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[ManiSingh]

Hey, basically I'm thinking of buying a DIR-855, but I have my internet is ADSL2+ not DSL. Which is the best modem to buy? One of the main reasons I'm buying this router is because of the dual band 2.4 Ghz and 5.0 Ghz. I have a PS3 and a XBOX 360 that will be using the 5.0 GHz band. They will be connected via a wireless N bridge - DAP-1522. Secondly, transfer speeds between my computers are very important. This router has gigabit connections, however since I am in need of a secondary modem, will that affect my gigabit speeds? I think the answer is no as the modem is only serving as a modem and the CAT6 wire will be connected from my PC to the router but I just need this to be confirmed. The controller I am using in my PC is a Marvell Yukon PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller, will this bottleneck my speed?

I will also be hooking up a NAS with it - Synology DiskStation DS710+. This will be connected to the router of course but I think I won't have enough ports at the back of the router. One will be used for my PC, one for the NAS, one for my dads PC, and one for the printer. When I connect the modem to the router, will the modem take up a gigabit port?

Thanks,
Mani

[MrC]

Some general comments to help guide your selections.

* Your modem / adsl version won't matter.  They drop an Ethernet port for your downstream devices.  The router/adsl will reach gigabit speeds on the WAN anyway.  The devices will all connect to each other w/out degrading the negotiated speed.   In general, devices on the ends will negotiate or delay transmission to fit the pipe size.

* If you need more gigabit ports to allow gigabit-to-gigabit, get a switch.  The DIR-855 has 4 gigabit ports which can be used.  Use one port to connect to an additional switch if you need more, connecting devices to that switch.  Arrange the layout such that the devices which have highest requirements are on the same switch if possible, but it won't matter much most likely.

* Be sure to update the firmware to the latest for your region (EU, US).  Early versions had ... issues.

* Don't worry much about the PCs NIC.  If/when you've measured various Ethernet performance characteristics of the critical paths, then you can determine if your current hardware is insufficient.  Measure, then optimize.

* The cable category is generally a necessary condition (and not a sufficient one) to allow rated speeds to be achieved.  Cat6 has great capacity than you'll use, but that's ok.

* If you connect your modem to the DIR's WAN port (which is likely what you'll do), you still have 4 LAN ports.

[ManiSingh]

Hey thanks for your reply, that has answered a few questions I had. I'm probably going to purchase the router along with DSL 320B.