I first would like to appologize for the book that I wrote below but wanted to address some of the posts.
I will say that the Airport Extreme is one of the top rated routers for 11N Draft 2.0. I also want to indicate that I misspoke in regard to the speed reductions in my post above. However, if a "G" device is added to the mix, speed will be affected across both "N" & "G". One can see the results of testing the Airport extreme on the SmallNetBuilder site:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30188/96/1/11/
From the testing you can see that it also depends on which device "G" or "N" initiates the connection first as to how this can impact the speed. Other pages of the review will also tell you that the Airport Express uses only one radio, so you cannot take full advantage of 11N since you cannot use both the 2.4GHZ and 5.9GHZ streams at the same time. You are limited to one or the other.
In an all Apple 11N Environment, the airport extreme would perform the highest since all chipsets are the same. But what if you have Windows Notebooks? The chipsets are not the same and performance will not be equal. One needs to take this into account.
This thread was started with the question about streaming Apple TV on a G router. I as other have said that it streams fine and no issues. Yes you may have a faster network and maybe a slightly faster response rate on the Airport express but its not necessary.
The other issue is are you better using a "G" wireless router/access point or buy a draft "N" like the Airport Express. That's a decision one needs to make based on the environment and other devices on the network.
While "G" devices ware compatible today and will be for a final 11N spec, the question then is will current Draft 11N products work with final 11N products. See responses below.
I think you are giving misguided advice:
There are interoperatibility tests for the N equipment before they can claim WiFi certification, even though IEEE specs are not finalized.
The specs are in draft stage, but the modifications from one draft to the next are minimal. There are a lot of optional methods that might provide additional performance and not every vendor supports each one, but the minimum basics already provide substantial improvements.
Yes the point is that it is in a draft stage. The current version of the draft is 2.0 and the IEEE Standards Board for final draft approval is scheduled for March of 2009. However, there still are a significant number of technical issues to be addressed. Only after final approval will there be a 802.11n product for which all companys implementation can be the same. At this point, what is avail for different manufacturers is "Their Own" interpretation
of the current draft. Not all manufacturers are choosing to implement all aspects of the 2.0 draft. Since 2.0 was released there has been talk of alot more changes as well.
While you say that there are only minimal changes between drafts this is not true. There are many significant changes on the table since 2.0 was released. It is a goal of the wi-fi alliance to ensure that all draft 11n products can be fully upgraded to final N products when adoped but there is no guarantee. If history is any indicator, by the time a new standard is finalized some 11n devices will be obsolete. If one looks back at Pre 11G products you will find that not one was not upgradable to the final G standard. Not to mention draft 11n 1.0 could not be upgraded to draft 2.0.
One more note. The Wi-Fi alliance started providing interoperability certification for draft 2.0 starting in June 2007. For a wireless access point to receive certification, it only needs to be tested against five different 802.11n Draft 2.0 clients. Here is the kicker. Only one of them needs to be commercially available for sale.
"G" base stations advertise a lot of additional features that are not compatible with rival company equipment, so N is actually better for compatibility.
This is only true if you used enhanced "G" products. Like Netgears "G" max, etc that claim 108mbps etc. You then need match cards and wireless router/access points to achieve the higher speed. I too would stay away from that stuff and if I wanted "G" get only a regular "G" wireless access point or router.
I have a network with an Airport Extreme 11n, some G devices and one N device. The network is set to 11n (B/G compatible). This to my knowledge limits me to 130Mbit for N and the full 54Mbit for G, that's it. If the G devices are connected, but not transferring anything, i get roughly 70Mbit/s real download from the Internet on the machine connected by N, whereas G would max out at around half of 54Mbit/s.
Speeds will drop while G devices are transmitting, but even then not as low as if the "N" computer was running "G" too.
This last part is true, "G" will always be slower than "N", even if you add "N" to the mix. As I stated I mispoke above.
First, in a realworld environment, "G" will never be 54mbps. Its truly more like 1/2 that amount. In your situation noted above, the "G" will also get take a speed hit, from what it could achive in a "G" only environment. Operating this way the "G" will down to more like "B" rated speeds in the neighborhood of 6-10mbps. (see the netbuilder review link above) where they tested this situation. This doesn't just happen on the Airport Extreme but with all 11N access points in a mixed environment.
You are correct that the "N" speed will be more like 70mbps download, in this mixed environment, but more on a Lan then over the internet. Unless you have a T1, Fios I believe is the highest rated speed and that caps out at 50mbps. But as noted above, you have achieved higher rated speeds with the draft 11N Macbook for example then with a "G" wireless notbook but you have done this at the expense of the "G" devices speed now running much much slower then if they were on a "G" only system. It may be more beneficial to run the 11N as "G" devices (which is automatic) on a "G" wireless Router/accesspoint to avoid taking that kind of performance hit if you have mixed clients. These are things one needs to weigh and take into account.
For example:
In my situation, all of my computers and NAS are hardwired, except for 2 windows laptops "G" speed and my apple tv. I pull data stored on the NAS on a from the wireless "G" laptops so I want to keep that speed as high as possible. I don't suffer a performance hit, running the ATV at "G" speed, so I am better off with a "G" access point. Vs. using a Draft "N" access point and achieve even slower speeds on the "G" laptops from pulling data off the NAS or accessing the internet.
