New Router for my new notebook

I just got a new notebook which came with Wireless N. My DSL wireless router is G. My old notebook is B.

I was thinking about upgrading the router, but am not sure if it is really worth it. The old pc is still running XP and will stay that way for quite some time since my husband's company is not ready to switch to Vista. He needs to use the old computer to connect to his office's VPN.

The current router only uses a 64-bit hexkey, which I'm not thrilled about. It came with our DSL service. My old router was a Netgear, and I was able to run 128 bit encryption and enable Mac address access. This 2Wire router doesn't let me do that.

So, if I upgrade to Wireless N, will I really see any speed difference in my web surfing? I never move files, but I suppose I could now, with two working notebooks.

I'm paying for "up to 3.0 Mbps" downstream and 512 kbps upstream." Since that's as fast as it'll allow me to download, it sounds like upgrading the router won't do me any good. ?

Thanks.

 

Right now, from what I've seen in the forum, most people don't see any noticeable difference stepping up to N wireless. However, you might consider stepping up from plain G to something like Super G, which theoretically doubles the Mbps rate (although actual throughput is what matters, and most router vendors won't publish those numbers); you would probably see as much of a difference between G and Super G as between G and N, but at less of a cost, and with no real difference between Super G and N.