior is an indication of an issue with the internet connectivity. How does your internet entry point connect to the router? Is it a cable router or is there a cable modem that connects to the router? If you have issues with bandwidth and you have a cable (or dsl) modem, then hook it up directly to your computer bypassing the router and try the tests again, if you still have issues, then it's a provider problem (either modem or connectivity), if you don't have issues, then try a different router. Basically the Mac's networking is standards based, and anything should work. The Airport Extreme bases give you some extra features like Airtunes that you don't otherwise get with your run of the mill 802.11G or N router. I'm not using wireless "N" until there's an approved standard, so for now my router of choice is anything broadcom based that can be upgraded to DD-WRT firmware. |
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Steve
Junior Member
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:21 pm Post subject: I've done the testing and isolating the mini w/o the router. |
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| Retrogamer wrote: | Whenever I have VoIP issues, these are my steps:
1. Isolate the VoIP device on a network by itself (do not use your internet connection for data while in use). If the device works flawlessly in this kind of setup, then you don't have enough bandwidth to support both data and voice. Since voices is a real time protocol any heavy usage of the network will cause drops and malfunctions.
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I think the exact problem that I have is that I don't have enough bandwidth to support both data and voice. This morning I was online and my Yahoo messenger chimed to indicate I had lost my connection and then came back again a few seconds later. Later I noticed I had a voicemail message although the phone had never rang. The message was at the exact time that I had the disconnection earlier.
The speed is the same for the mini whether connected to the router or directly, but there is no sure way to test the phone since most of the time it works perfectly. Tonight I was online and a call came through, but it does seem to happen in the morning at close to the same time.
I did get another router today and got it set up, but I am not sure if it has solved the problem yet. I don't know what to do to boost the bandwidth problem so I am able to get a phone call any time I am also online. As I said though, the voip company said they ran a test over 48 hours last weekend and found that there were a number of times when I was disconnected. |
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Sirolway
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Joined: 03 Jun 2008
Posts: 56
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| Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:20 am Post subject: |
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I've always liked Netgear routers & Linksys should also be good, as their daddy (Cisco) is the daddy of web routing so they really should know what they're doing.
For speed, I like the idea of streaming media over HomePlug - 200mbit, simple & very reliable.
I've sited router, gigabit switch, NAS, & mini all in the TV cabinet so that most of the bandwidth-hungry stuff is all in one place.
I then use HomePlug for anything that doesn't move (desktops) and 802.11g for laptops, iPod, etc
Seems to all work pretty well |
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Retrogamer
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Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 114
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| Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| Total disconnects should be another issue. Have you looked at replacing your VoIP ATA, or maybe you have a faulty power supply? |
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stupkid
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Joined: 28 Dec 2007
Posts: 207
Location: Fort Worth, TX
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| Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:37 am Post subject: |
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| QoS (Quality of Service) settings can also help if your router supports that. You can prioritize your VOIP traffic over other traffic. |
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Steve
Junior Member
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:23 am Post subject: |
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| stupkid wrote: | | QoS (Quality of Service) settings can also help if your router supports that. You can prioritize your VOIP traffic over other traffic. |
I got a new D-Link wired router because I have no need for a wireless router. It has QoS, but it refers to it being used for gaming so my fear would be it would give preference to the computer over a Voip call. |
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Retrogamer
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Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 114
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| Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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| QoS will generally give any streaming applications preference over any other traffic, so VoIP would qualify in this case. But not all QoS are created equal, so YMMV. |
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miniconvert
Senior Member
Joined: 30 Sep 2007
Posts: 383
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Retrogamer wrote: | | QoS will generally give any streaming applications preference over any other traffic, so VoIP would qualify in this case. But not all QoS are created equal, so YMMV. |
Not to mention your ISP will probably drop the QoS tag anyway.
_________________
Intel Mac Mini, 1.83 C2D 2.5GB, 80GB, Combo Drive
Graphite G3 iMac DV SE, 400Mhz, 512MB, 30GB
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