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Ars does solid 802.11N router roundup

All of the big boys are there.  Linksys, Dlink, Netgear and of course, our little pony, Apple’s Airport Extreme, Gigabit addition.  We’ll get right to the results as the Ars can get a bit wordy.  The short answer is Airport Extreme is #1.  Especially with 5.0 Ghz (which used to be used in 802.11A) 802.11N only mode for its cutting through the household devices interference and Gigabit Ethernet for wired devices.

We couldn’t agree more.  If you are gonna drop a bill and a half on a wireless router (3 times the price of the capable base G models) you are gonna need a reason.  Gigabit Ethernet is a differentiator.  So is FAST wireless speed.  The other routers didn’t seem to offer much of a wireless speed increase – especially at significant distances with interference and regular ethernet speed.  The USB Hard drive/printer port also helps – though its reliability is still not up to Apple spec.

We are still a bit on the fence on when to update as some of our devices aren’t N capable and we won’t be able to enjoy the N only mode that shows the best speeds.  If we were in the market for a new wireless router today, however, the Airport Extreme would be at the top of our list.

 

 

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