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Saturday November 21, 2009 7:34 PM AEST
Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > Group Tests > Which is the best draft-n wireless router?
Which is the best draft-n wireless router?

Which is the best draft-n wireless router?

by Johnathan Bray  on Sep 12, 2008
Faster wireless networking is finally within reach. We test and rate every draft-n 2.0 ADSL modem router on the market.
Wireless networking has been adopted incredibly quickly in the past few years. With the widespread take-up of broadband and an increasing shift from desktop PCs towards laptops in the home, it’s been a natural progression. And, as wireless networks have spread, so have the devices that take advantage of them. Internet radios, smartphones and handheld internet devices such as the iPod Touch all now have Wi-Fi built in.

Yet the 802.11g technology that knits most home networks together is beginning to strain its seams. A top theoretical speed of 54Mb/sec might be fine for browsing the web and streaming audio, but when it comes to streaming video, transferring large files and backing up to NAS devices, it’s frustratingly slow. And at distances further than a room away, those already-slow speeds drop dramatically.

Faster, more reliable wireless networking is here, however, and now that the 802.11n certification process is under way (which means devices should work reliably together), it’s finally a practical proposition.

So this month we’ve gathered together every wireless-n draft-2.0 ADSL modem router on the market to find out if it’s worth forking out for an upgrade. And we’ve carried out our most thorough tests yet to find out how fast and far the new generation of routers will allow your network to go.

How we test

Thanks to the certification process (see The state of play, p69), this is the first wireless routers Labs in which we’ve been able to test using a “standard” adapter rather than relying on manufacturer’s own adapters.

To take advantage of this, and to ensure the routers worked well with other manufacturers’ kit, we tested with Intel’s near-ubiquitous 4965AGN laptop adapter, embedded in a Lenovo ThinkPad X300.

Aside from interoperability, though, there are a number of other factors that make testing wireless routers tricky. Interference from neighbouring networks can affect speed and stability, and there’s a raft of other devices that can impinge on performance.

Digital cordless phones, for instance, operate in the same 2.4GHz range as Wi-Fi, and microwave ovens can play havoc with your connection. This means performance can vary wildly, from fast in the morning to dead slow later on.
To make our tests as real-world and repeatable as possible we tested all the routers in domestic conditions – a small, three-bedroom suburban terrace – and, to ensure a level playing field, took control readings from a draft-n 2.0 router not involved in the Labs (an EnGenius ESR-9710) before each router was tested. The final results were adjusted depending on the relative performance of the control readings.

For each router, we performed a number of timed file transfers: we copied 128 files 1MB in size from another laptop connected to one of the router’s LAN ports and repeated that three times; then we did the same with one 128MB file. Next, we watched a two-minute 1080p WMV video clip across the network to see if each router could maintain a steady stream of data.

We performed this set of tests in a variety of locations around the house to gauge performance at different distances. The first set was conducted in the same room at a distance of 2m; we then moved next door – 3m away with a brick wall in between; we tested in a bedroom, one floor up; and we did the same in the kitchen, separated from the router by a staircase and two brick walls.
Finally we took the laptop out into the garden and into an office 40m away, with a double-glazed window in a brick wall, light vegetation and a 19mm-thick wooden wall in the way.

All routers were tested at factory-standard settings with WPA2 and AES encryption turned on and the latest firmware version applied. We also ensured that each router was using a channel that other routers in the area were not using.
click to view full size image
click to view full size image
This article appeared in the October, 2008 issue of PC Authority.


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Comments: 4
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
A.B
Sep 15, 2008 3:42 PM
 On the above article you state that you tested ADSL wireless modem routers, but the part no you have for the Belkin N1 vision is for the router only model.
Did you test using the router only N1 or did you use the N1 vision modem router Part no F5D8632au4A.
I believe that there is a significant wireless performance difference between the 2 versions.


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Which is the best draft-n wireless router??
Faster wireless networking is finally within reach. We test and rate every draft-n 2.0 ADSL modem router on the market.

What do you think? Join the discussion.
malai5
Sep 16, 2008 1:57 AM
 Hi A.B.

I have been using a Belkin Pre-N wireless router for a few years (I have what I think is the first series) with a Pre N PC card in my old Vaio Notebook.
The house that the wireless network is in is two story one and I get great signal strength all through the house and in the surrounding grounds. Also accessing this router is a desktop with a G wireless card and an XBox 360 with I think another G wireless card.
The G wireless cards work with varying connection speeds throughout the house, but the Pre N in my laptop is 108Mbs everywhere.

I cannot fault the Belkin Pre-N for performance or reliability, well and truly worth the premium price I originally paid for the setup.

Thats my story and it is a happy one with Belkin.

Cheers

Malai5
Battletoad69
Jul 6, 2009 5:59 PM
 Oh Hai

I heard you guys liek Mudkipz. Wot is the best Mudkip Modem on the market at the moment?? Plz do a comparision.

Ok Thx Bai!
tribedenis
Sep 27, 2009 3:22 PM
 I took your advice and bought the Linksys based on the review. It was a breeze to set up and has improved my wireless range and speed - thanks
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