Which router for wireless N mode (Intel 4965AGN): Belkin, D-Link, LinkSys, NetGEAR, other ??

Lets get this talk started. Which router would you buy to use with wireless N, and why ?

I keep hearing different opinions, so I thought I'd make a thread where people could share experience/thoughts.

 

A lot of people have been having good connections with the D-Link DIR-655. I myself have a DGL-4500, the "Gamer" version of the DIR-655.

Unfortunately, my T61p hasn't arrived yet, so I can't really give any field test data as of yet.

 

yep, I did some research and so far it's the D-Link DIR-655 that is winning over the LinkSys WRT350N.

but then, non of those support the 5GHz channel, and there's a new NetGEAR that is supposed to work with it, and it's price is about 150 bux. It's a new item at BestBuy, so it may not be available yet.

 

I have the D-Link DIR-655 and I love it

 

hm, the difference between the 625 and the 655 is that the second one has a gigabit switch and a 3rd anthena. And that's why they want 150 bux for it, vs. 100 for the 625 model...

well thinking that we are gonna use it wirelessly only, then the gigabit switch is kind of pointless

maybe if it had the 5GHz channel built in, it would have been different story

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but then, it may have some range advantage due to the third anthena

 

The DGL-4500 I have can use the 5GHz channel. The only problem is that it's an either/or proposition. Basically, it boils down to this: if you plan on running pure-N, or a A/N mix, you can use 5GHz. If you want to use either B or G along with N, you're stuck with 2.4GHz.

 

I just purchased a Trendnet TEW-633GR. It's cheaper than the D-Link DIR-655 most places and has worked great for me so far. My max connection is "130 Mbps" everywhere in my house. I haven't run any speed tests on it however.

 

DIR-655 because it works and works well.

 

I agree the DIR-655 is a great wireless N / Gig-E switch for the price. However be warned it does not work in "N" mode with the Intel 4965AGN in the newer Thinkpad T61P's even after upgrading the DIR-655's firmware to the latest 1.11 or using the latest Intel driver via thinkvantage.

Both Lenovo and D-Link support were unable to get it to work and suggested keeping an eye out for new firmware versions for both the 4965AGN and the DIR-655.

So great wireless "N" device... just not for those with a Intel 4965AGN / Lenovo T61P... at the moment anyways.

 

pwebb,

My T61p is up and running @ N 144MB/s. So, I haven't heard of the N problem on DIR-655.

 

Ah found the solution on a linksys support form, last post on the page:
http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=Wireless_Routers&message.id=45633

Switch the DIR-655 to use "TKIP & AES" then force the 4965AGN to use AES and NOT TKIP. Now I get between 130-150Mbps.

 

Hi

I remember when I got my T61, the N is disabled from device manager. Are you sure yours is not the case?

 

I get "N" mode speeds from my DIR-655 with my Intel 4965AGN equipped X61s, using the latest Intel driver via ThinkVantage. It has been stable for months now. So perhaps as you say, this is a T61p thing?

I remember reading somewhere that "N" doesn't work in all security modes - I'm using WPA2/AES.

 

ended up buying the DIR-625 model, and it works very solid. Got it from bestbuy on sale for 85 bux total

we use two laptops - mine, and a Dell D630 with same wireless card but XP Home. Well, it took me some time to figure out that Windows XP Home didn't update the Wi-Fi patch from Microsoft automatically, so it couldn't keep the speed up. But when I found that out, and downloaded & installed it manually, it started recognizing WPA2 connections, and now both laptops work at high speed.

- Speed: 144Mbit on both laptops
- Wireless program: Windows Wireless Network Connection. I didn't like the Intel one, sorry. Nor I use the ThinkVantage Access Connection software.
- Network Authentification: WPA2-PSK
- Data Encription: AES

- XP patch: KB893357

- on the router side: the CD that came with it shows step by step how to connect it to your modem, like explaining to a 2-year-old, with pictures ... lol. I didn't install the Network Magic software, cause it's a trial version only.
So you enter the router configuration menu by opening an internet brawser and typing in the address bar: 192.168.0.1 . User name "Admin", password - not set, so click Log on. Then, click on the Setup tap up top, select Wireless Networking on the left, and click the Manual Network setup button (or whatever it's called) on the bottom. Select WPA-Personal, and WPA2 only, type your network key at the bottom and save the settings from the button up top. Then click on Reboot Modem, and you're done

hope that helps somebody


edit: the N-mode works without any security as well - I connected unsecurely at 144Mbits as well, but screw that .. lol

 

I'll try to connect my printer to the USB port on the router tomorrow to see if we can use it as a network printer. But I have the feeling that it wont be so easy

 

OK, update, don't use WPA2 only on the router side because it can't keep constant speed at 144Mbit and it stops responding from time to time. So insead choose "Auto WPA and WPA2" . This way the speed will vary, but the connection will be more stable.

 

I am using Linsys WRT150N. It works great (N-mode, 130Mb).

 

I have like 8 networks in the range, lol.

also, there's like 2 sec delay before the IE connects. I haven't tried Firefox yet

 

A lot of N routers support 300mbs, but its usually proprietary like Xtreme N Duo from Dlink. Are there any PCIe mini cards and N Routers that can work together at 300mbs speeds?

I currently have a Dlink DGL-4300 which has been great as far as stability but not so great for wireless. I want to setup another route for just N and to use as a gigabit switch.

 

interestingly, the speed is not quite accurate. Or it gets lots of errors and has to run error correction protocol that takes a lot ...

example: I have about 10Mbit max connection from the internet to my modem. Then I have 100Mbit connection from the modem to the router with cable. And then I have from 100 to 144 Mbit connection when using the wireless N.

So with this, I went to download a 60MB file with a cable connection to the router (100MBit) and I got 650kb/s (that's about usual for my internet speed). Then I did the same file but over wireless at over 100 Mbit connection to the router, and I got 250kb/s and the connection dropped 3 times when past half the file, and I didn't get the file at the end. Same file, same page. And in no way so many other people could have downloaded the same file within 10 minutes cause it was a driver from Lenovos website, so that shouldn't have caused the delay.

how do you explain that ?

 

MaxGeek, the card in the laptop can support dual channel 2.4GHz and 5GHz connection for speeds up to 300Mbit/sec. However, a router like that was over 200 bucks, and I paid 85 total for mine.

 

I'm running a Linksys WRT600N with a X61 Intel 4965AGN, and I get 270Mbps.

 

Miro, I'm thinking of getting the 625 too, since the 5ghz routers don't seem to be on the market yet (atleast not for a decent value) and the 625 can be had for fairly cheap. Were you able to get a USB drive working on it? If so, can you access seamless video over the wireless connection?

Also, how dramatically does the speed vary when set to "Auto WPA and WPA2"?

Thanks for your help

 

I haven't had time to play with the USB port, so I don't know.

I guess I've got lots of interference around here cause my speed varies, the connectoin drops when I download big files, and the actual download speed gets three times slower than my LAN connectoin to the same router .. so mostly it runs error correction protocols or waits, duhh. I've got like 7 to 8 other networks available, and today I went at the back of our appartment building with the laptop where I saw another 5 or so networks available. So everybody has wireless around me, damn it.

 

Now that I've got my machine set up, in the 2.4Ghz band, my connection is a solid 130Mbps with Excellent signal strength, and using the 5GHz band, the connection is 300Mbps with Excellent signal strength.

I'm using a D-Link DGL-4500, all 3 2dBi antennas attached, firmware 1.02 (official D-Link firmware), either 2.4GHz (mixed B/G/N mode) or 5GHz (mixed A and N mode), auto-select best channel, WPA/WPA2 (auto select) with PSK, AES encryption.

 

^ have you actually checked your download speeds ?

I did chech mine couple of times by now. It shows 144Mbit connection most of the time, with signal being at max. However, when I go to download something then this something loads with say 250KB/s, and if I try the same file/website via cable to the router at 100Mbit connection, that file downloads with about 650MB/s, which is roughtly what my internet speed is.

so on wireless, it goes 2 to 3 times slower than on cable. And my wireless connection is at 144Mbit vs 100Mbit for the cable one ..

strange, aint it. I blame it on the number other networks around.

once I tried my wireless in the mourning, like 7am, and it almost reached download speeds as fast as the cable connection but still slower.

 

Using the Trendnet TEW-633GR, I download off the WAN at its max speed. On the LAN side (using Gbit wired, with 130 Mbps excellent WLAN connection). Transfering from laptop to desktop (access point sitting next to the primary circuit breaker and being roughly 50 feet away through 6 walls, a refrigerator, and the furnace), I get a consistent 3-5 MBps, which I assume is the max transfer rate of my laptop HDD.

 

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update

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I switched to Channel 11 only, and made it to connect in N-mode only, with Auto (WPA or WPA2) encription, and the download speeds went up again .

On the computer side, we use WPA2 mode, but when I made it to use WPA2 mode only on the router, the connection used to drop from time to time, so I left it at Auto (WPA or WPA2) ... I guess I can try it again while at channel 11 only

but I just checked - the download speed went almost as fast as with a cable

the connection stays at 144MBit/s, but the download speeds used to vary a lot - see my post above, but it's all good now

 

That's good you got it sorted out. I have the same router as yours. On mine , the channels are set for auto scan (currently at ch 6 ) and N mode only.
I've had my wireless max out at 800kb/s which is what my internet speed is at.