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MBP, which N-router?

Nevrsadie

Nevrsadie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 31, 2006
216
9
Dark side of the monitor
I am taking the leap and getting my first Mac in the middle of January. I will be getting a stock MBP 15'. I have read that the built in Wifi is draft N. I do not wish to buy the Airport Extreme becuase of the price, and would like to get a N router. I live in the boonies with no other networks around and my laptop will be the only wireless connection, desktop will still be wired(3Meg cable). My question is which draft N router to go with? Afer researching quite a bit I have narrowed my choices to three.

Belkin Pre-n
Belkin N1
Buffalo WZR-G300N

I know that righ now the belkin Pre-N probably has the best performance, but is proprietory and cannot be upgraded in the future. I also no that the two draft N routers have not lived up the hype "yet".

Any experience or advice would be appreciated. Oh yeah, Merry Christmas!
 
iW00t

iW00t

macrumors 68040
Nov 7, 2006
3,286
0
Defenders of Apple Guild
No please don't get the netgear. I bought 2 netgear routers and they are terrible, software wise. Like having to reboot the router every 2 days or so due to the firmware locking up. How is that acceptable?! Ended up getting a Linksys which worked great.

Netgears used to be good, but their new products are rushed out of the door before they are even ready.
 
aswitcher

aswitcher

macrumors 603
Oct 8, 2003
5,338
14
Canberra OZ
There is a good chance that Apple will turn on "N" at Macworld and I bet the iTV will not be the only WAP they release - I expect the AExtremes to get updated as well. So I suggest you wait the 2 weeks it will be until then.
 
benthewraith

benthewraith

macrumors 68040
May 27, 2006
3,140
143
Fort Lauderdale, FL
iW00t said:
No please don't get the netgear. I bought 2 netgear routers and they are terrible, software wise. Like having to reboot the router every 2 days or so due to the firmware locking up. How is that acceptable?! Ended up getting a Linksys which worked great.

Netgears used to be good, but their new products are rushed out of the door before they are even ready.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think Netgear routers are hit and miss in all actuality, I've known a few people who have great ones, and a few people who have horrible ones. My friend was lucky, my grandparents weren't. I was unlucky the first time, the second time around, I was very lucky. It may help if you disabled the SPI firewall, is there are often conflicts with it, such as with Apple Quicktime. ;)
 
M

MaaseyRacer

macrumors regular
Oct 30, 2005
160
0
San Francisco, Ca.
I would wait and see what Apple releases. Also I would check out something with Gigabit ethernet, and at least 108MBPS wireless G. The N standards are not set yet, and for the most part you need a netgear card to take full advantage of netgear pre-n routers. It is the same with D-Link, Linksys, and the rest of the lot.
My recommendation since there is no set N standard, is the D-Link DGL-4300. It is awesome, I do not game, but the port forward options are sweet, the Gigabit ethernet transfers 1GB of data between my iMac and MacBook Pro in about 20 seconds. Well worth it. Wireless on it has great range, and I can download at 1.8MB/s from Apple and Adobe.
 
grafikat

grafikat

macrumors 6502a
Dec 5, 2003
781
1
I'm using a Belkin Pre-N, and it works great. Only problem is I have to use WEP and enter the key using hex. But it's speedy on spouse's dell (has the card) and has great range. My new MB finds it right away.
 
GraceMolloy

GraceMolloy

macrumors regular
Oct 28, 2006
162
4
Kentucky
I've had good luck with Belkin and D-link. I've had TERRIBLE luck with Netgear, which is sad, b/c their stuff used to rock.
 
T

TPFolair

macrumors newbie
Sep 5, 2006
3
0
Sarasota, FL
Belkin Pre-n
Belkin N1
Buffalo WZR-G300N

Hi. I just dumped a Linksys G router -- decent connection to internet but no file sharing, for some reasonb -- for a Belkin Pre-N, which I found new on eBay (they're kinda hard to find in the States now). BUT. The Pre-N is fantastic. I just, tonight, walked nearly a 1/4 mile from my house with my MacBook before I lost the signal (and the personal file sharing works, thank gawd). So. I heartily recommend the Pre-N by Belkin.
 
grafikat

grafikat

macrumors 6502a
Dec 5, 2003
781
1
works like a dream...I can access files on both of my macs and both of the spouses windoze machines with the Pre-N belkin
 
H

hevaKmaI

macrumors 6502
May 15, 2006
302
159
The real question is: is there a pre-n router that can run DD-WRT like the linksys wrt54gl can?
 
M

mannix87

macrumors 6502
Nov 16, 2005
417
0
in the southeast
cant go wrong with Linksys. they're made by Cisco, the developers of the router. I've been using Linksys w/ both my PC and Mac at home. no problems so far. While in the office, we use Netgear. sucks big time. My MB has a hard time connecting w/ it everyday. we always have to turn off the Netgear first everytime I hook up my MB, otherwise, it won't be connected. Plus, there was a time when its firmware got corrupted for some reason. Had to reinstall it.
 
dongmin

dongmin

macrumors 68000
Jan 3, 2002
1,710
6
Is an N router even needed? Your internet access will most likely be limited by your DSL/Cable connection, not the router. The only scenario where higher-than-G bandwidth would be useful is if you're doing a lot of streaming or file swapping between your own home computers.

G: 54 Mbps
T1: 1.54 Mbps

I seriously doubt your router will be the bottleneck in your home network...
 
aswitcher

aswitcher

macrumors 603
Oct 8, 2003
5,338
14
Canberra OZ
dongmin said:
Is an N router even needed? Your internet access will most likely be limited by your DSL/Cable connection, not the router. The only scenario where higher-than-G bandwidth would be useful is if you're doing a lot of streaming or file swapping between your own home computers.

G: 54 Mbps
T1: 1.54 Mbps

I seriously doubt your router will be the bottleneck in your home network...
Click to expand...

In Australia we have up to 24 Mbps. As soon as your not at peak distance your speed halves and then goes down again...N will give you more range and better bandwidth.

But N is really for wireless video on your network not for internet access.
 
grafikat

grafikat

macrumors 6502a
Dec 5, 2003
781
1
We originally got the Pre-N for the coverage. It has a much larger range than our old G. It eliminated the dead spots in our house. And, on DH's Dell usling the card, his speed has greatly improved. Plus, the router and card combined were only $99.

I can't speak for the speed difference on the MB, as we had the Pre-N before I got it, but my G5 using the aircard connects with about the same speed.
 
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