ZyXel P-330WC Router - $14.99 (AR) CompUSA

[StormRider]

Looks like they are having this on sale again at CompUSA. It's gotten good reviews and supposedly can act as a wireless client (this allows you to turn a wired ethernet device into a wireless device) which makes it an even better bargain! I will probably get another one just for this useful feature (I have PC hardware addiction!)

ZyXel P-330WC

One thing I noticed is that the model number has a "C" at the end now. The ones I got earlier was model number P-330W. I hope they're the same.

 

[delsvr]

Link?

 

[Jassi]

Does anyone know how reliable the Mfr. rebate is?

 

[amdskip]

Cool, I bought this router last time they had a deal and got both rebates just fine. I'll take my chances again. The router works great btw.

 

[WraithETC]

I always get my rebates back from compusa.

 

[jmcoreymv]

I bought this router and it has problems for me when running torrents and it gets really slow and I have to reboot it.

 

[slothman]

Originally posted by: jmcoreymv
I bought this router and it has problems for me when running torrents and it gets really slow and I have to reboot it.

Yea well check out the specs, this thing has like 1MB flash/2MB ram or something like that. So of course its not going to be great for torrents. It may possibly be eventually, because the source code for the router is open source.

So you could hack together a distro for this router that would maximize the avail memory for connections. You would have very little memory left to implement any features though.

 

[jmcoreymv]

Originally posted by: slothman

Originally posted by: jmcoreymv
I bought this router and it has problems for me when running torrents and it gets really slow and I have to reboot it.

Yea well check out the specs, this thing has like 1MB flash/2MB ram or something like that. So of course its not going to be great for torrents. It may possibly be eventually, because the source code for the router is open source.

So you could hack together a distro for this router that would maximize the avail memory for connections. You would have very little memory left to implement any features though.

That would make sense then, but where did you find the spec saying it has 1MB flash/2MB ram? I didn't see it on Newegg's or the Manf site.

 

[LilKevin715]

The Zyxel P-330W actually has 2MB flash and 16MB of Ram , more info can be found here (original thread here).

1MB flash/2MB ram eh? Maybe you should do your research before you even post those numbers.

 

[lsman]

also got the 330 last time.
yes, it hangs sometimes when using torrent (not heavy...)
and its much hotter than any router I got (dlink, netgear, belink etc)
None of the router is warm to touch but this (actually, I will say its warmer than CPU, but less than a nf4 chipset. )

the strength is also lesser than the D-link 524 (but it fail after about half year so I don't want to go back to D-link)

 

[Souka]

Originally posted by: lsman
also got the 330 last time.
yes, it hangs sometimes when using torrent (not heavy...)
and its much hotter than any router I got (dlink, netgear, belink etc)
None of the router is warm to touch but this (actually, I will say its warmer than CPU, but less than a nf4 chipset. )

the strength is also lesser than the D-link 524 (but it fail after about half year so I don't want to go back to D-link)

The power adapter gets pretty hot too....well, very very warm....

 

[Qwest]

any other opinions on this router? parents need a router by this weekend, and I'm getting desperate.

 

[Monotaur]

I'm also interested in any further opinions. Has anyone used this as a client? I need to replace a dead D-Link bridge, and this would be a very cheap replacement...

Thanks!

 

[jmcoreymv]

I'd recommend spending a bit extra and getting a quality router. I've been burned several times now when purchasing low-quality wireless network products.

 

[StormRider]

I haven't actually used my ZyXEL yet but I have used it's "twin" as a bridge. The CompUSA 54mbps WirelessG router that I got uses the same Realtek chipset and also has 2 MB flash ROM and 16 MB RAM. The CompUSA seems to be an excellent bridge. In the month that I've used it, it's been rock solid. I would expect the ZyXEL to be just as good when used as a bridge.

 

[manly]

According to FW, there is a bunch of FAR (free after rebate) crap being offered. There's a parallel print server that would be useful with my older LaserJet, but I'd rather have the USB PS they had last time that I can't use!

 

[udonoogen]

can i use this for use on an xbox ... or my hauppauge media mvp? is this possible?

 

[Lyfer]

Hawking Wireless G router with 4 port switch, $29

Includes free s/h, I got one for my bro when it was $26. Works as advertised and I even had a little lan party with 3 ntbks connected battle.net (no lag or hicups) on a comcast 8mbps connection.

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: udonoogen
can i use this for use on an xbox ... or my hauppauge media mvp? is this possible?

Yes. In fact you can use it for both at the same time. You need to connect it to a PC first to set it up in bridge mode (station infrastructure) first though. But after that, you can use it for an xbox or hauppauge media mvp.

 

[Sindrome]

Please forgive my ignorence, but I know little of wireless routers and wish to ask a question. I have a second computer located in another part of my home that I wish to share internet DSL Verizon Online connection. If I buy this wireless routrer and cionnect it to my main computer with the DSL modem, is it then just a simple matter of buying a wireless network card and installing that in the second computer then configuring it for the ZyXel P-330WC Router? Would the Belkin brand wireless network card listed belowhere at work with this? Thanks for any help.

<A href="http://www.compusa.com/products/product...01438&Pn=Wireless_Desktop_Network_Card">Belkin Wireless Network Card</A>

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: Sindrome
Please forgive my ignorence, but I know little of wireless routers and wish to ask a question. I have a second computer located in another part of my home that I wish to share internet DSL Verizon Online connection. If I buy this wireless routrer and cionnect it to my main computer with the DSL modem, is it then just a simple matter of buying a wireless network card and installing that in the second computer then configuring it for the ZyXel P-330WC Router? Would the Belkin brand wireless network card listed belowhere at work with this? Thanks for any help.

<A href="http://www.compusa.com/products/product...01438&Pn=Wireless_Desktop_Network_Card">Belkin Wireless Network Card</A>

Yes, what you described is basically how it works.

You plug your DSL modem into the WAN port of the router. Then you can plug your main computer into one of the 5 LAN ports of the router. You use your main computer to set up things on your router by using your web browser.

Then you can buy any wireless card (such as the Belkin) and plug it into your spare computer and set things up with the wireless card to connect with the router. And then both your computers can share your broadband connection.

I have mix hardware in my network setup (Belkin as my main router, CompUSA router as a wireless bridge that connects to the Belkin, a Belkin wireless PCI card in one PC, and a CompUSA wireless USB adapter in another PC) and they all work great together.

 

[ofacto]

I love this thing, I use it as bridge to connect my Ps2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Replay TV to my wireless network. It does an excellent job as a wireless bridge, I haven't had ANY problems since I set it up 4 months ago (never had to reset it ever). The setup is a bit confusing, but you only have to do it once. For $15 AR its a steal.

 

[Sindrome]

Originally posted by: StormRider

Originally posted by: Sindrome
Please forgive my ignorence, but I know little of wireless routers and wish to ask a question. I have a second computer located in another part of my home that I wish to share internet DSL Verizon Online connection. If I buy this wireless routrer and cionnect it to my main computer with the DSL modem, is it then just a simple matter of buying a wireless network card and installing that in the second computer then configuring it for the ZyXel P-330WC Router? Would the Belkin brand wireless network card listed belowhere at work with this? Thanks for any help.

<A href="http://www.compusa.com/products/product...01438&Pn=Wireless_Desktop_Network_Card">Belkin Wireless Network Card</A>

Yes, what you described is basically how it works.

You plug your DSL modem into the WAN port of the router. Then you can plug your main computer into one of the 5 LAN ports of the router. You use your main computer to set up things on your router by using your web browser.

Then you can buy any wireless card (such as the Belkin) and plug it into your spare computer and set things up with the wireless card to connect with the router. And then both your computers can share your broadband connection.

I have mix hardware in my network setup (Belkin as my main router, CompUSA router as a wireless bridge that connects to the Belkin, a Belkin wireless PCI card in one PC, and a CompUSA wireless USB adapter in another PC) and they all work great together.

 

[Sindrome]

Thank you, StormRider, for your help. I'll probably be using it with an older Linksys WUSB11 wireless USB 1.1 network adapter instead of an internal PCI card since I don't really need sophisticated encryption or the standard 802.11g. Only 14.99 (USD) from here: <a href="http://3btech.net/liwuwi80usbn.html"</a>, unless someone can recommend something better in the same price range. Hopefully there won't be any compatibility issues or difficult set up.

 

[StormRider]

Originally posted by: Sindrome
Thank you, StormRider, for your help. I'll probably be using it with an older Linksys WUSB11 wireless USB 1.1 network adapter instead of an internal PCI card since I don't really need sophisticated encryption or the standard 802.11g. Only 14.99 (USD) from here: <a href="http://3btech.net/liwuwi80usbn.html"</a>, unless someone can recommend something better in the same price range. Hopefully there won't be any compatibility issues or difficult set up.

You might want to consider something that supports WPA or WPA2 since it is actually easier to set-up because with WPA you can enter a "phrase" as a password but with WEP, you typically have to enter a bunch of hex digits. From what I've read, you really should use WPA/WPA2 instead of WEP for security reasons. I can't tell from the description of the product whether that one supports WPA or not.

Too bad CompUSA is sold out of this one. I have it on one of my computers and I've been very happy with it.