I have 3 computers at home .. 2 being PCs and one being a laptop ..

I would like all of them to have internet access and also to be protected from hackers (firewall in the router) ..

Just wondering which one is good ? How many ports do i need ?

Cheers !!

Most 'home use' routers come with 4 ports, so you should be ok there. There's another thread on routers you might want to check out.

Get yourself a router with WIFI and a wireless card for your notebook

I'm happy with my SMC Barricade g. Getting pretty cheap now.

what is the model of ur SMC Barricade g. ?

I'm using the Linksys wireless-G router (model WRT54G).Good n easy to config.

The model is SMC7804WBRA.

Agree with Crushdepth. You should get a wireless (WiFi) router, so that you will be able to use your laptop to hook on the Net anywhere in your home. Most (if not all) routers will have a built-in firewall, so you don't need to worry about this. A few more points:

* Do you already have a modem to access the Internet? If you do, make sure that you can connect your modem to the router you will select. If you don't, you may like to consider a router with a built-in ADSL modem (if you are going to access the Net through ADSL, of course)

* Do you have (or intend to have) a printer that you would like to share for all your computers? Then, you may like to select a router with a built-in print server to connect the printer to. Then you won't have to hook the printer to a PC, which would require this PC to be on when other PCs would need to use the printer.

* If your home is large, or multi-storey (a 2 storey house, for instance), it would be better to select a wireless router with at least 2 antennas, to optimize the coverage.

In the past 2 years, I have purchased and installed several SMC Barricade routers, and they all work well. So, I would recommend this brand.

Hope the above helps.

This is a spurious post to take me over 500, because I desperately want a custom member title and I cannot stand to wait anymore!!!

I hope you will indulge me this once!

I use a Dlink DSL-G604T Router.

It has 4 ports for the desktop machines and wireless for the notebook.

If you need more ports for any reason, you can always add an addition

hub.

One of my desktops is in another room and also uses Wireless.

Do make sure you enable the security on the Wireless side.

The router has a builtin firewall and is very easy to configure.

Thank u all for ur comments .. I am buying SMC7904WBRA tomorrow at pantip ..

One more silly question .. a thai friend of mine told me if i use wireless router .. anyone near my house (if the signal from the router reaches) can use their notebook and search for wifi signal and use my Internet access ? Is that possible ? any way to protect this ?

I am totally new to security and networking ... what i need now is a book titled " security for dummies " - that will suit me right !!

cheers guys !!

If you don't take steps to lock your WIFI signal, then passers by can use your internet access. They will also be able to look inside any shared folders on your network (and add or delete things, depending on your folder permissions). Anyone connected to the WIFI is effectively part of your LAN.

There's a few easy ways to stop this:

* You can encrypt the WIFI signal. That model (and probably most others) offer both WEP and WPA encryption. Use WPA if your notebook allows (WEP is easy to break).

* Turn off your SSID (stops the router advertising its presence so badly).

* Turn on MAC address filtering (you can tell the router to only allow computers with a unique MAC number to connect).

None of this is perfect but it is more than enough to keep out 'normal' people. The details are all easily googlable, but contact me if you get stuck.

thank you , Crushdepth

I'm using a Belkin and my password is encrypted for added security.