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kclman · 04:20 PM

I'm sure like many people, I am disappointed in the lack of gigabit ethernet on the new airport extreme base station.

I will be running a NAS of my router, can anyone suggest a wireless router that has n and is a gigabit ethernet router, which is compatible with the preN card in my c2d macbook pro.

Thanks.

mduell · Jan 10, 2007, 04:25 PM

Newegg.com - LINKSYS WRVS4400N Secure, High-speed Wireless-N Router - Retail

It even has gigglebit on the WAN side, for those of you with obscenely fast internet connections.

pilotdude · Jan 10, 2007, 07:27 PM

Netgear has one too with the no antenna look to it.

I would assume that the driver Apple issues will work with these other draft N systems?

The lack of Gigabit on the Airport "Extreme" is a deal breaker for me especially at that price point. I had been looking forward to picking one up.

mduell · Jan 10, 2007, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by pilotdude

I would assume that the driver Apple issues will work with these other draft N systems?

The lack of Gigabit on the Airport "Extreme" is a deal breaker for me especially at that price point. I had been looking forward to picking one up.

It should.

Yea, the lack of gigglebit on the new Airport Extreme and AppleTV surprises me. Printer sharing is, and always has been, the one killer feature of the Airport Extreme.

dimmer · Jan 10, 2007, 08:47 PM

"I would assume that the driver Apple issues will work with these other draft N systems?"

Yeah, and have you noticed the rubber teeth on the bulldogs round here of late?

markw10 · Jan 12, 2007, 02:51 PM

I assume companies each have their own draft n so that means I don't need the airport base station but can use netgear, linksys, etc. to have n networking with my C2D Macbook Pro and Apple TV?

mduell · Jan 12, 2007, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by markw10

I assume companies each have their own draft n so that means I don't need the airport base station but can use netgear, linksys, etc. to have n networking with my C2D Macbook Pro and Apple TV?

In theory there is only one draft n, the one that the IEEE working group voted down last year. In practice, a lot of hardware may be marked "draft n" and still have a lot of quirks, possibly preventing interoperation between products from different companies.

Rev2Liv · Feb 3, 2007, 01:52 PM

With the release of the Draft-N enabler for recent Intel Mac's, any news of compatibility between AirPort Extreme Draft-N and non-Apple Draft-N routers? XLR8yourmac.com has a brief overview, but nothing comprehensive. Any first hand accounts?

ghporter · Feb 4, 2007, 09:49 AM

As mduell says, "in theory there is only one draft n," but in reality there are no doubt many variations. And from experience, we should all remember that even "standards" are implemented differently by different vendors-sometimes widely differently and even not interoperably. I think it should be up to the vendors to say "this WILL or WON'T work with your Mac," and if I were looking for such a router, I'd have been bugging the big manufacturers' SALES SUPPORT (not tech support) for an "official" statement on compatibility for some time.

Since, as Rev2Liv points out, there have been no "the real truth about Draft N routers" publications yet, I believe that the ONLY guaranteed choice for compatibility is the new Apple AirPort Extreme, even if it lacks gigabit wired routing.

Rev2Liv · Feb 6, 2007, 01:10 PM

I've been testing the Belkin N1 both Rev 1.1 with Atheros and 2.0 with Marvell. I haven't noticed much of a difference between either.

I've had mixed results. I run a mixed environment house wired with Gigabit ethernet. I used the N1 as an AP rather than a router. I run a mixed environment of desktop/laptops with OS X, Microsoft Vista and XP with Gigabit Ethernet and 100base-T machines. The house is wired for Gigabit Ethernet.

The N1 run fine as long as WPA or WPA2 encryption is not turned on and the SSID not turned off. As expected, both range and throughput have shown a dramatic increase.

I'm going to be testing a Netgear WNR854T shortly.

I run a 5/5 FIOS connection to either a Linksys RVS4000 or Netgear FVS124G in the basement. On the ground floor, I have a wireless router connected to a walll jack in the middle of the house. My test machine is a MBP Pro C2D 2.16 fully loaded.

More to report lately.

Xyrrus · Feb 7, 2007, 08:21 PM

Has anyone used the dlink? Since every computer in my house has gigabit, I'd really love to have that feature. The linksys seems to be getting terrible reviews (dropped connections, etc) although it has the best feature set. The dlink seems to have a USB port, but I can't see anything about HDD/Printer sharing.

I am sort of annoyed with apple on this one - their base station is actually competitive enough for me to buy except for the lack of gigabit ports.

-Xy

CondorMan · Mar 14, 2007, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by Rev2Liv

I'm going to be testing a Netgear WNR854T shortly.

I run a 5/5 FIOS connection to either a Linksys RVS4000 or Netgear FVS124G in the basement. On the ground floor, I have a wireless router connected to a walll jack in the middle of the house. My test machine is a MBP Pro C2D 2.16 fully loaded.

More to report lately.

Rev2Liv,

Did you test the WNR854T yet? I'm looking at this router and have doubts about its compatibility with .11n on the MBP C2D. I've read a few bad reports on it's robustness too. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Rev2Liv · Mar 15, 2007, 12:16 AM

WRN854T is garbage.........period. Stick with Airport Extreme Draft-N, operate it in dual mode, set it to N only, and keep your existing G router on a separate channel to minimize interference.

CondorMan · Mar 15, 2007, 05:20 PM

Thanks for the info on WRN854T. I'll go for the Airport Extreme..