Gigabit or no gigabit, that is my question. lol

I want to get a router, but am confused about wither i really need a gigabit router or not. I'm in a 2 bedroom 1 floor condo, so I think N would be OK, but i think G would satisfy my range requirements, or should i absolutely get N.

Anyone have any comments or questions. Thanks for your opinons.

 

N and G have nothing to do with gigabit

Really, it depends on what you're doing with the router. If it's just for Internet access, G will go faster than any normal ISP will deliver you data, so there's no need for anything better. If you're going to be transferring large files between computers on the same network, N can help speed that up significantly.

After that, it comes down to price. I would say that it's worth another $10 or so to get N in your case. But I wouldn't say you have to get N by any means, especially considering many machines and devices aren't even N compatible.

 

I'd get N if you intend to do more than just surf the web. File transferring, media sharing is much better on N.

Gigabit isn't needed unless you're going to transfer via cables, in my experiences. On 5Ghz wireless N, i'm only able to hit 100Mbit transfer speeds using a gigabit router (Linksys WRT610N), not much more than that consistently. I don't know if you'd have better luck?

 

Gigabit is only for cables. Period. Wireless N tops out at 300Mbps, and only in perfect circumstances. If you have both ends connected via wireless, cut your bandwidth in half.

N ONLY matters if you have more than one computer on your network. If you don't, it's an unnecessary cost for no benefit for just Internet access. You won't even saturate G with the full bandwidth of a FiOS connection.

 

Wrong. G's actual negotiated speeds usually aren't 54Mb/s unless you're sitting somewhere within a 10ft radius with no walls. FiOS will more than saturate a normal users G-network with walls and other interference factored in. N-WiFi with a 2x2 or a 3x3 card in the notebook will get much higher negotiated speeds, and be able to competently handle even a 50Mb/s FiOS connection. If you have more than one computer connected, are sharing anything (iTunes libraries, shared local folders), or have any kind of video streaming (computer to PS3, HD video from the internet to wireless devices), then N is the standard you want. G will stutter, transfer slow, and re-buffer constantly with things like that happening on it's network.

Although, you say it's a 2 bedroom 1 floor condo, I'd still go with N to ensure a little bit more network capacity for the future.

 

Here is the simplest way to put it...

For what you can get a gigabit/N router for these days compared to 10/100 or G, there is little reason not to go N/gigabit unless you really just can't afford that little extra. I think Newegg had one on sale for $30 bucks today. I recommend spending a bit more and aim for Linksys or Netgear though so you get something nice but the price differences between the standards not a huge deal anymore.

At this point G should be relegated to people who just use a laptop to check email and surf.

 

Yeah, or not.