Router Advice

hi,
im considering buying a router for my home network and i need some advice. At the moment the network isnt online because i need to connect mutliple pc's together thats not the problem, the problem is i am currently using a broadband modem to connect and i need this functionality in a router because i want to be able to turn the pc's on and off whilst the internet is online so does anyone know of a router with a built in broadband modem which can keep the internet on 24*7. I have tried some companies and i cannot find any routers that meet my specifications can anyone recommend a router or company?

Thanks in advance
Kendo

Linksys

www.linksys.com

Easy to configure, has a WAN port to plug into your broadband modem (err, not a modem, more like a DSU actually) and usually 4 ports for pcs. Of course, you can always connect hubs to the four ports, and the DHCP feature will support up to 100 clients at a time.

thanks nawlej for your suggestion. I have linux installed on the pcs i want to connect to the router and i cant seem to find any routers on linksys that are compatible with linux. They all say compatible with all windows but dont mention linux so are they all compatible or just a few?

Dude, the router is operating system indifferent. You configure it through a browser window (usually by pointing to 192.168.1.1:8080, or whatever the going port is nowadays for linksys). They use "compatible with windows" as a clever marketing tool for people who havent a clue how routing works. Routing works at the third OSI layer, the network layer, and as long as you have an IP address on your machine, and you point to that router in your /etc/defaultrouter file, it will route your traffic just fine. I do it at home with one, and I run one windows machine, the rest being linux and solaris.

Ok thanks for all your help,
However there might be a small problem, you mentioned linksys routers having WAN port for the broadband modem my broadband modem was supplied by my ISP (Bt internet) and connects to my current pc via USB and i dont seem to think linksys has a USB port on it. So would purchasing a new broadband modem with the correct connections do?

yes, that should be ok. Most ISP's require you to furnish the MAC address of the new modem or you cant connect out, or some stuff like that. And it would probably get you out of paying that small fee every month to your isp for a chassis rental. Most cable modems have an ethernet port on it too. Does yours not?

Well it is a thomson Speedtouch and alls it has is the line out the the wall socket and the USB from the modem to the pc. It wasnt directly supplied by my ISP rather they had a deal with thomson where they sent them out to new customers. Ill probably have to buy a new one when i get the router.

I like the Cisco 827 SOHO

Yeah anything cisco is nice, because of the IOS.

I have linksys in my house, and I run the wireless interenet all the time. I have not had to reset it in like a year.