Wireless router reccomendations

[mekanor]

Hi everyone

I'm looking at trying to clean up some of the cords around the house so im looking into getting a wireless router. I know absolutly nothing on the subject so any particular reccomendations on one to buy would be much appreciated.

I have 2 computers, a wii and a ds that all need internet access. The ds would be nice but isnt all that important but i really want to stop using the nintendo wifi connector for the wii.

Also do the computers themselves need a wireless card of some description or something to interface with the router?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my horrible ignorance.

EDIT: hope this thread is ok here. just realised its kind of a more pc related question even though im mainly asking for the benefit of the wii and ds

[Strolls]

Often recommended here are the bargains from DSLdepot.co.uk - they have a Thomson SpeedTouch 580 wireless ADSL router for £15 and you won't go far wrong with the Netgear WG111.

Alternatively the Netgear DG834G is a slightly better unit, IMO - especially later (white) versions, especially v4 - looks like you'll get these on eBay from £27 delivered, or £45 + shipping from BroadbandBuyer. I find the Netgear a bit easier to setup - I've done a lot of them now, and can do it in my sleep - whereas the SpeedTouches are a bit fiddly. I guess it depends on how badly you need to save £20 or £30.

You can connect nearby computers with a cable, otherwise you need a wireless adaptor for each PC. You need to enable wireless encryption on the router & then type the network key into each machine that you connect - with the Netgear you can copy & paste this into a textfile on the first machine (usually connected with a cable), copy it onto a USB key and then paste it on all the other PCs. If you want to use the DS then choose the "WEP" setting, as the DS doesn't support WPA.

I NEVER run the setup CDs that are provided with the router or wireless cards. Connect via a cable and just go to http://192.168.0.1 to configure the router (this is the correct URL for Netgear - if the Speedtouch is different then open a DOS prompt, type `ipconfig` and type the IP of the "default gateway" into your browser). You can just plug in the WG111 to your PC and insert the CD when Windows asks for it - if you run the setup.exe like Netgear tell you then it installs Netgear's own stupid GUI for wireless configuration - you don't need this as Windows XP's own one is better.

Stroller.