Draft N Router Coverage: When the "n" in 802.11n really means "not yet"
by Gary Key on August 30, 2006 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Networking
Feature Set and Options: Draft N Routers
The products that we are testing today are based on the Broadcom Intensi-fi (Linksys/NETGEAR) and Atheros XSpan (Belkin) chipsets. We will be testing other Draft N routers in the near future including the Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti based on the Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset along with the NETGEAR RangeMax Next Gigabit Edition (WNR854T) that sports the Marvell TopDog chipset. We just received the D-Link RangeBooster N 650 router that also carries the Atheros XSpan chipset we found in the Belkin N1.
In our initial testing we have found that our Draft N equipment at times does not interoperate with each other at full speeds or fails to connect at all due to the differing chipsets utilized by the suppliers. While we will be fully exploring this issue in our follow-up article it is also disconcerting that you can purchase different Draft N chipsets from the same vendor.
As an example, NETGEAR, offers a total of three RangeMax Next Wireless Routers. We are testing the WNR834B based on Broadcom's Intensi-fi chipset; the recently released WNR834M and WNR854T routers use Marvell's TopDog chipset. To make matters worse the RangeMax Next Gigabit Edition PC Card (WN511T) is TopDog based and our RangeMax Next PC Card (WN511B) uses the Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset.
These varying selections can be very confusing to the customer when purchasing NETGEAR Draft N equipment. Although each box is labeled with the proper chipset logos to match products it is not the ideal way to market this product to consumers who might not know the difference. We are expecting new firmware from NETGEAR shortly to fix several compatibility issues between their respective products.
While all of the routers supported the vast majority of connectivity and security protocols we did not find one difference that will be important to the home user expecting to use their router for streaming media or VoIP operations. All products except the NETGEAR unit fully supported QoS (Quality of Service) technology that helps to ensure consistent streaming media and clear VoIP transmissions by prioritizing multimedia packets on the network. NETGEAR plans to add this capability in future firmware upgrades although it fully supports UPnP which enables peer-to-peer connectivity of networked computers, external storage devices, and even game consoles. The Linksys unit only supports Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP at this time.
| Draft N Routers - Features | |||
| NetGear WNR834B |
Linksys WRT300N |
Belkin N1 |
|
| Chipset: | Broadcom Intensi-fi | Broadcom Intensi-fi | Atheros XSpan |
| Maximum Data Transfer Rate: | 270 Mbps | 270 Mbps | 300 Mbps |
| Operating Frequency: | 2.4GHz | 2.4GHz | 2.4GHz |
| Network Connectivity Protocol: | Ethernet Fast Ethernet (10/100) IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11n Draft 1.0 |
Ethernet Fast Ethernet (10/100) IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11n Draft 1.0 |
Ethernet Fast Ethernet (10/100) IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11n Draft 1.0 |
| Router Features: | NAT Support Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) MAC Address Filtering UPnP DHCP Support DMZ and VPN Passthrough Dynamic DNS Firmware Upgradeable Browser Based Management |
NAT Support Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) MAC Address Filtering UPnP QoS DHCP Support DMZ and VPN Passthrough Dynamic DNS Firmware Upgradeable Browser Based Management |
NAT Support Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) MAC Address Filtering UPnP QoS DHCP Support DMZ and VPN Passthrough Dynamic DNS Firmware Upgradeable Browser Based Management |
| Network Security Protocol: | WEP 64/128 bit WPA-PSK WPA2-PSK |
WEP 64/128 bit WPA-PSK WPA2-PSK WEP - Radius WPA/WPA2-Enterprise + (Radius) |
WEP 64/128 bit WPA-PSK WPA2-PSK WPA+WPA2 PSK WPA2-Enterprise + (Radius) |
| Fast Ethernet Connections: | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| WAN Connections: | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Operating System Support: | Windows 98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP Linux MacOS 8/9x MacOS X 10.x UNIX Novell Netware |
Windows 2000 or XP | Windows 98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP Linux MacOS 8/9x MacOS X 10.x |
| Power Adapter: | External A/C | External A/C | External A/C |
| Warranty: | Linited 1 year | Limited 3 years | Limited Lifetime |
| Matching Wireless PC Card: | WN511B | WPC300N | N1 |
| Router Firmware: | 1.0.2.4 | 0.93.3 | 1.01.23 |
The products that we are testing today are based on the Broadcom Intensi-fi (Linksys/NETGEAR) and Atheros XSpan (Belkin) chipsets. We will be testing other Draft N routers in the near future including the Buffalo AirStation Nfiniti based on the Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset along with the NETGEAR RangeMax Next Gigabit Edition (WNR854T) that sports the Marvell TopDog chipset. We just received the D-Link RangeBooster N 650 router that also carries the Atheros XSpan chipset we found in the Belkin N1.
In our initial testing we have found that our Draft N equipment at times does not interoperate with each other at full speeds or fails to connect at all due to the differing chipsets utilized by the suppliers. While we will be fully exploring this issue in our follow-up article it is also disconcerting that you can purchase different Draft N chipsets from the same vendor.
As an example, NETGEAR, offers a total of three RangeMax Next Wireless Routers. We are testing the WNR834B based on Broadcom's Intensi-fi chipset; the recently released WNR834M and WNR854T routers use Marvell's TopDog chipset. To make matters worse the RangeMax Next Gigabit Edition PC Card (WN511T) is TopDog based and our RangeMax Next PC Card (WN511B) uses the Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset.
These varying selections can be very confusing to the customer when purchasing NETGEAR Draft N equipment. Although each box is labeled with the proper chipset logos to match products it is not the ideal way to market this product to consumers who might not know the difference. We are expecting new firmware from NETGEAR shortly to fix several compatibility issues between their respective products.
While all of the routers supported the vast majority of connectivity and security protocols we did not find one difference that will be important to the home user expecting to use their router for streaming media or VoIP operations. All products except the NETGEAR unit fully supported QoS (Quality of Service) technology that helps to ensure consistent streaming media and clear VoIP transmissions by prioritizing multimedia packets on the network. NETGEAR plans to add this capability in future firmware upgrades although it fully supports UPnP which enables peer-to-peer connectivity of networked computers, external storage devices, and even game consoles. The Linksys unit only supports Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP at this time.
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nullpointerus - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
It really depends on your specific situation, but personally I would not advise using WiFi for streaming media servers. Even with a Linksys WRX card in the client, we would still get occasional hiccups and be forced to pause the movie while the client's buffer refilled. And of course, I would often have to grab a USB keyboard to restart the client PC when it failed to deal with the periodic connection loss.Given the time I wasted troubleshooting that, wiring ethernet into the living room was a breeze. I simply unhooked the living room cable, taped the CAT-5e cable onto it, and used the slack to pull the CAT-5 cable down into the living room. Presto! Cable TV and CAT-5 on the same jack, and _no interference_. If you can do it, wiring for ethernet is a much better proposition than spending money on expensive MIMO wireless equipment.
LoneWolf15 - Thursday, August 31, 2006 - link
Currently, I completely agree with you. My DVR is wired in through CAT5. (Note: Have used the Linksys SRX stuff and find it has its occasional quirks as well).I think that at the point high-bandwidth Wifi becomes more prevalent though, this may be less of an issue. I also think that they'll implement some sort of memory buffer as part of the networking hardware to get around your hiccup issue. It just isn't there yet. And as long as 11.n isn't fully ratified, I don't think it will be either. That's why I'd like to see the IEEE get off their rears and get this taken care of.