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Mobo dying .... suggestions please on upgrading my system ...

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dk70:
Sometimes that is all one can do. I have a little Netgear router myself but when I had to get some wireless stuff for a friend I went with Linksys. Some months ago but popular opinion was not in favor of Netgear. Any in the WRT54 series are better so I read http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1115416939789&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

Ok so we can add NET setup to major pains in the butt when getting new computer. Ram and net then.

1-2 years ago Netgear had a very active userforum, not any more. Bad sign. Now you can sign up for a membership but I dont really see the benefit. 

Carol Haynes:
1-2 years ago Netgear had a very active userforum, not any more. Bad sign. Now you can sign up for a membership but I dont really see the benefit. 
-dk70 (November 18, 2006, 08:59 PM)
--- End quote ---

I agree as their online help stinks - I had over a month of "Hello my name is XXXX. I can't help but I know a man who can - he will contact you shortly". I did get contacted but only to ask for details I had already supplied. The only troubleshooting advice they gave was try the card in a different computer!

Actually I move to NetGear because I didn't have an altogether smooth experience with LinkSys. My router (WAG54g) dropped internet connections a lot and to use a computer upstairs I needed a booster antennae on PCI cards and a range expander. At the time they only did one which only supported WEP security and was a pig to set up. I have to say the WiFi PCI cards were good though. I also bought a LinkSys printer sharer which worked OK but only gave minimal support to printers (so most of the options in the Canon printer utilities window didn't work properly - such as ink levels and paper out). All in all Linksys didn't impress me too much with the quality of thought that went into products.

I put all my old Linksys stuff for sale on Amazon Marketplace and sold the lot.

Having bought NetGear 802.11n router and PCI cards I actually made a profit on the deal! (I bought 2 Router/PCI card packs from overlcolckers which were cheaper than the PCI cards on their own, and sold one of the routers for nearly list price - which was what I paid for the combination).

Even running my main computer at the moment via a cable to the router I am getting much faster speeds with the NetGear stuff and my internet connection is rock solid.

Carol Haynes:
A happy ending - and a new support beginning (HELP) ... why is nothing ever simple?

Well I was impressed - scorchingly fast turnaround from Netgear. They sent a courier to collect the WiFi card and sent a replacement USB based device within 48 hours. I was impressed !!!

The USB device is dinky and works well - my network connection is now solidly at 270Mbps. My only criticism is that the USB2 chord is very short (barely 2 feet long) which is ridiculous. Only that I have it plugged into a USB hub on my desktop it would normally be buried behind my desk - not an ideal location for WiFi reception!!

Anyone know if it is possible to extend USB2 cables with an extension cable without causing headaches?

As part of my big purchase I decided to use a couple of 120Gb WD Caviar drives as 'network storage' and bought a Netgear SC101 box to put the drives in. It then connects to the router via a LAN cable and the drives can be partitioned (and even mirrored) from network clients. Partitions can be private or shared and you can opt to password protect content. All seems ideal and indeed I was really impressed with the ease of use - switch on an Explorer shows up a new disc drive.

Problems arose though when I re-installed NOD32 antivirus - now when I start windows the SC101 drivers crash out and unfortunatelyt have a big knock on effect on the system which has to be restarted in safe mode and the SC101 drivers removed. The driver service for the netgear device (Zetera Service) faults and wants to send a fault log to MS but the faulting module is IMON.DLL (according to the log file) so obviously they don't play very well together (which is a great shame). I have reported the problem to ESET(NOD32) and Netgear so I can only hope a solution is found. In the meantime can anyone recommend a free lightweight AV solution I could try until the NOD32 problems can be resolved?

Just to check the issue I installed the Netgear drivers on another system with NOD32 and experienced the same problems.

mouser:
FWIW, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the best action is to acquire a new machine and hope to get 2 (maybe 3) years out of it before a combination of obsolescence and desire for new toys moves it down the chain, to be replaced by another. 
  Thus, a brand new machine becomes my main machine; my main machine turns into reserve box 1; reserve box 1 goes to my wife (who has absolutely no interest in a machine for its own sake and wants only a minimal, stable platform); my wife's box turns into back-up machine; backup machine goes to wherever seems like a good idea at the time
--- End quote ---

chris' solution is the one most used in my family as well.

dk70:
About the AV I think you are stuck with Avast if you want HTTP scanning. Dont think there is much difference between the same old free versions from AVG, Avira, Avast - Avira seems to be moving fast though - nice pricing too. Avast is still the most complete package, most features and options.

AOL have a free AV based on Kaspersky engine, some dont like EULA but could be the most "secure". http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=142224&highlight=active+shield+AV

I searched "imon zetera" and ran into a post about compatibility problems similar to yours. Was from 2005 so may be not easy to solve.

Seems Netgear have relaunched userforums http://forum1.netgear.com/index.php

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