any wireless N (non draft) routers worth getting yet?

[spidey07]

so your clients will roam without packet loss when moving from one zone to another?

Of course, why wouldn't they? Done right roaming is under 50 ms without the need for a re-auth. We do voice and video over wireless without problem. But you have to control the spectrum really well.

Sure it's inherently flaky but it designed and installed well it works well. Provided noise sources don't crop up after you've eliminated them. But the system tells you and locates noise for you anyway.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/802.11n-wireless-router-access-point,2605.html


aw crap, are these still N drafts?

 

[Krazy4Real]

How much are you looking to spend? I have the Netgear WNDR3700. I love being able to stream 1080p wirelessly to a Cisco/linksys gaming and video adapter that I have over the 5ghz spectrum. 802.11g is very crowded in my neighborhood and there is nobody around me using the 5ghz spectrum. Super reliable and good performance boost over G. The throughput is not what I expected it to be, but it is more than enough for streaming.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

budget isn't really the main issue, though I'd like to keep it under $100.
i just don't like using unofficially supported hardware/software.

 

[Krazy4Real]

You may want to check out the different routers now. The Netgear website has updated the certification image at the bottom of the wndr3700 page to show that it is 802.11n certified. I'm sure others will follow suit with their flagship routers.

http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/WirelessNRoutersandGateways/WNDR3700.aspx

 

[mdcrab]

Possibly one of the Linksys/Cisco routers?
Specs do not say Draft or +, just straight 802.11n

Links to Specs are located in thus thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2070062&highlight=linksys

mdcrab

 

[lstratos]

Not really..

http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA7644 - says v1 under model number and certification as draft N, unless theres a newer v2 model..

Bottom of the netgear page

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Rou...dGateways/WNDR3700.aspx?detail=Specifications

NETGEAR makes no express or implied representations or warranties about this product’s compatibility with any future standards. “N”, “Wireless-N” and “draft 802.11n” refer to compliance with IEEE 802.11n draft specification version 2.0 only.

 

[lstratos]

Heres a few, I only heard of actiontec/asus/buffalo... didn't look through the whole thing but search for 2010 and I can't even find these online for sale

Asus 3/16
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA8819

Actiontec
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA8773 - Does not say DRAFT N and certified 4/22.. a few days ago

Aprotech - certified 4/15
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA8780

Access point
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA8838

Buffalo - dual band WHR-AGS300H
http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA8775

 

[JackMDS]

Heres a few, I only heard of actiontec/asus/buffalo... didn't look through the whole thing but search for 2010 and I can't even find these online for sale..........

That is why I keep telling people to wait.

If One can not wait and need a Router Now. Getting an Asus500gU, and flashing it with DD-0WRT is an intreme solution for $33.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-023-_-Product

Streaming Wireless HD? It is a psychological problem.

I never heard about some one that his/her life is in any trouble if they would stream the Wireless in None HD format for the near future.

 

[sime0n]

Hi jack

do you think its worth it to wait for a good N router if I am currently looking for a router. I don't want to drop 60 on the buffalo you recommend if a good N router will be out for 100 soon..

 

[Emulex]

wrt610n is good. older apple extreme are good

 

[sime0n]

well i ended up just going with the Buffalo for my in-laws home as the N routers are not finalized yet. i couldn't decide on an n router that would be worth it and actually future proof. i think i'll flash it with tomato and leave it at that as i'm pretty n00b at these things.

 

[Emulex]

yeah N is like powerline networking - in a perfect world its awesome - but we live in a crowded un-perfect world - so it tends to suck.

i upgraded to docsis 3.0 on comcast - it bonds 4 channels down (120mbps+) and uses the same upstream 5mbps+ ; if one channel dropped; it had to retrain all 4 channels - this took 4x longer than the single channel docsis 2.0 uses - so what does this have to do with N?

N is bonding as well. when channel bonding breaks the retrain time is longer - and more apparent - up to twice as much time. outage time. usually 100% packet loss. (in the case of docsis the time retrain was up to 4x longer, 1min+).

with new technology there are new problems and the comfort you had with a good G router - you might lose some of that for the sake of PEAK SPEED you trade RELIABILITY.

me i'd take 20megabit at 100% packet over 100megabit at 95% packet because that 5% would drive me bat-sheot crazy

 

[sime0n]

would love to revisit this topic 3 months later. have there been any updates? any N routers worth getting now?

 

[Peabody]

Me too, simeOn. How about an update JackMDS? Thanks

 

[jjmIII]

Dlink DIR-655

 

[spidey07]

Dlink DIR-655

That's not a 802.11n router. Draft only.

 

[Emulex]

dude N is b/s. i have a nice WUSB600 sitting about 30 feet from a WRT600N configured by moi command line - latest brainslayer beta and it eventually drops to 65mbps after the noise. its 30ft through a firebreak (concrete) so 5ghz = 1 bar; lovely.

65mbps steady. or i can force it to G and get 54mbps.

iirc the 600 series is mimo

 

[jjmIII]

That's not a 802.11n router. Draft only.

No shit. Didn't notice that before .

Plays great with my two Draft lappys .

 

[VirtualLarry]

dude N is b/s. i have a nice WUSB600 sitting about 30 feet from a WRT600N configured by moi command line - latest brainslayer beta and it eventually drops to 65mbps after the noise. its 30ft through a firebreak (concrete) so 5ghz = 1 bar; lovely.

65mbps steady. or i can force it to G and get 54mbps.

iirc the 600 series is mimo

I'm convinced that DD-WRT is br0ke in terms of N speeds. Lots of reports across different routers, of factory firmware that gives them reasonable N connect speeds (270Mbit/sec reported, and good throughput for streaming), and DD-WRT ALWAYS seems to connect at 65Mbit/sec. At least that's been my experience as well, with two different routers, and various builds of DD-WRT.

 

[Vincent]

I have had to do some tweaking of the dd-wrt settings to achieve higher speeds.

Draft 2 802.11n is consistent with 802.11n. So in many cases there's no real difference between the final and draft 802.11n.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

still no retail non-draft N routers?

 

[phillyTIM]

Nowadays you'll probably want to get a router that has IPv6, especially since the move to IPv6 is on full-force from major websites and service providers.

Before someone around here says that there aren't many routers that support IPv6, that is true. But more routers should be coming available and more manufacturers SHOULD be making them available. WNDR3700 already has firmware available that supports IPv6 and WNDR3700v2 & APPLE AIRPORT EXTREME routers already support IPv6 out of the box.

 

[JackMDS]

I would worry so much about it it will take few more years until lack of IPv6 can seriously affect End-Users.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

i can hear it now. will IPv6 make the pages on the intertubes faster?