Belkin N1 wireless N router

Are wireless N products good now. I know they were a little tricky since they are new and just came out. But are most problems worked out and such. Does anyone know if this specific wireless router from belkin is any good. I know that it comes with MIMO technology which basically just gives tremendous Range. its also capable of transferring and streaming mp3s videos, file sharing, and multiplayer gaming.

i plan on getting the asus g1 which has a wireless N card in to it. will i get the benefits of the mimo wireless router even if my card in my laptop doesnt have mimo on it?

also it is backwards compatible with a/b/g correct? because i have desktops with some wireless cards in them that are probably b so thatll connect with the N router right?

i plan on doing some wireless gaming from my livingroom with my laptop so will this router be up for the task?

 

There are still alot of bugs that needs to be worked out. I would hold off if you could. If you had to buy one buy one that has v2 firmware preloaded. Then you would have a better chance that it would meed the final spec. I'm not a fan of Belkin, everything I worked on of theirs was BAD. Would constantly lockup, even on the wired side to a point you had to do a reset to factory to clear. And some time not even then.

All should be backward compatable and v2 address that requiring them to play with others. If you are looking for a longer range you will be disappointed. They use the same bandwidth of 11b/g. but most all come with fixed low gain antennas, not upgradeable. MIMO should help your wireless gaming. But remember it it see other 11g hardware it is required to drop out of MIMO mode in order to play with other.

The spec will not be finalized till sometime in mid 2008, keeps moving. So what ever hardware you buy now may or may not meet the finalized spec.

 

thats true about the bugs, just wondering if anyone has had any success about this router. what are you saying about the range being a disappointment?

do you anything about netgears Wireless G router with MIMO. i think its about 70 bucks. I mean what are the real differences between G and N. if i get a G with MIMO itll pretty much do the same thing. Im just looking for the biggest range and biggest speed in order to do some wireless gaming.

As far as MIMO, you said that i have to drop out of MIMO mode to play with the other? do you mean if i am in MIMO mode itll only give me wireless to one other device, so if i have a desktop and a laptop, itll only give me wireless to one of these computers? so my desktop cant connect on the internet while my laptop can?

 

Gaming on a wireless G is not good if you play first person games, lag will kill you. But it's very dependent on the game. For a gaming router look at the DGL-4300, it is optimized for gaming.

If you want the best performance you need to get away from combo routers (Wireless). These have to share the CPU, ram and buss. Moving to a stand along AP frees up resources. The router runs cooler. My current setup is this way. I do not play games, but my range is 330' line of site spec. I believe it is close, because I can cover my whole house on low power, penetrating 4 walls with out dropping below the 54mbps speed. Another thing is that most wireless routers come with 2dbi antennas, where most AP's have high gain 5+dbi.

I have not used them but have not heard anything bad. Except I do not like MIMO hardware (chanel bonding) , because they do not play well with other.

The only thing you need to remember is that netgear only gives 90 day free tech support. For G hardware not a problem. But 11n is a MAJOR problem. Thinking down the road, what are you going to do when the 11n spec is finalized and firmware is released. You upgrade and it goes south.

Multiple pc can use the wireless, but remember as you add pcs your band width is shared. Not much of an issue till you exceed the ISP speed. The pc's that are not using MIMO will force the router to std 11g. MIMO only affect wireless, wired has no impact.

 

soo yeh basically im looking for a gaming router so i can play wireless while maintaining a good range, speed, and having multiple computers receive signal wirelessly and not kill my gaming bandwidth. is the DGL-4300 something i need?

what do you mean if i want best performance i should get away from combo routers? are you saying i SHOULDN'T get a wireless router? How exactly does an access point work? do i still need a router for it? wireless wired? how do most gaming wireless set ups work? i need some help. thanks

 

and also, whats the difference between an access point and a wireless router? or is an access point a separate unit that you plug into a non-wireless router to give wireless connectivity?

what do you suggest for my gaming needs, which router or what combination of units would work for me?

 

The best performance comes when the hardware is not sharing resources. The AP is the wireless part of a wireless router. But you end up spending twice the money for the setup, but normally you end up with high gain antennas (5+dbi), std on most AP. Where most wireless routers only have 2dbi.

The Dlink DGL4300 is a nice routers it uses QoS to prorities traffic so you have less lag. But with all wireless you will have lags, there are just 2 many variable to deal with.

When you go to a seperate AP the router only see a PC nic connection, and any pc using the AP. It does not have to deal the WPA encryption, share ram or cpu cycles. All of this now is done by the AP.

 

im still not quite understanding the point of an AP. you said its the wireless part of a wireless router? so is it built in the router or its a separate unit? is it the same thing as a wireless router?

Im thinking about getting the dlink DGL4300. Ive seen some good reviews for it and it seems better than the linksys wrt54. Now i have Verizon DSL, how much lag should i expect from the Dlinks DGL4300? also the modem that came with my internet service is about 4-5 years old. If i got a new one from Verizon would that give me more speed or it wont matter?