I just bought a nice netbook on Woot!, an Asus with XP and a 160 gig drive.
Naturally, I want to set up a Wi-Fi connection in the house. I had something called a Wireless Access Point and a USB LAN adapter, but it seemed that I needed a router as well, so I let my friend talk me into going to BrandsMart, a place noted for some low prices and really ignorant salespeople.
They only had Belkin routers, which means to me that the $37 I paid for this thing was too much. But I doubt that I could have saved more than $10 or so. At any rate, the BMart salesman tells me that this N150 router is not only faster than the G model, but it is faster than a direct wired connection from the DSL Modem.
I tell him, "I can see how a device might make the datastream SLOWER than what is coming out of the modem, but I cannot comprehend how it could possibly be FASTER: How can a downstream device possibly increase the flow coming out of an upstream device?"
The Salesman, a typical BMart type, says "Technology".
At any rate, the device works. In the event that one buys a Belkin Router, the 877 support number plays bouncy Charlie's Angels-type synthisizer jazz music, and will do so for 45 minutes at least. The 800 number gets you a typical Indian tech support woman who is uncertain of how spell common English first names, but eventually, I did get it to work. The netbook is great, at least a good buy with a six-cell battery that reviers claim will last seven hours for $235 delivered.
Question, is it possible for a router to stream data faster than the DSL modem that is supplying it?
If so, how?