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story category Should You Buy Draft 802.11n Gear?
Wireless gurus don't suggest it
(old news - 03:46PM Monday Apr 24 2006)
tags: wireless · hardware
There's a flood of new Wi-Fi hardware based on the draft version of the 802.11n wireless standard hitting the market this month. The vendors, promising better speed and range with this new gear, insist that the hardware can be updated to the final spec via firmware update. But is it worth the upgrade? The Boston Globe doesn't seem to think so, unless you're interested in beaming video around the home.
"But even with data-rich high-definition television signals coming soon, consumers may wait before embracing WiFi-N devices. The new technical standard isn't expected to be officially ratified by the engineering institute until next year. And most WiFi users have little to gain from the extra speed delivered by WiFi-N, since the current WiFi generation is already much faster than the broadband Internet connections in American homes.
Wireless expert Glenn Fleishman is likewise advising users to wait. According to Fleishman prices are going to drop, there's still some legacy interference concerns to work out, and the future-upgrade path - despite promises - is not guaranteed.

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Forums » Should You Buy Draft 802.11n Gear?
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Post a:

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:

No?

No.

N3OGH
Will it all be Obama's fault now?
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs

Re: No?

Agreed.

Unless your current WiFi gear took a dirt nap, and you have the chops to play with something more advanced, why bother?

Waste of money if you ask me....

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:

Re: No?

said by N3OGH See Profile :

Agreed.

Unless your current WiFi gear took a dirt nap, and you have the chops to play with something more advanced, why bother?

Waste of money if you ask me....
Yes it is, at this point at least

TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast

Re: No?

said by Cheese See Profile :

said by N3OGH See Profile :

Agreed.

Unless your current WiFi gear took a dirt nap, and you have the chops to play with something more advanced, why bother?

Waste of money if you ask me....
Yes it is, at this point at least
I'll stick to my 802.11a setup until new gear is available that can tie the home entertainment systems and the PC's and the game consoles and the STB's all together. And if it is 802.11n that can do that, then maybe next year or the year after.
--
--
Join Red Room Forum
BLOG tkjunkmail.blogspot.com
My Web Page

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:

Re: No?

said by TK Junk Mail See Profile :

said by Cheese See Profile :

said by N3OGH See Profile :

Agreed.

Unless your current WiFi gear took a dirt nap, and you have the chops to play with something more advanced, why bother?

Waste of money if you ask me....
Yes it is, at this point at least
I'll stick to my 802.11a setup until new gear is available that can tie the home entertainment systems and the PC's and the game consoles and the STB's all together. And if it is 802.11n that can do that, then maybe next year or the year after.
Yep

Jigsaw
Stardust We Are
Premium
join:2000-10-21
Cleveland, OH
·Cox HSI

said by N3OGH See Profile :

Agreed.

Unless your current WiFi gear took a dirt nap, and you have the chops to play with something more advanced, why bother?

Waste of money if you ask me....
I just put together a G set-up and it seems like its just what i need ATM.
--
»www.auralmoon.com/html/ Stimulating ears for 6 years

RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest

Too early

Let the bleeding edge early adopters shed their tears and blood on thirty firmware upgrades trying to get it working in the wild, while the price drops to 20% of today's intro offering.

Like maybe next year.

Maybe.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.

dru

join:2000-09-14
Corona, CA

If early MIMO gear is any indication


I bought and tested MIMO gear from two different manufacturers. Although both worked with various "legacy" devices with which I was expecting problems, *both* exhibited range and loss of signal issues when using them purely in MIMO/"super whatsit" mode with remote cards of the same manufacturer. And one brand's MIMO adapter failed / would not connect at all if there were any "legacy" devices in my network.

In short, I was expecting better range and throughput with MIMO equipment, and what I experienced was far less than what I get experience with well supported, 802.11B gear.
--
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
ace41690

join:2003-01-24
Northfield, CT
·Optimum Online

Re: If early MIMO gear is any indication

I have netgears mimo router and its terrible. The wireless internet doesnt go any faster than 5mbps and I cant get data to go more than 20mbps out of the supposed 108.

Still I say bring on N. Data goes flying all over the place in my house and I could use the extra bandwidth.

dru

join:2000-09-14
Corona, CA

Re: If early MIMO gear is any indication

Your experience mirrors mine. In fact, Netgear was one of the brands I tried.

I believe the engineering concepts behind MIMO and 802.11N are solid, however, in the rush to be "first" to market with consumer products under $150, early adopters become unwilling alpha- or beta-testers.

Also, no matter what they say now, products initially released as "pre-(anything)" now may or may not be compatible with the final standard, or truly interoperable with other brands. I've been bitten by that several times, and it usually isn't caused by Netgear, Linksys or D-link but rather due to engineering miscalculations by the underlying chipmakers like Atheros. The right thing for these companies to do is to trade out buggy or flawed gear with a free upgrade, but lately it seems they are simply sticking it to the consumer or hiding behind technicalities. For example, the current crop of pre-N gear might work with their brand's final implementation of 802.11N but not be upgradeable to a level with full interoperability.
--
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

Nman

@shawcable.net

Re: If early MIMO gear is any indication

Dude,

MIMO is very similar to Pre-N and N so if you were disappointed with the range of MIMO you will also be disappointed with the N stuff.

That is not necessarily true of issues you had with wired stuff such as the limited speed of the WAN port. You could expect that stuff to improve, as well as the compatibility since MIMO was not really a standard as opposed to N stuff.

dadkins
Go For It
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

edit:
April 24th, @03:12PM

$100 - $130 a Pop?

I don't think so! Earliest for me is a year away, and even then, only if they get the Standard all worked out.
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera

JoeyDee
Premium
join:2004-07-23
Las Vegas, NV

Re: $100 - $130 a Pop?

I'll be interested if the router portion of the the NAP is gigabit ethernet....

joe

sirsloop
Premium
join:2004-02-18
New York, NY

edit:
April 24th, @03:14PM

Nothing has changed!

Belkin has had this stuff available for A LONG time. Everyone said wait on that stuff. Nothing new has changed, this is old news. The fact that Linksys made a new pre-n box means what, we should all run out and get one?
LoftyDan

join:2002-10-22
Victoria, BC

edit:
April 24th, @04:31PM

Re: Nothing has changed!

PreN != draft N....
vinnie97

join:2003-12-05
Mesquite, TX

Re: Nothing has changed!

In the final specs and theoretical throughput values, how different are they really?
LoftyDan

join:2002-10-22
Victoria, BC
·Shaw
·AT&T DSL Service

Re: Nothing has changed!

Without knowing exactly, that would depend on which pre-n product you are comparing. Some would be very different, while some would be very similar...that's what happens when there are two factions fighting to have their technology be the chosen one.

BK3

join:2001-04-10
Geneva, IL

Why switch?

My 802.11g equipment works fine, and does all I need for it to do. Why should I drop cash on new stuff?
--
A difference which makes no difference is no difference. - Spock
gsm

join:2004-09-29
Renton, WA

Re: Why switch?

I will buy it when I move i don't have any wireless just wired at 1GBPS

Cjaiceman

join:2004-10-12
Aurora, CO
·Comcast Workplace
·Comcast

Re: Why switch?

quote:
I will buy it when I move i don't have any wireless just wired at 1GBPS
Agreed. Although I do have wireless in my home, I only use it when I want to surf the net and not be hardwired in (like on the back deck on nice days).

verolom

join:2002-03-23
Eatontown, NJ

Pre-N, Draft N, hmm...

I think I will rather wait for the Release Candidate N

Or maybe an O, the IEEE 802.11 O-oh

hdtvtechno

join:2005-09-04
Chicago, IL

edit:
April 25th, @01:30AM

So

Whats the differance between Pre-N and the Final N ?

Warzau
Premium
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL
clubs:

No

I wont buy any new tech unless its a year old. Look at D-Link's Media lounge. It has and been crap. Look at all the "turbo" wireless which don't really work.

G works fine for me.

Derspankster
Premium
join:2003-02-12
Marion, OH

Re: No

No, G is fine for my needs.
Forums » Should You Buy Draft 802.11n Gear?


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