Wireless N Router advice needed

[Mucho_MPG]

Hey guys,

I currently have a home network consisting of two laptops (my wife and I) connected to a wireless G router. Our laptop wireless cards are the built in ones from the factory (HP) and are the wireless G standard.

Our G router broke after a lot of use and now I am looking for its replacement.

Should I go to the wireless N routers now, or wait until the standard is adopted officially?

I have read all of the reviews for the N routers and I have it narrowed it down to a few models.

I know I will not pick up any speed gains with an N router and G wireless cards in our laptops, but I am looking toward the future. I want to increase the signal range and I think this N standard is the way to go.

Can you guys offer some advice here?

thanks!

 

[tropic]

8002.11G NAT routers are so cheap right now I would probably grab that over an N model, especially if I didn't have any other N gear.

 

[JohnBrowning]

This is what I think you should do. Get a Linksys WRT600 it is a true dual band router. Set it up so your G legacy systems operate on the 2.4Ghz band just like they always have. Set the N componets to use the 5Ghz band wich is no problem for them since N use's can use both bands. This will keep you legacy stuff happy and your N stuff happy and you will not have to degrade those new systems with built in N down to the G standard. As far as I know only Linksys WRT600 is true dual band where their are two different radio's on two different freq. that can operate independintly at the the same time. The rest make you chose on band or the other. Now as you upgrade your system to all N gear you can then use both the 2.4Ghz band and the 5Ghz band together for what it called channel bonding and that will make the N features and function absolutely off the chart!

Make sure you laptops do not have a card like PCIe card for the wifi. If they do you can change thouse out rather easily but the N type of internal card use's three antena's where the old G used 1-2 so you would have torun another antena up behind your monitor. Their is also the N USB type adapter and PCMCIA and Express slot adapters as well so you can go to N onthose laptops if you want to.

I opted for the Dell N type card on my recent laptop and I am glad I did. I get 24-54Mps when I link up to G networks all the time but when I hook up to N networks I get about 108Mps on average. I am usualy in my car or in a coffee house etc so it is not like I am sitting in some ideal setting. In theory though I can get 300Mps. The $15 I paid to upgrade to the N card ws worth every peny!

I believe NewEgg.com has the WRT600 for sale at $156. I almost got one yesterday. I am holding off until I get my lastest PC built since I can not afford to have two projects going at once. That is the one I am going to get though. If the standard changes a firm ware reflash is all it will take the hardware can already do anything that they would consider in the future. Plus the WRT600 will allow me to have a stand alone drive to share on the network with anyone I give access to. This means that all my laptops and desk tops will be able to share information. It does not have a print server on it though wich is a bit disapointing but it has the most pang for the buck of any of the ones I looked at. The other N types even if they did have the 5Ghz band would not allow you to use the 2.4 and 5 Ghz at the same time you had to choose one or the other.

The 5 Ghz is a real treat if you live someplace with a lot of cordless phones,microwaves or a lot of older wifi systems around since almost no one has one yet that means lots of clear bandwidth for you. It works great for streaming video as well!

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

I see no benefit in getting an N based router unless you have bandwidth coming in that is high enough to gain full use, or you are doing massive wireless file sharing (but then your built in cards are going to limit that). Wireless G routers are cheap and official, so go with one of those.

If you truly want an N router, then wait until it is official.

 

[chuckerants]

I'd like to how one breaks a router?

 

[OVERKILL]

The ASUS WL-500W is a great router and runs Linux.

I abhor Linksys products. I have so many dead ones kicking around that I've "retired" from client's places that I literally have been giving them to my kids to play with.

Do NOT confuse the quality of Cisco with the quality of Linksys, they are on two completely different ends of the quality spectrum, regardless of the Cisco logo appearing on those linksys devices.....

I've uses ASUS's previous (WL-566gM) MIMO router, and with a MIMO card, it connects at 240Mbit. More than twice as fast as non-MIMO N. ASUS's WL-500W is also a MIMO router and is capable of negotiating a 270Mbit connection with a MIMO-capable card.

It also has a pile of potentially useless features like a download master, camera server, print server....etc.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=1&model=1277&l1=12&l2=43&l3=0&l4=0

 

[JohnBrowning]

OverK1ll I looked at the Asus Wl-500W and that was my first choice but I have a lot of 2.4Ghz trafic in my area both routers and cordless phones. The lack of dual band kind of turned me off. I do like all the features though you talked about. I would never get a G router because that is yesterdays technology and is being phased out that would be like buying a Beta video machine after VHS had won the war. It is only a matter of time. For me being able to have two different bands to seperate old tech versus the new tech. is killer selling point. The fact that their is so much less traffic in the 5Ghz spectrum is a huge deal.

Let me ask you OverKill just sto make sure I read the specifications right. The Asus WL-500W does not have the aility to transmit or recive trafic on 5Ghz correct just the 2.4Ghz of the old G format????? I do not have any G devices currently all my stuff is N and supports MIMO and such as well. In fact all of my stuff has Brodcom chipsets.

If I could find another truly dual band N router I would consider buying it. Netgear does not make one,Trendt does not make one,Asus does not make one and SMC does not either. If Buffalo ever gets out of court and can start selling stuff in the USA I will buy one from them ! In fact I would love to find someone in another country like European EU or Japan that could buy a Buffalo N type router and let me pay them with paypal or wire transfer etc........

 

[JohnBrowning]

Oh anyone that does buy a new roter G or N type if you are coumputer savy go to dd-wrt just google it. It is a third party firm ware developer and it will add a full suite of functions to most routers and it will also improve stability and performance.It works with most of Broadcoms chip sets and some of Anthros's!

 

[JohnBrowning]

Oh one more thing the reason I do not get as much speed as I would like sometimes when useing N has to do witht he secuirity setting at the few places I go that have N functionality. If they would WPA2 it would not effect the speed at all but all the other forms of protection kill draft n's performance!!! I have never gotten more the 54Mbs at any free wifi hotspot etc... Too much trafic and too much rfi noise etc....Your 270Mbs must have been on your own private network b3ecause I do not run into MIMO equiped hot spots for some reason??? It would be nice!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Oh one more thing the reason I do not get as much speed as I would like sometimes when useing N has to do witht he secuirity setting at the few places I go that have N functionality. If they would WPA2 it would not effect the speed at all but all the other forms of protection kill draft n's performance!!! I have never gotten more the 54Mbs at any free wifi hotspot etc... Too much trafic and too much rfi noise etc....Your 270Mbs must have been on your own private network b3ecause I do not run into MIMO equiped hot spots for some reason??? It would be nice!


Yes, my own personal equipment.

I have the option of 20Mhz and 20 or 40Mhz for my wireless for bandwidth purposes.

It is listed as supporting 2.4 and 2.5Ghz, no mention of 5Ghz on the website, but that hasn't been updated in a while. They could potentially add 5Ghz support via a firmware upgrade I would imagine.

It would be interesting to see how a real-life application of the Linksys vs the ASUS in performance would work out. Does the Linksys support MIMO? If not, the ASUS has the upper-hand, regardless of the multi-transceiver. I have had both N and G devices on my home WLAN and the performance is excellent.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Well I think the real advantage is being able to keep all your G stuff onthe 2.4 GHz band and move all you N devices to 5Ghz. This way you are not haveing to slow all the N stuff down to G in a mixed environment. You could also stream video or voip on the 5Ghz where their is less trafic and use the 2.4Ghz spectrum for data. Then their is that whole channel bonding deal where you use both but not segmented and segregated like I was talking about above!

the potential their that is for sure it is just a matter of more demads for it and more and more firm ware updates etc.....

I was not aware the Linksys was not on par with Big Brother Cisco! I was hopeing that it was just the retail arm of Cisco! Cisco equipment is just a bit too expensive for my little home network. I did look at it though. While I was in college I worked in Telcom industry installing preety sophisticated systems includeing fiber optic systems. It was so funny here I would be in a central office installing 1 million dollar componets for AT&T and right next to it would be a vacum tube analog device left over from WWII era still fully functional!

 

[CivicFan]

If the wireless cards are G and you have no intention of upgrading them any time soon, get a G router.

In a few years when N is the standard you will be able to get better N routers than what exist now. By then your laptops would be obsolete anyway so the new ones will probably come with internal N cards.

 

[Mucho_MPG]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Very quality things written on this board and I appreciate it.

Taking everything into account, I went ahead an ordered the Linksys WRT110 for 59 bucks at newegg.

The reviews I read said it was very fast, although not a true N. I also read the unit has excellent range. At 59 bucks, I figured what the heck. I'll report back its performance when I get it Saturday.

 

[JohnBrowning]

That why we are all here right? Second opimions and to bounces our thoughts off someone else etc??????? It's not like the wife or girlfriend or mistress etc.... wants to listen to their men talk cars or computers very often!!!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
If the wireless cards are G and you have no intention of upgrading them any time soon, get a G router.

In a few years when N is the standard you will be able to get better N routers than what exist now. By then your laptops would be obsolete anyway so the new ones will probably come with internal N cards.


Laptops have been coming with N-ready cards for quite some time now. Intel's 4965 is A/G/N and has been in all of the recent laptops I've sold.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Well I think the real advantage is being able to keep all your G stuff onthe 2.4 GHz band and move all you N devices to 5Ghz. This way you are not haveing to slow all the N stuff down to G in a mixed environment. You could also stream video or voip on the 5Ghz where their is less trafic and use the 2.4Ghz spectrum for data. Then their is that whole channel bonding deal where you use both but not segmented and segregated like I was talking about above!

the potential their that is for sure it is just a matter of more demads for it and more and more firm ware updates etc.....

I was not aware the Linksys was not on par with Big Brother Cisco! I was hopeing that it was just the retail arm of Cisco! Cisco equipment is just a bit too expensive for my little home network. I did look at it though. While I was in college I worked in Telcom industry installing preety sophisticated systems includeing fiber optic systems. It was so funny here I would be in a central office installing 1 million dollar componets for AT&T and right next to it would be a vacum tube analog device left over from WWII era still fully functional!


Cisco acquired Linksys, but they are still two completely different tiers of product quality. Linksys stuff is still as it always was; consumer-level products of mediocre quality. Cisco's stuff is still insanely high quality premium enterprise-grade equipment. But of course their prices (respectively) reflect that.

As I said, I would like to see a real-life throughput test of how that Linksys stacks up against the ASUS. I bet if MIMO was included in the picture, the ASUS would mop the floor with it.

I have been very impressed with the quality of the ASUS networking equipment. It's not Cisco, but it's very good. I have a few Cisco components kicking around, and have a few Cisco switches in deployments for clients. I've always liked their products.