802.11n questions

I just picked up a new laptop (Acer 5780-5740) which includes 802.11n (draft). I'm thinking of upgrading my router to support the wireless-n. However, in a brief look at new routers, I *thought* I saw a couple of different standards for 802.11n - some that just say draft, some that say draft 2.0, some that don't say anything other than 802.11n.

Are these all the same? i.e., will pretty much any router that includes 802.11n work the same as the others?

Has anyone noticed an improved signal with 802.11n? Speed increase is great, but I wasn't planning on doing much file transfers - just internet. I've heard the signal has better range and robustness but was just curious whether anyone has actually experienced this.

The "Draft" versions are the ones that were released before the standard was finalised. There is a good chance that they will work fine, but there is no real way of finding out without trying them. If you list all the hardware details, then someone may know for certain whether they will all play nicely together or not.

Hardware details of the laptop or any potential router? Router may be difficult since there are so many to choose from. And on the laptop, is there more info that would be helpful other than it having 802.11n (draft)? e.g., something specific in the device manager, etc?

P.S. I'd like to take advantage of the 5 GHz frequency - is this always the case when using 802.11n or does this also depend on the hardware specs of the laptop and router (assuming both have 802.11n of course)?

The manufacturer (and model) of the wireless adapter in the laptop would be helpful. Device Manager might show this data, or one of the software tools to list the device hardware might be helpful, as might the specs from the manual.

Okay, the wireless network card shows Atheros AR5B93 in Device Manager. Is this enough to know if there is anything specific I need to look at for an 802.11n router?

What's your price range? Do you need a gigabit switch or not? That would help narrow the field. No sense in us recommending something like the Netgear WNDR3700 if it's over your budget.

Most routers out there are still draft 2.0 at best. 802.11n wasn't ratified until late last year. I would avoid pre-draft or other early draft routers. Draft 2.0 routers have the best chance of being updated to full 802.11n status with a firmware update.

Check out router reviews here:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/

I don't think I'd need a gigabit switch. Price range is probably under $50. As I said, mainly I'd just be surfing and would like to take advantage of 802.11n, but I've seen routers listed as Draft 2 and Draft 4 - not sure which would be the right type.

I'll check out the reviews - thanks!

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Price range is probably under $50

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That is really low for a decent N router. $80-100 would be more realistic. I'd save your money for now.

I've never heard of "Draft 4". Draft 2.0 would have been the latest before ratification.

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mainly I'd just be surfing and would like to take advantage of 802.11n

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802.11n won't help your "surfing" speed. Even 802.11g is more than what most ISPs provide.

Wikipedia: IEEE 802.11n-2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11n

Good to know these things. newegg (among others) seemed to have several 802.11n routers under $50, so I thought that would be a decent price. Maybe those are not very good quality.

It was on newegg that I saw some routers listed with the term "draft 4" - maybe they meant draft 2.0

Yeah, I realize that 802.11g is faster than cable speeds. I've heard that the 802.11n can give better surfing experience - more robust signal and better range and that's what I was hoping to take advantage of.

Good info on Wiki.

802.11n doesn't guarantee better performance/range than a 802.11g router. Some are just glorified "g" like the Linksys WRT120N. You need to research each model, especially in such a low price range.

There were several drafts of 802.11n, but I've only seen as high as Draft 2.0 on retail boxes.

You may find this helpful:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/802.11...iew-31867.html

Good stuff there!

This is an example of the router labeled as "draft 4" :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833130065

Didn't get great reviews though! :)

Can't see the link due to content filtering here at work. If they really mean draft 4.0, that came out in 2008. To put that into perspective, the last draft before ratification was draft 11.

I prefer Smallnetbuilder for reviews (as I mentioned earlier).
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/compo...ess/Itemid,200

Thanks for clearing that up. Gotta lot of stuff to read before buying then! :)