Routers without Wi-Fi for BT Infinity ?

Hi

Are there any routers out there suitable for BT Infinity that do not have any Wi-Fi hardware built in ? I'm not looking for routers that have Wi-Fi that can be disabled via the control panel.

Someone suggested the DrayTek Vigor 2920 but that's close to £200 and I don't need all those extra features.

Thanks

By wanting no wireless you are bucking the trend and tend to be restricted to the more expensive business ranges.

Any particular reason that makes the need to not have wireless in the router essential?

You will find simple Ethernet/cable routers that are cheap, but likely to be older models and not up to the challenge of handling a 100 Mbps PPPoE based connection.

Seems an odd request to be honest! You'll not find many without WiFi built in as it's kind of essential nowadays for phones tablets etc

I didn't mention why I don't want Wi-Fi because I didn't want to start a flame war but as you've bothered to reply, I'll advise that it's simply because there is still no conclusive evidence that Wi-Fi emissions are completely safe.

I know people may say that there are already Wi-Fi, 3G and goodness knows what else emissions in the house and that is true but when it comes to the health and safety of my family, I have the right to choose not to increase any potential risk. After all, doctors used to tell people to smoke tobacco, tell expectant women to eat liver, kids used to play in the dust outside asbestos factories, etc, etc.

Thanks

On all the wireless routers I've seen the aerials are screwed in when you set it up, they're not fixed in the manufacture.

If you turn the WiFi off on the GUI and don't mount the aerials, that should be enough to allay your concerns I think?

Security/health issues aside, it doesn't seem like an odd request to me: if one doesn't have a need for wireless then high quality routers might be less expensive than the equivalents that have a wireless capability?

If I wished to get a router to link to a fibre modem then I would certainly be considering a gigabit router without a wireless function since I only have desktop computers and devices on the network without wireless cards.

Yep this is true... If you have a family though presumably they use smartphones? If you aren't using WiFi on a mobile device they will have to use 3G to access data services which has a much higher transmit power than WiFi and is in my opinion more likely to lead to cancer etc. Also bear in mind that microwaves, cordless telephones, wireless baby monitors etc are just as bad. I see so many people saying their mobiles cause cancer whilst they're walking around using the cordless landline like it's 100% safe.

It's fairly understandable though

Thanks for the replies.

I agree with you about the other radiation. We used to have analogue cordless phones but now that DECTs seem to be the only option, we have a corded one

In reply to a post by 4M2:

Security/health issues aside, it doesn't seem like an odd request to me: if one doesn't have a need for wireless then high quality routers might be less expensive than the equivalents that have a wireless capability?

If I wished to get a router to link to a fibre modem then I would certainly be considering a gigabit router without a wireless function since I only have desktop computers and devices on the network without wireless cards.

As it happens, I've already got an MSI AP54G Wi-Fi access point (that I've had for many years and rarely use, and only for short periods if I do) so it would be duplication for me.

In reply to a post by netdudeuk:

As it happens, I've already got an MSI AP54G Wi-Fi access point (that I've had for many years and rarely use, and only for short periods if I do) so it would be duplication for me.

Good policy, only turn wireless on if and when you need it. I see people using ISP supplied routers, which by default have wireless enabled, and even though they don't need a wlan they don't turn wireless off from the router's GUI..

could you unlock the openreach modem, and set it into router mode?
then just use a switch to distribute to you network?

edit, this thread from last year details it, and a few other options.
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4109217-hua...

Edited by ggremlin (Fri 11-Oct-13 14:06:11)

http://www.box.co.uk/TP-LINK_TL-R460_Wired_Only_Cabl...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NetGear-FVS318GE-Netgear-Pro...

I played with something like the latter on two FTTC connections (it was a dual WAN version).

the BT hubs for infinity all have internal wifi antenna

I didn't know that, ta.

Another reason for not going with BT.

Nothing wrong with your train of thought. If you don't need the capability of a wireless router there is no need to have wireless radio emissions going around your house, a pretty logical request if you ask me!

And you are of course totally right, there is still no conclusive evidence that Wi-Fi emissions are totally safe.

http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/home-solutions/connect/ro...
less than £30 on amazon, does a decent job for me. I used a TP-LINK TLR460 before, but that was 4-5Mpbs slower than the D-LINK in speedtests

In reply to a post by ggremlin:

the BT hubs for infinity all have internal wifi antenna

The Technicolor and Netgear routers I have both allow me to disable Wifi. Does the BT Hub really not allow you do do this?

I don't know which BT hub teh OP has but all of those I have here - 4 different models all allow Wireless to be disabled.

Yep which is why I said it was a strange request at first. Then when I was told it was a perfectly normal request and people started discussing needing a router with removable antennas to disable the WiFi I just assumed that disabling it via the online interface must not fully stop emissions. So needing a non wifi router is still a strange request to me if it can be disabled as easily as I had assumed.

To do it go into 192.168.1.254, go into advanced, wireless and it can be turned off entirely. I still don't get why we need a router with removable antennas or one without a WiFi capability what so ever. To me WiFi is only emitting radiation if it's on...

Also is it only me with 14 wireless routers being picked up? I'm sat at my office desk in a window on my third floor. I'm detached too!! Seems pretty pointless in this day and age to go and use an entirely wired solution (as chances are it cant be that convenient) to then be shot-down by multiple neighbours wireless signals, cordless DECT phones and use the microwave daily. If I turn mine off I'm still sat here with 13 signals around me. The neighbours one is extremely strong - in fact stronger than mine and there's 6 of them living there so it's going to be very active.

Ever walked down the street with your DECT phone, you'd be surprised how far it goes! Mine must go a good 4/5 doors down (although it's in the front window) and it reaches beyond my back garden around 40m away without any trouble (at the furthest point it's not even breaking up) and 4 walls to pass through from front to back including 2 external walls... I bet 90% of houses use these and they seem to travel a lot further than WiFI.

I agree that in principle it's not been proven or disproven... Good luck trying to escape it though. I guess it's better to reduce it where possible.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sat 12-Oct-13 00:33:15)

Well Sky TV beams all over you from satellites, terrestrial TV can often run on indoor aerials. What about analogue or digital radio? What about radar from aircraft?

My weather-station base unit indoors picks up the radio clock - isn't that from Rugby?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

My weather-station base unit indoors picks up the radio clock - isn't that from Rugby?

If it's picking up MSF, the UK radio time signal, that signal comes from Anthorn in Cumbria since 2007. The Rugby VLF antenna was reduced from its original GBR configuration (the signal used to communicate with Royal Navy assets) after that service closed to a small core used solely for MSF. Once MSF transferred to Anthorn, the remaining part of the Rugby VLF antenna was demolished.

If the weather station is picking up DCF, that signal comes from Mainflingen, near Frankfurt am Main in Germany.


A much more accurate source of time than LF radio signals is GPS, which can easily manage time transfer to the order of tens of nanoseconds of accuracy with the correct receiver.

Edited by deleted (Sat 12-Oct-13 02:31:56)

In reply to a post by David_W:

The Rugby VLF antenna was reduced from its original GBR configuration (the signal used to communicate with Royal Navy assets)

It had some rather "interesting" power levels. The field strength over most of the UK was probably higher than that from a WAP at 25 metres!

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

... people started discussing needing a router with removable antennas to disable the WiFi ...

Not to disable it, just a "belt and braces" approach in case it were inadvertently re-enabled via the GUI, or by resetting the device to manufacturer's defaults.

Edited by billford (Sat 12-Oct-13 06:03:47)

In reply to a post by netdudeuk:

I didn't mention why I don't want Wi-Fi because I didn't want to start a flame war but as you've bothered to reply, I'll advise that it's simply because there is still no conclusive evidence that Wi-Fi emissions are completely safe.

I know people may say that there are already Wi-Fi, 3G and goodness knows what else emissions in the house and that is true but when it comes to the health and safety of my family, I have the right to choose not to increase any potential risk. After all, doctors used to tell people to smoke tobacco, tell expectant women to eat liver, kids used to play in the dust outside asbestos factories, etc, etc.

Thanks

Quite right too - unfortunately some here have not read this and decided to talk about it anyway instead of addressing your initial request.

My one point with regard to the routers people are quoting here is watch for the firewall throughput. The Draytek 2920 is 150Mbps. I have no idea what those quoted here are but you need to find out if you intend to go for a service with 40Mbps or higher. The chipsets in the cheaper options were never meant to cope with the throughput we use now and may therefore compromise your service.