David Pogue: The Best 802.11n Wi-Fi Router is Apple's
David Pogue: The Best 802.11n Wi-Fi Router is Apple's
by , 1:15 PM EDT, April 12th, 2007
David Pogue at the New York Times tested new 802.11n routers from Apple, Belkin and Netgear. The Apple router was the smallest, best-looking, fastest, had the strongest signal, and was the most expensive, according to the review.
This new generation of 802.11n routers are faster than the old 802.11g systems, but some vendors claims seem exaggerated. "So how much speed will you get? The "up to 300 Mbps" you see in the ads is among the most preposterous exaggerations in all of techdom. In the real world, you can expect 50 to 100 Mbps — still a lot better than "g."," Mr. Pogue reported.
Comparing the Apple setup to the other systems, Mr. Pogue said, "The setup program, identical for Mac and Windows, is light-years more polished and accessible than its rivals. You can attach a printer or hard drive to the router’s U.S.B. jack, and presto: it’s accessible by all the computers on the network. Very cool."
Notable was the observation that Apple's router is the only one with a 100 Mbps Ethernet jack. All the others, and even Apple's own computers, all come with ports for gigabit Ethernet.
The other routers managed to offer somewhat less for somewhat less money. But there was praise for the Belkin N1. "And, man, you have never seen a company try so hard to make networking easy. The jacks on the router are color-coded; the parts and cables bear huge numbered stickers that correspond to the instructions," the author wrote with fanfare. "Finally, Belkin’s tech-support phone number appears prominently on every single sheet of paper in the box. Incredible."
The verdict was that the 802.11n protocol is reaching maturity. Buy the polished, upgradeable gear from Belkin or Apple in preparation for the final ratification of the 802.11n protocol. Apple's router is the very best, but it costs the most.
Observer Comments
Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:13 pm Subject: Ethernet is the Bottleneck
I doubt it, Wings.
According to Netgear's site, the model Pogue tested uses a Gigabit Ethernet switch, as opposed to the Apple models. And yet the Airport was faster. It's unlikely that the Ethernet connection would have anything to d with the bottleneck in a purely wireless connection (i.e. a 802.11n card talking to a 802.11n router)
I agree. An Ethernet connection would have nothing to do with a wi-fi device talking to just the router. But the vast majority of your data's final destination isn't the router, it's to whatever the router is connected to (and beyond). If THAT connection is, say, 1/2 the speed of your wireless connection then the overall throughput will be limited by that link (or whatever may be beyond that). If I want to use my "n" MacBook to transfer a file to my desktop (Ethernet) how am I going to do that any faster than the 100mbps link from the Airport to the desktop? And while the NetGear that was tested did have GB Ethernet behind it, it SHOULD have been faster... but we don't know the finer details of Pogue's connections & setup.
QuoteWings wrote:
If THAT connection is, say, 1/2 the speed of your wireless connection then the overall throughput will be limited by that link (or whatever may be beyond that). If I want to use my "n" MacBook to transfer a file to my desktop (Ethernet) how am I going to do that any faster than the 100mbps link from the Airport to the desktop?
Do you mean a cable connection between the desktop computer and the Airport? Why would you do that? The only cable link into my Airport is the one from the wall socket that connects me to the rest of the world.
Quotecoaten wrote:
Do you mean a cable connection between the desktop computer and the Airport? Why would you do that? The only cable link into my Airport is the one from the wall socket that connects me to the rest of the world.
In the past, it's been better to connect a computer to the router via cable than via a wireless network. I've done both with my PowerBook G4. The 100/BASE-T Ethernet connection is faster than the Airport Extreme card (802.11g) talking to an Apple Airport Extreme base station only a few feet away. If I move the PowerBook to the other side of my small house, the data rate drops a bit. It even depends upon the orientation of the PowerBook, as the antenna is slightly directional.
In regard to Pogue's article, do note that he got data rates much less than 100 Mbps with the Belkin and Netgear routers. (Of course, for Internet access--probably the most common use for wireless networks in the home, the bottleneck is not the router but the Internet connection.)
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