router question

[dorkin]

Does anyone offer a wireless cable/dsl router for home use that incorporates a built-in print sharing.
Also, is wireless 802.11g really worth it?

This thing would make a good boat anchor!

 

[jlanka]

<A HREF="http://www.dlink.com/products/broadband/di713p/" target="_new">here's one</A>

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[LtBlue14]

is 802.11g really worth it (for the home), as he says?

i've also read about 802.11e, which was supposed to be like 11b except help reduce signal interference problems. did this technology ever come to fruition?

how much more expensive is B versus G?

i did search the forum for the answers to these questions, (and for up-to-date information), but this forum doesn't get much action, so everything is outdated by a month or two =(

i also read the article that was just put out, and i had pretty much decided on 11b because 11g is still a new technology and there are bugs etc. but now i'm seeing that 11g is being recommended for home use by some people, and i'm thinking maybe i should go for it. i would expect a realworld performance jump from 4Mbps to 20Mbps...is this an over-estimation?

Linksys is thrown around as a good brand name, would it be reasonable to expect their 11g system to work without headaches?

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[kwebb68]

802.11e is simply a quality of service (QoS) enhancement. It will allow smoother and more efficient data transfer to existing and future 802.11 LAN's.

"how much more expensive is B versus G?"

I assume you meant how much more expensive is G than B. 802.11b has been around for 5 years. You can get .11b AP's for less than 50 bucks these days with rebate offers. .11g is so new it isn't even a standard yet and won't be for at least a couple of more months. 802.11g hardware, AP side anyway, is in the 150+ range currently. Still a bit buggy but if bandwidth is a concern it might still be worth it for you over the slower 802.11b equipment.

20 Mpbs seems to be about right for overall throughput numbers on 802.11G equipment. That is under perfect conditions. As you throw in obstructions, multipath, distance or some other interference the bandwidth will begin to suffer. How much can only be determined by testing in your environment.

From all I have read, the 54G hardware from Linksys is a crap shoot. I've read some good reviews but I have seen plenty of BBS posts beating the hell out of it. Linksys as a good brand name is debate-able. They certainly have a presence and one would hope their recent aquisition by Cisco can only be a good thing.

 

[LtBlue14]

is there any particular company you like to recommend for price/performance reasons?

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[kwebb68]

Linksys is probably as good as any in that market area, the sub-200 dollar 802.11g or 75-125 dollar 802.11b. I only have passing experience with Linksys hardware, and none at all with their wireless devices so I am just passing on sentiment from others. I doubt you would want to spend the kind of money it would take to buy equipment based on the bulk of my personal experience because it's about 95% enterprise level hardware. Cisco predominately. I do however have a Siemens Speedstream NAT Router/AP combo (2624) and have been very happy with it thus far, about a year now.

If I had it do over again I'd probably opt for the D-Link PBCC 22 Mb AP's. Would still allow associations at 11 Mb (CCK) with my cisco and orinoco client cards and would also allow me to get some more punch bandwidth wise if I wanted to shell out for an 802.11b+ client card. Very few negative articles/reviews/responses about the D-link stuff from my vantage point.