My Netgear wireless router has apparently died. No lights are coming on the router. It's simply emitting a high-pitched noise.

Any recommendations? Are we happy with Netgear? It only seemed to last 2 years. I need something easy to setup between my Mac upstairs and a Windows XP laptop downstairs. Something with good, distant reception and speed.

Could I have killed it? There were storms last night so I unplugged the surge protector from the wall, but I didn't turn it off first. So when I plugged the wall plug in, everything in the surge protector went on at once. Could I have overloaded the router somehow?

This is a great annoyance, as it took me a long time to get the router setup between Windows and my Mac.

What about getting an Airport Extreme? If my Intel imac has "built-in Airport Extreme" (according to everymac.com) do I still need to buy a router or can I connect as is?

I haven't had any personal experience with Netgear, but I have a lot of friends who use them without any particular problems.

If you are connecting more than one device (computer, printer, scanner, etc.) to the network you still need a router. The Airport in your Mac can serve as a router, but that requires the Mac to be up and running anytime any device needs to use the network and in my experience the range is not great. I personally would not recommend it.

I have had good service from both Airport Extreme base stations and Airport Express. Either will work depending on your network needs. My Airport Extreme and the DSL modem it is connected to are both powered though an uninterruptible power supply so I can maintain internet service through a power outage. Probably overkill on my part, but I had a spare UPS and thought, "Why not use it"?

I've used Linksys and Netgear without difficulty. I have had several problems with two different D-Link routers; that's the only brand I stay away from.

it's very possible the power pack has died. Those little black bricks are well-known to die young. I've had three bite the dust in the last six months over here on two ext hard drives and one switch.

The hardware makers are slowly gravitating toward a sort of standard of a few common combinations, making it easier to find replacement packs and equivalent packs. Look around and see if you have one that you can substitute for testing. Odds are better than fair that you have a pack that will work, especially if you have a selection.

There are five attributes you need to match up:
- physical compatibility; the size and shape of the plug
- ac or dc. most small electronics are now dc. important
- polarity. very important.
- voltage. very important.
- current. you need to meet or beat what you had

You can look on the power pack or the hardware to see what the requirements are. Almost all packs have this information on them. (UL requirement?) and most hardware do also.

AC is usually symbolized with ~. DC is a straight line ----- and then a dashed line below it - - - -

Polarity refers to the + and - on the connector. Usually there's a picture that shows the center and the ring around it, and there's a line extending from each to a + or -. The connector could be said to be "center positive" or "center negative". (or "tip" instead of "center") AC packs do not have polarity. Rarely, center positive is simply marked "CP".

Voltage is always numeric. 7.5 and 12 for example. Often followed by "VDC" or "VAC", indicating "volts DC" or "volts AC", which may be included instead of the above ac/dc pictogram. Sometimes just "V" and you have to look for the ac/dc as above. But will always say "vdc", "vac", or "v".

Current is also numeric but can include various units. "70mA" for 70 milliamps. "0.3A" would be 0.3 amps, or 300 milliamps. Sometimes they indicate watts instead of amps though, in which case you'll see something like "15W" for 15 watts. In either case, the pack you are going to try to use to replace the existing one needs to be rated the same or higher amps or watts.

You cannot hurt your equipment with too many watts/amps, as they are supplied on-demand. But you almost certainly will FRY your equipment if you provide too many volts or the wrong polarity.

Every external hard drive I have here (about a dozen from many makers) runs 12VDC CP same size connector, but they vary in the current their pack provides.

I just RMA'd an airport that was whining. In its case the pack was fine but the airport was bad. Your odds are about 70/30 for a bad router if it's whining. (and not the pack)

I've been googling.

There are some complaints about Airport Extreme not working with Windows XP. If I spend $180 on a router that doesn't work, it's going through the window.

give me a little notice, and I'll be out in the yard with my catcher's mitt.

I too had a Netgear router (the MIMO style, antenna-free with the blue lights) die after less than two years. However, I was so pleased with its signal strength and their support whenever I had questions and ease of set-up that I went out and bought a new one. They are relatively cheap now (around $59) and this second one is still working, going on two years.

I've been very happy with Belkin N1. It is now fairly cheap.

I couldn't find that $59 Netgear router.

Am I looking for a "g" router or an "n" router?

"g" and "n" routers refer to the particular version of the 802.11 protocol supported by the router. 802.11n is up to five times faster than 802.11g, but your computer and other devices must also support 802.11n to take advantage of the speed increase. 802.11n is backward compatible with 802.11g and the even older 802.11b protocols, but as the 802.11n protocol standard has not yet been finalized there may be compatibility issues with some devices.

For guaranteed compatibility but at a distinct penalty in network speed go with 802.11g. If all of your network devices (computers, printers, etc.) are 802.11n compatible, I would go with 802.11n but purchase it from a dealer with a liberal return policy in case there are compatibility issues. But that is just my opinion. You will have to make your own decision.

Note: the current Airport Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule are Dual band, in other words they simultaneously run 802.11n and 502.11b/g thereby eliminating any potential compatibility issues and allowing 802.11n devices to run at full speed.

Not to promote any particular retailer, but last Sunday Best Buy had it in the newspaper ads. It is the "MIMO" version (Netgear nomenclature), but it is a ".g" router.

I went to Best Buy and got the $39 Netgear g router. It turns out to be the same one I had before.