Quote from paulxx:
Traders who want a robust and reliable wireless router should go for the tried and trusted rather than the latest and greatest.
A tech's choice of router would generally be the Linksys and also the Netgear DG834G.
The reason is they have a large number of users and by now all the bugs have been ironed out. They will work no problem also with non-standard settings like from AOL broadband.
Wireless N sounds great but many routers have not ironed out bugs. Also you need a well matched router/adapter pair. The wireless may work great with one adapter and not connect with another. If you want a standard laptop to work with its inbuilt wireless, then stick to the wireless g standard (54Mbps). Your broadband connection is likely to be 8Mbps max and your trading data bandwidth use is only going to be a few K, so there is still plenty of headroom.
Wireless range is handled best by positioning the router well. If you have enough space around you and/or have known/trusted neighbours you will get some speed, responsiveness and signal strength improvement by leaving the wireless unencrypted.
This always sends geeks into fits, but I leave the wireless open for many home customers without problems. Unless you are a targeted company, the likelihood of a white van spending hours outside your house to hack your computer is far less than a burglar breaking in and stealing the computer. You can know easily if a neighbour is hogging your connection by the lights on the router going rapidly when your system is shut down. Then you would need to lock it down. Also extremely unlikely, but if you download via P2P having an open wireless can be a defence - it could be a neighbour with a laptop who downloaded that 49 year old movie.
Also I see no point going for expensive Cisco routers, good as they may be. You may need help to set it up initially and then wait for the mail order if it did go down. A home Netgear or Linksys can last years and are easily set up. If it goes down you can get a replacement over the counter at a nearby computer store immediately.