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advice on access point purchase?

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schvenk   06-23-2006 at 08:21:30 PM

I've been reading various reviews of access points and routers and reached the point where I'm overwhelmed. Any help would be appreciated.

I have a primarily Mac-based home network. Each Mac has an internal AirPort Extreme 802.11g card in it. I've already got a wired router with NAT, so I don't really need router functionality in the access point, but I'm finding that the router/AP combos are often at least as inexpensive as the standalone APs. WPA would be nice, and beyond that I'm just looking for a decent quality device with excellent performance. I'd rather not have something I have to switch manually over to 802.11b compatibility mode, but if performance degrades a lot with the presence of 802.11b devices that's probably OK since that won't happen often. I'd like to spend $80USD or less.

Any recommendations or advice? Thanks.

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blue68f100   06-23-2006 at 10:34:20 PM
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I use a USR 5450 AP and it has a great range. This model is 2 yr old now, the newer model 5453 may be a over kill. Dlink, Netgear and Linksys all make AP's. Just make sure what ever you buy has High Gain (5dbi) antennas.

The problem with 11b is that it does not suport wpa. So your security will be weak to non existance with WEP. The experts say to run a seperate AP for 11b so you actually have 2 different zones.

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schvenk   06-24-2006 at 02:11:16 AM
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There also appears to be a USR 5451 for about $70 on Amazon. One thing that confuses me about the USR model and many of the others I've seen: It's not clear whether the advertised speed boosts require something beyond standard 802.11g on the other end. Since I'm not planning on buying anything other than the internal AirPort Extreme cards, the important benchmark is how the AP or router performs with regular 802.11g. Any clarification on that?

As to WPA vs. WEP, well, since there will rarely be 802.11b machines connecting and since many b/g APs do support WPA, I don't see it as a problem.

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blue68f100   06-24-2006 at 02:27:55 AM
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Any AP advertising speeds above 54 is using large packets. In order for this to work it must be supported on both ends.

My brothers powerbook would go out of its way to connect to my AP (USR). I was setting a system up for him. His router was in the room with the PB, Mine was 50ft away and 4 wall and it connected to it.

I suspect the 5451 has a different chip set than the 5450 (Ti).

I have never had an once of problem from any USR products I have setup.

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