Help me: What do you want in a router? 2 1/2yrs later I'm finally doing it!

[1101]

my 2c

- in wifi : allow WirelessN only , or G&N (ie no B) . Ive not seen anything like 'allow G but not B' .
- some sort of parent app to restrict kids ph/pc internet access to time and/or data allowance.
- on one of the main screen's : connect speed & uptime , and clearly shows if sucessfully logged in (to internet ) or not
- easy to setup port forwarding, that actually works

- and if we are talking hardware, then LED's that are clearly labled, with on/off (green/red), not blinking . As noted above 1 LED that shows connected/not connected

[Chilling_Silence]

my 2c

- in wifi : allow WirelessN only , or G&N (ie no B) . Ive not seen anything like 'allow G but not B' .

Yeah, that's always seemed kinda pointless to me, why stop a device from using something faster? The router supports N-Wireless, and G-Wireless, so why prevent people connecting on 802.11n?
This _forces_ 802.11b/g/n, all of them the router can handle

- some sort of parent app to restrict kids ph/pc internet access to time and/or data allowance.

Yeah I think that's going to come in handy with the "Device naming" function. Name a device once and it's named for good, sorta thing... Can then add in those other Quotas or Time-restrictions if desired.
I like that, but I think that'll be a feature I work on later

- on one of the main screen's : connect speed & uptime , and clearly shows if sucessfully logged in (to internet ) or not

OK so rather than having a "Status" page like that, just show it right on the main-screen?

- easy to setup port forwarding, that actually works

Yeah perhaps have the ability to select the device from a drop-down list, using the name, rather than remembering IPs etc.... Will have to put that under Advanced, of course, but I think we're on the right track that port-forwarding could be easier.

- and if we are talking hardware, then LED's that are clearly labled, with on/off (green/red), not blinking . As noted above 1 LED that shows connected/not connected

Unsure how easily I can do that, but I'll have a play with device-lights

Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming!

[1101]

Yeah, that's always seemed kinda pointless to me, why stop a device from using something faster? The router supports N-Wireless, and G-Wireless, so why prevent people connecting on 802.11n?
This _forces_ 802.11b/g/n, all of them the router can handle

what I really meant was an option to just block WirelessB , (or Block B & G) , because if a single old B device connects the whole lots drops to B (supposedly)
Not many wirelessB devices around now though , so maybee not a big deal.

wifi pass setup: have less options ? so you are given WPA2 as the main/only option . Not much point offering an easily cracklable/hackable wifi pass option.

ADSL : have preconfigured drop down login/setup options to suit Spark, vodafone etc. As some do now

[Chilling_Silence]

Food for thought about the 802.11b vs the rest, I'll have a mulling over and do a bit of research
I don't believe anybody actually bothers with restricting things, and like you say there's not really many only 802.11b devices around.

I was allowing WPA coz I think that some older devices, such as an older model Nintendo DS, only support WPA, not WPA2, but even so I'm contemplating just dropping that too.
Otherwise, it's just WiFi Name (SSID) and Password. Could work I suppose?

ADSL, this device won't currently work with it, it's for UFB only, but that's something I'm keeping in mind for future planning. All use the VPI / VCI of 0 / 100, so it's just "Username and password" really for devices sold in NZ.

I really like the thinking about the WiFi, I'll look into that more!

[linw]

I back 1101 wanting "clearly labelled" LEDs. Frustrating on the phone trying to help someone when neither of you know what the symbols mean!

[gary67]

You need a better password on your WiFi though

[Greg]

Crikey... I'm looking forward to reading Charles Dickens' entire volumes than all the above!

[BBCmicro]

a very small point - the device should clearly tell the user that there are two things in the box: a router and a wireless access point (or 3 if it includes a modem). It's an important bit of education for some of us

(I bought a wireless bridge that was supposed to plug into a "modem" according to the blurb. Except that my modem was just a bare modem and the bridge didn't work.)

The wifi on my router/AP possibly conflicts with the AP function of my wireless bridge so it's good that the modem has a setting to disable it

[Chilling_Silence]

You need a better password on your WiFi though

^_^

Crikey... I'm looking forward to reading Charles Dickens' entire volumes than all the above!

Just make a suggestion on what you'd prefer to see / not see in a router then ?

[Chilling_Silence]

a very small point - the device should clearly tell the user that there are two things in the box: a router and a wireless access point (or 3 if it includes a modem). It's an important bit of education for some of us

OK cool that's some good feedback! I can understand!