[NOS2Go4Me]

NefCanuck,Oct 29 2008, 09:54 PM Wrote:Your ISP's router may have its internal firewall disabled.  I know mine from Bell does, it's retarded but it's how they try upselling you to their A/V & spam protection.

NefCanuck
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If Bell tries telling you that their software is equal to or superior to a hardware-NATing router, they need to be told to f*** RIGHT OFF on the phone. It's harsh but you know what? I'm tired of putting up with script-jockeys who want nothing more than their next bonus cheque - and they're just the exact opposite of "customer service". They don't give a s*** what happens to you.

I know a lot of ISPs hate it when you run hardware anything on their services (firewalls, routers, VoIP gateways, etc) because in their little minds "it makes it harder to troubleshoot your connection". BS. They hate it because they can't snoop on you as easily and because they really don't give a rat's ass if you become part of a botnet or anything. This is why WebEx and GoToMyPC is out there - because LARGE, MEDIUM and SMALL ENTERPRISES are behind firewalls, protected and they occasionally need assistance from remote parties. If they want to stop people from running third-party hardware routers/firewalls, supply them and LEAVE THEM TURNED ON. f***.

The only thing Bell has done right (or used to do right) is that they force you to use their SMTP servers and to authenticate using your POP/SMTP/IMAP account credentials. As far as I am concerned, nobody at home should be able to be an end-point SMTP server, able to send mail out blindly to anywhere on the Internet. This makes ISPs accountable for flooding the world with spam and forces them to cut off abusers instead of making us jump through hoops to get botnets decommissioned.

</end rant>

If anyone wants recommendations on Internet routers, let me know. There are also a few other I.T. guys here that I'm sure won't mind chiming in with their experiences as well.

hanserus - for what you would need as a home user, a simple D-Link wireless router would be effective.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku....&affixedcode=WW

Going more expensive is good if you meet the following needs:

- if you buy a router with gigabit networking, do you have at least two PCs / laptops that have gigabit network cars that would be moving massive amounts of data repeatedly between them? If not, you can buy something with 100 Mbit network ports in it (1Gbit = 1000Mbit). 100Mbit will let you move several GB of data in a few minutes in most cases.

- Wireless N over Wireless G routers. If you're going to be pretty much wireless around your house (laptops and even desktops), then it doesn't hurt to try for the extra speed of Wireless N networking (802.11N). However, don't believe ALL the hype over it... just know that it will be faster than Wireless G most of the time. You'll also need to buy Wireless N adapters for at least each PC you want to network wirelessly, and possibly PC Card Wireless N cards for each laptop that doesn't have built-in 802.11n. Hope that makes sense. :)

Point of Interest - I backed up my laptop's first stage of files (WinRAR'ed archive) over WiFi 802.11G, 54Mbps link to my Linksys WAP, then over 100Mbps to my idling desktop. According to Windows Vista, my throughput averaged 2MB/sec on a brand-new Dell Latitude E6400 laptop with an Intel 5100-series WLAN network card and the latest drivers for it from Dell. So, WiFi is great for surfing and such, but backing up a few GB of data? Go for a coffee - literally.