router recommendations

[richb at pioneer.ci.net (Rich Braun)]

D.E. Chadbourne <235u at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi.  Last year I got the Linksys BEFW11S4 V4...I downloaded the updated
> software.  Range is great (router/firewall on first floor with no
> connection problems with WAP on third floor) and has lots toys (MAC
> filtering, 128 bit WEP, port filtering, DMZ,etc).

About 3.5 years ago I bought my first wi-fi hub and have hated the technology
from Day One.  I have yet to find a solution that I could recommend to anyone,
neophyte or power-user.

The installation I currently have is this:  D-Link DI-604 firewall (slightly
buggy but better than 2 or 3 others I looked at in detail), Linksys WRT54-G
router (range piss-poor), ActionTec 802CAT1 card (better than the Linksys
cards, much cheaper, but still piss-poor range).

I live in an antique wood-frame house with a typical back yard.  My goal would
be to go out back and while away the afternoon with the laptop.  But (a) the
thing won't work more than 25 feet away from the hub and (b) notebook-PC
batteries don't last even 2 hours brand-new, let alone after you've had them
more than a year or two.

The configuration interface for these wi-fi cards differs from one O/S and
from one manufacturer to the next; it almost never has any troubleshooting
tools; and I'd *never* buy one for my grandmother.

The state of this technology is on par with the woeful state of
home-audio/video remote controls.  My sig-other is constantly complaining
about how utterly complicated it is to do such things as change the channel
from satellite to HDTV over-the-air or to simply record a movie, and I just
don't have a good answer for that either.

If any of y'all have found a rock-solid wifi solution that will work from the
sidewalk out front to the fence out back, from the basement to the roof, I'm
ready to chuck some gear and buy all-new.

-rich