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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shoRunner - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
As hinted at in the article the overall reliability of these draft-n routers is terrible. Having setup 60+ wireless networks in the past few months using many different kinds of routers including these draft-n routers, they have performed very badly some models requiring daily powercycling and constant firmware updates. If you are looking for a reliable fast wireless network the netgear 240 pre-n router is definately the better buy.Myrandex - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
The Dlink DGL-1000 router has gigabit ethernet and is freaking amazing. Not to mention I enjoy the blue LEDs on the frong, and performance is nice.Jason
blckgrffn - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
If were are going to sustain 300 megabit throughput on our wireless devices, why isn't the wired backend gigabit?Seriously, early adopters of this stuff are also likely to have gigabit networking equipment, as that has been shipping in volume for the at least the last three years or so, and really became affordable as far as switches go last year. My $30 D-link gigabit switch has been working just fine...
Nat
bobsmith1492 - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
On page 2, the feature chart states the three routers have 2.4 GHz bandwidth... I believe that is actually their operating frequency.erwos - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
The spectrum nuking issue is a real concern to me. I live in an apartment building, so I'm already getting crowded by random wireless phones and microwaves all around me. I _shudder_ to think what will happen when some of these "draft 802.11n" devices become more common. I wish I could claim this kind of callousness was because of 802.11n, but I know it's not true - the original channel bonding schemes for 802.11b/g were infamous for this kind of thing.I'm trying my best to be a good citizen and turn that sort of stuff off, but I fear I may to have move to 802.11a, and the less-troubled 5ghz band, soon.
-Erwos
DigitalFreak - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
I moved to 802.11a a long time ago, after more and more b/g APs started showing up. Been running great every since.I really have to wonder why the IEEE didn't use the 5ghz frequency for 11n. I know 11a has a shorter range than 11b/g, but I would think it would be easier to overcome that problem than it is to get past the major spectrum issues in the 2.4Ghz range.
yyrkoon - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
Well, atleast not here in the US I mean.yyrkoon - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
2.4GHZ isnt regulated, 5.8GHZ may be, I'm not sure.Lonyo - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
802.11n might be useful in the home eventually as broadband gets faster (30mbps+ connections), but for real high speed networking, it seems wired is still the only option.Can't say it's so suprising, but at least wireless is getting more useful in terms of matching increasing broadband speeds (although with existing MIMO, .11n isn't quite so useful yet, until it can exceed MIMO).
LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
Are you kidding? There are far more reasons for high-speed wireless in the home than just broadband. Streaming media servers (having all my movies, music, etc. on a server that can be streamed to an HTPC or appliance) are a prime example of a good use of high-speed WiFi, especially for those of us that don't wish to deal with rewiring CAT-5 in our houses.As for .11n, it isn't useful yet because there isn't a standard, and yet vendors are trying to capitalize on a need by releasing hastily-designed pre-standard product. It's not robust, and it requires proprietary hardware. When the IEEE finally figures this out (IMO, it should have been some time ago, they've had enough time, though dealing with bickering vendors is an issue) and issues a true standard, things should work out better, much like when V.90 finally was ratified.