Now that final N standard is out, should we still buy N draft routers before it??

Has anything changed in final N standards?? What are drafts 1 and 2 and is it still ok to invest in routers which came before the standard was finalized??

 

I don't know what has changed, but I'm sure it's nothing huge between the final draft and the standard.
I personally avoided N while it was draft because I don't want a draft standard device, but I'd say not that N is out as a standard, it's just as okay to buy a draft N router as it is to buy a G router. It's not ideal perhaps, but it will still serve a purpose.

 

Will it not just mean we will just have to perform a firmware upgrade to get full draft.

 

I avoided draft n for that purpose for a while, but then I realized it didn't matter. There was nothing wrong with it at all, it was just that they could not get consensus on what the final specs should be, so they had the draft in limbo forever. This inaction caused manufacturers to release devices based on the draft specifications. They were already making n-like devices to their own specs labeled "super-g" and whatnot that may or may not have been able to operate at higher than g speeds with similar devices from other manufacturers for quite a while. Once there was a good draft specification, in I believe 2005, maybe 2006, they started to roll out the draft n devices based on identical specs instead of their own versions based on really early conceptions of a wireless n standard. Anything made since mid 2007 is identical to anything built today since it is the same exact spec. Because of bureaucratic idiocy, the final version was not set in stone for years, but since everyone was already making the devices, in the end there was little more they could do than to approve the draft specs as they were and as manufacturers had been building them for several years.

No, because it is hardware, not software based. However, the draft and final versions are the same, so it doesn't matter. If there is any difference (such as removing "draft" from the name), it is inconsequential.

 

The difference between Draft 2.0 and the final is minor. However there are LOTS of different configurations in 11n vs previous versions such as b and g. Current versions are limited to a 3x3:2 configuration and the Draft 2.0 products leverage configurations with lower speeds only, which means they are essentially limited to a theoretical 300Mbps. Most companies released Draft 2.0 in an effort to increase revenue by selling something new, and hedging bets on the patent issue with 11n would eventually resolve. Though faster speeds leveraging more advanced configurations would likely be equated to higher hardware costs, which makes sense why companies held off on that. Seems to me like a perfect opportunity to release new products which are more "advanced" in multiple release cycles. I would wait for the more advanced configurations with higher speeds based on final specs if you haven't already purchased 11n access points. I've read there are 450Mbps AP with new radio technologies in the works.

If you read about current 11n APs, while they may advertise as greater than 300Mbps, they pretty much are blatantly false advertising by making claims of the spec itself vs the product they are marketing, or essentially cheating by using both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz spectrums, which isn't inline to the final specs. My favorite is advertising 600Mbps, yet including only fast ethernet (100Mbps) ports!! You're better off buying more advanced equipment that's in line with the finalized specs, than using something older that's not standardized (otherwise you'd run into compatibility issues with equipment from another brand).

Personally, I'm waiting for faster, more advanced access points. I bet we'll see some at the 2010 CES show.