D-Link is a good choice, too (I did get sort of Linksys-centric with that last post ). I don't have as much experience with their stuff, but I do use the same D-Link router that Pat has at home and it has served me well for almost 2 years now.

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Gonk

yup, the wireless is definetely an interesting option. you'll pay about double to go that route and you'll still have to run a cable to the IR1000 as it is not wireless ready. Overall I would say using CAT 5 cable is going to be your cheapest solution. It's a no brainer if your house is already wired for ethernet. And you can run both at the same time, just hook the wireless access point into your hardwired hub.
There are really a lot of great options for home networking. A couple opinions:
1. If you are going wireless stick with the 802.11b standard, it seems to have the most momentum, I would stay away from the HomeRF stuff.
2. If you're wiring I would go with ethernet and CAT-5 cable. I have no experience with the networks that run over your phone line, but my preference would be a dedicated data network for performance reasons.

my 2 cents

Thanks guys! After reading your posts and doing some online searches I think I'll probably pick myself up one of those D-link DI-704 units. D-link is running a special with a $20.00 mail in rebate for DI-704's purchased b/n now and March 31st. Buy.com seems to have the lowest price I can find among those supporting the rebate which means I can get one for a total of $51.95 plus shipping. See the details here .

Thanks again!

I've got one of the Linksys units... the one without the built-in hub. It works well, most of the time, but occasionally hangs. Mostly if I haven't used it in a while, but sometimes when I'm actually using it. Traffic just stops going through it, and it won't answer pings. Rebooting it (unplug, then plug) solves the problem.

I do leave all my PCs on 24/7 so it could just be that it wasn't designed to be running for an extended period of time.

Sometimes it'll hang twice in an hour, and sometimes it'll run for weeks before hanging. It's not too terribly annoying, since the fix is easy, so I never bugged tech support about it. YMMV.

I believe I have the same one. There is a new firmware upgrade available at the linksys site. Might fix your problem.

Kent

Hey -- I'll try that. Thanks.

LinkSys also has a nifty model with an 802.11b station in it.....

Surf from your sofa!

Charlie

Apple's got one of those, two. Works with circuitry built into all of their PCs & notebooks now. I'm thinking of upgrading my iMac and I might spring for one of those when I do.

Of course, ideally I'd have iMacs scattered around the house, so I'd never be away from Internet. And a notebook for when I wanted to surf from the couch. Of course, that would preclude spending money on things like the 950, the 770, food, the rent...