Need a new router, g or n? newb-ish

[TH3W1R3D]

Aright so my old router is broken and I am looking to get a new one. Not sure if I should go with N or G. My internet connection is pretty quick, 15mb/s down. Anyway are wireless N routers working perfectly or are they still in a "pre" stage. A lot of the computers I have have wireless g cards. Do n routers work with wireless g cards, if so will they speed up a connection with wireless G cards?

Thanks, all advice welcome.

 

[brw02005]

Well I maintain 15 mb/s through 3 walls with my DI-634M with super g cards (don't buy mimo dlink cards they suck worst throughput in my house). Personally I think draft n is still too expsensive $150 plus for the router then $70-$80 a card. You can pick up a super g router for like $50-$90 then adapters $20-$40 go off brand they work great. The main problem for super g is most don't support WDS like my DI-634M.

The best regular g adapter I've used for throughput would be airport express. Don't have the greatest range and are a bitch to configure but there wds works great. i have two of them I originally bought for streaming music and they keep pace with my super g network except at real close range and long range (max out at 27 mbps and drop out about 30 ft before super g). Supposedly DI-634M can do 40 mps most I've seen is 32 mbps. IF you fight long enough on ebay you can get an Express easily for like $65-$70 (people unload them because they're hard to configure). Otherwise get one straight from apple for $100.

I think my main annoyance with draft n is the range. It does not go as far as some of the better g routers such as WRT54G. This is especially true if you hack the router with DD-WRT. The router with the range record for DD-WRT is BUFFALO WHR-HP-G54 (heard great things about it don't own one though). Draft n also does not have WDS (anything hacked with DD-WRT does) so you cannot link two together wireless to extend your network. They really need to iron that out. 60 mbps throughput is great at short range if you want to spend the money. Using g cards with draft n stuff is never mentioned I'm sure it would work but wonder what the throughput would be.

Ok my rant against draft n is over. Hopefully someone can come along and defend it. Personally I think draft n stuff is treating users like beta testers for the most part but there are some good ones out there and more throughput is definitely the future. Right now I'm happy with my two g wireless networks one more expandable (airport express), one with great throughput and range (DI-634M). Haven't found anything I couldn't stream yet.

 

[TH3W1R3D]

After reading what you and some other people recommended I am going to go with wireless g. Maybe the Linksys WRT54GL. I am looking for good range/signal, I need to go through a couple of walls. Will this router work best?

 

[brw02005]

Yeah I've never heard anyone complain about that model especially after hacking it with DD-WRT. I think that one has better throughput at closer range although it still can not reach as far as WHR-HP-G54 when hacked it's a good balance. Hope it works out for you.

 

[g-paw]

I've been using the ZyXEL x 550 and have had no problems. Easy to set up and good security options

 

[brw02005]

Yeah looks like the exact same chipset as my DI-634M but without the brand (not that DLink is much of a brand) much cheaper, and looks like it has a better rating too.