Draft N - Upgradable To Full N, Yes - No

I have ordered an NETGEAR DG834N RangeMax NEXT ADSL2+

Will i be able to upgrade it to full N, when it is competed!

thanks

 

So, basically, if the router is certified as Draft 2.0 compliant, you're in good shape.

 

thanks +rep for you.

 

Hi.

could you decipher this page for me, and let me know if i am good to go!

http://www.netgear.com/About/PressReleases/en-US/2007/20070629.aspx

thanks.

 

I say nothing is a guarantee its draft and thats that.

My reading found me this article:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/22/HN80211n_1.html

Says all current draft can be upgraded to 2.0 via firmware upgrade, but nothing about all 2.0 going to final, it even talks about draft 3.0 coming soon so.... why would 2.0 be a guarantee on final?

 

I just read 2.0 uses a different frequency that the NETGEAR DG834N does not support?

 

If the router/device is certified as Draft 2.0 compliant by the wifi alliance (it is listed Boldly on the box as such), that means it will be upgradeable, most likely by firmware, to the final draft.

Draft 3 is the final!!! And it's only fine tuning certain items, no major changes from Draft 2.

Of course, for probably at least a year(or more) after the final N spec comes out, manufacturers will be finalizing their products to fully comply with the spec, THEN, they will start making sure they are compatible w/ other manufactures products (yea, right).

Your best bet is still to buy a router/adapter made by the same company-- or uses the same chip, like the popular atheros chip--used in Dlink and some Netgear routers, etc.

IMO, your best bet is to wait a f ew months and see if the price comes down on the Linksys WRT600N, dual band, dual radio N router. It is the cream of the crop at the moment. The Dlink DIR 855 will be out at the end of June, but after reading this REVIEW at smallnetbuilder.com, I wouldn't touch it. It's performance was nothing outstanding and it is set to cost $100 more than the WRT600N. If Dlink doesn't drop the price to be competitive w/ the Linksys, it's not going to sell-- esp coming on the market so late.

Now, let's just hope Buffalo gets things sorted out and they can start selling their dual band N router in the US

my 2 cents...

 

I have candled the NETGEAR DG834N, I will wait untill things sort themselves out!

thanks guys

 

Don't worry, it will most likely be upgradable to N final with a firmware upgrade.

The safest thing to do is to ask the vendor.

 

Robo

I found this under the latest firmware 1.02.08, on the support page for the DG834N:

So this firmware meets the standard, but NO WHERE in the manual I downloaded, in the specs, promotional material, etc., does it say the router is "certified Draft 2.0 compliant by the wifi alliance".......

 

It`s confusing, I would rather wait.

 

My understanding is that final N will be ready by next year, if you can wait until then, thus wait.

Also, keep in mind that if you get a N router, then to take full advantage of it you also must have client's nic with N technology.

 

I have poor line quality and my current netgear router will reduce the connection speed, but it will not increase the line speed when the quality improves.

I read that ADSL2 had both feature, that is my main reason for upgrading.

But i only upgrade every few years and dont want to buy a beta router, I will wait for now!

thanks

 

My guess is what while a firmware update might do it, the vendors will NOT release a firmware update. They would much rather you purchase another product that is "802.11n complaint" out of the box.

 

In the other hands it won't embellish the vendor's image having products with "draft" N and new ones with "final" N. People with draft N will feel frustrated with such vendors if they cannot upgrade their firmware, especially if they are moving from a hot spot and they find themselves with an incompatible standard.

I have experience in product management and IMO there will be most likely a firmware upgrade.

 

But if all vendors block updating to final N, then they win...

 

I heard you but what will it happens at the hot spots? Will they offer both, draft N in one channel and final N in another one? It will be another mess indeed, hopefully there will be a firmware upgrade.

ATM I'm wondering what the vendors are saying about this. Honestly, knowing this as a potential issue I would ask the vendor if my router is going to be good just for 6 months.

 

they should never have released "draft N" in the first place, until it was finalised.

 

Well, it benefited those who play games or intense interaction among computers behind the AP, 300Mbps is definitely a great throughput.

Now keep in mind that the final N could be very well the draft one, or very close to it justifying a firmware upgrade, this makes me think to FF3, Firefox made a lot of noise about the final version download and it was the same beta version.

 

With all this talk about upgradeable routers, Draft N, 2 & 3, I was wondering if a Draft N router would affect a Draft N USB. In other words, if I bought the Linksys router mentioned above, and my notebook doesn't support Draft N, I believe I would need a USB Draft N adapter for the notebook. My question is this: Would the USB draft N gadget need to be identical in Draft N (draft, 2 or 3) to the Draft N number of the router? I hope this makes sense.

 

My first opinion would be yes, it should be the same, it's a good question to ask the vendor about.

 

I agree totally!!!!!!!!!!!

In fact, if anyone would like to make a friendly wager that Dlink, Linksys, & Netgear don't release a firmware update for their mainstream Draft N routers out now, I'LL take that bet!!!!!!!! I'll bet they do and we can talk specific routers too, to make the bet clear!!!-- or can we do that

i don't know why poeple are crying wolf, when most of them don't even have a draft N router.......

 

I suspect some will not meet the Final Spec. Mainly v1 units. Those who have v2 shipped from the factory will work. Those who upgraded may or may not. Example Links 150 which was discontinued and replaced with the newer 160. There were quite a few that got caught with 11g went to final. The reason I do not by non-spec hardware. I would guess that ALL client cards will, since they use the pc resources.

But MFG do not have to release final firmware. But I suspect most will, at least the Majors. Those who bought Draft new they were taking the risk of it not meeting final spec's. Those who did were just paying the mfg to become BETA testers.