Which router?

Just looking to see what everyone's opinion is on a N router. I am looking at either the D-Link DIR655 or the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station. I really like the packet prioritizing and Gigabit on the D-Link although I would need to buy a new NIC in order for my desktop (only wired connection) to take advantage of it. The AirPort Extreme seems good, but I have heard of frequent drop outs which is why I am replacing my current router. What are your guys' opinion?

Also, both have a USB port. Anyone know if you can use a hub to add a hard drive and a printer? Also, how much control over the printer will you have? Right now I have a printer that is shared from a Windows PC that has limited ability on the Mac because there is no driver, will this change that?

 

The USB port on the 655 is only for setting up a windows network (you load the settings of your network onto a USB drive then insert the drive into USB port). However, the one on the Airport allows you to attach printers, HDs, USB hubs, etc. However, no matter which one you choose, it's not going to solve your driver problem. It all depends on what you want: gigabit Ethernet or UBS functionality.

 

Unless you have FiOS, or a connection over 10mbits, I don't see why 10/100/1000 is necessary, I would go with the Air Port extreme, for the same reasons the poster above gave.

 

i have been using the Air Port extreme (N) for atleast 6 months now and I have nothing but good things to say about it. I NEVER have a dropped connection, the only time the base station has need to be reset is when I purposely went to reset it to see how long it would take, and it is very quick.

the USB HDD functionality works very well on the Mac and PC side, as long as your drive is compatible, most people have no problems with it but a few people's drives aren't compatible. as far as printers go, I have not yet connected a printer up to mine, although it is extremely straightforward and seems to work well for many others, but I know a lot of people could not use full functionality of a combo printer scanner, most could not use the scanner through the router.

I really like the idea that Apple can keep this updated and add more and more compatability, even though it is already very good.

like the above poster said, you will need a very fast connection to see any internet benefits from Gigabit, but I am sure the network transfer speed gets a decent boost, I don't transfer a lot back and forth over a network, as there are many other quick and simple ways to share files, but the times that I have it has been very acceptable.

I can't comment about the Dlink as I know nothing about it, but I must say the Airdisk feature and ease of setup and maintenance of the Airport Extreme has been well worth it for me, so nice to never have to deal with figuring out what is wrong with a connection, it just works simply and really becomes transparent.

and hey, the Airport is pretty as hell.

 

You can get the Belkin Mini Mac USB hub, to add more things to it, plus it should be a match fit for the two!

 

I also have been using the Airport Extreme. I came from a Linksys router. It's great. It was so easy to set up, I thought I was doing something wrong. I like how it only has one status light, if it's green all things are good, if it's not, well then things are not good. And of course it looks great setting on my desk next to my MacBook.

 

So using a hub is not a problem then? It can handle say a HDD and a printer? I was really hoping it would help fix the printer problem. I have full control over it when it is directly connected to the Mac, just not when it is networked.

On a side note, the gigabit would be nice for transferring files within the network or to a NAS. I can't for the life of me understand why they would include it on almost every Mac, but not on the AirPort Extreme. Oh well, I think I may go with the AirPort since I can hook up an external drive and printer.

 

Yeah, you should be able to use a hub, I can only speak of what I read in reviews, I don't get my Airport Extreme 'till tomorrow or Saturday. But, if you have the extra money, you should invest in the BELKIN F5U264 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 to match the Airport base station.

 

yeah I am guessing the next airport will have gigabit without question, but it won't happen for a long time I am sure, that is why I went ahead on got this one.

you must use a powered USB hub I believe, but other than that you should be golden. just keep in mind that there are some issues with certain printers and HDD's at the moment. but the majority seem to work very well.

I was thinking it would be pretty cool to get that USB hub, or just find one of those Lacie Mac Mini drives that wil match up pretty well, I think some of those even have powered hubs built in.

this post got me experimenting a little bit, you know what is kind of pointless but really cool? I plugged in my USB powered 60GB Lacie Mobile Porsche drive to the router, worked perfectly, got me thinking even more, plugged my SanDisk Cruzer Titanium into the router, worked perfectly as a network drive, I am pretty suprised there are actually drivers out there that don't work, more likely an issue with the enclosure or the drive itself than the base station.

kind of pointless and dumb, I can't really think why it would be useful to be able to plug a usb flash drive in there as a HDD would be useful, but the fact that you can is great.

I really want that belkin hub now, throw it under the base station, and you have really simply upgraded the basestation to 4 usb ports and only made it slightly taller, without changing the look by much, most people probably wouldn't even realize it wasn't part of the router.

 

Do you need a wireless nb adapter to use the airport extreme.

 

No, it has 3 LAN ports. If you're not going to use the wireless, you can get a much cheaper one.

 

Sorry for not being clear. I have one pc desktop, that I can connect wired, then I want to connect 2 pc's Nb wirelessly, do I need a new wireless adapter, rather then the "intel adapter inside"? If I need new wireless adapters which should I get?

 

You will need an adapter if you want them to run at the N spec. They will connect at whatever spec card is in the PC currently, likely G, but that will slow the entire network down to G.

 

Does Apple make a compatible card for pc's?

 

Doesn't the current MacBook Pros Wireless N ready?

 

Yes, But I want to also connect 2 pc's

 

don't worry about upgrading the PC's, you will most likely notice much drop in performance, just use it in N mode that is compatible with g and b and all that.

quite a few companies do make wireless N cards, for a desktop, or expresscards for a laptop, and even usb wireless adapters, but kind of unnecessary if you ask me, just use those machines until you are finished with them, and you can get another recent computer.

 

Well I got it earlier today, and let me say the setup is impressive. The whole AirPort Utility blows every other router admin utility out of the water! This is a very nice router and just to confirm again, using a USB hub to hook up a disk and printer does work flawlessly. It even gave me full control over my printer again, something I did not have when it was networked from a Windows PC. I can highly recommend the AirPort Base Station.

 

The problem is my pc's are already having problems with signal performance. I would upgrade to wireless extreme and put everything on the N mode, but usually whatever router brand you are using you need the same brand adapter. So does apple make a wireless adapter for pc's on the N (lack of standard)

 

so this router would work with my macbook?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat25300050001&id=1142298457685

thanks

 

Yes, it will work fine. Apple uses the same wireless networking as PCs so it'll be no problem.

 

I'm stunned by this as well.

I have this router, and it works very well, no dropout or connectivity issues, but I do a lot stuff involving moving a lot of large files around and, no GigE is dumb.

It's not like 10/100/1000 is cost prohibitive anymore.

 

If i had a mac, i would get an airport extreme....fantastic reviews on the unit

 

Continue to have problem....
replaced router with Linksys WRT54 GX,(had previous WRT54 GX for over 2 years no problem) signal still drops off after 60 feet. one Pc has Linksys WPC300N adapter other has integrated intel wireless G. Plus A new MBP. All notebooks have same problem. Need help solving this problem.
Should I switch to Airport Extreme? Would it work with the linksys WPC300N and integrated intel G, or will it slow down the network? I'm willing to buy an adapter to replace the intel wireless g if needed. I was under the impression that you need the same brand router an adapter to achieve best performance. thanks for any help....

 

Apparently apple just updated the extreme to have gigabit ports too.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=6E4EC44A&nplm=MB053LL/A

 

Lame. I have the 10/100 model and there was no reason to make it a 10/100 except to peeve me to no end.

 

I was able to exchange mine thankfully, but it is kind of dumb for them to have take this long to do it.

 

Did you just exchange your 2 week old model for the new one with gigabit? Do they have this in the stores already?

 

damnit, I really don't need gigabit but damnit Apple why did you do that? I highly doubt I can exchange mine, all well. glad to see they did it. early adopters lose again.

 

Ya, my store had the new routers immediately and iMacs. I was somewhat surprised as I believe it usually takes the store a few days to get the new models.

 

they really let you just exchange a 2 week old model? hmm, I might have to give it a shot.