Netgear and Linksys get draft-n routers reviewed

With all the pain associated, usually there's a bit of a pay-off for early adopters. They are, after all, playing with the "latest and greatest," right? Doesn't seem to be the case with the three new draft-n routers that just hit the market. We already hit up the disappointing Buffalo WZR-G300N, and it seems Netgear's WNR854T and Linksys' WRT300N fared little better. In fact, neither product managed to best its own predecessor. The PC Mag reviewer did have a lot of love for the actual setup and feature set of both of these products, with snazzy parental controls from Linksys and a built-in Gigabit Ethernet switch from Netgear (a first for consumer routers) among the evident router maturity these two companies have reached. Sadly, the fun stopped there, since out of the box neither product managed much connectivity at all, and even after firmware updates the two routers marked up some pretty lame benchmarks. Netgear beat all with 124mbps at 10 feet and 105mbps at 60 feet, but its lame 28mbps at 120 feet and abysmal 2.8mbps at 160 feet were thoroughly trounced by Netgear's own RangeMax 240 pre-n product. Linksys, like Buffalo, didn't even manage a signal at 160 feet, and across the board lost to its own pre-n product, the SRX400. That's gotta hurt. As much as we love that bleeding edge, we think we're going to sit this round out, mmkay?

Read - Netgear WNR854T
Read - Linksys WRT300N

[Eion @ Jun 20th 2006 9:07PM]

The Netgear might be the first draft-n consumer-grade router to have gigabit ethernet, but it's definitely not the first gigabit-equipped consumer router. That would be the D-Link Wireless 108G (DGL-4300), released about fifteen months ago. There's also the Asus RX3141IP (which isn't wireless), released about a year ago.

[Ryan @ Jun 21st 2006 12:50AM]

I cant even believe this stuff is even on store shelves. With all the problems the "draft"-n has reportedly caused with neighboring b and g networks, I'm disappointed these major companies have rushed out the gate to be 1st. Linksys and Netgear have not properly reviewed their own equipment, considering the headaches their customers(and neighbors) may face. Correct me if I am wrong, but did this draft not just recently fail to pass final spec by the IEEE?

[Jeff @ Jun 21st 2006 2:01AM]

Does this mean I'll be able to get an 802.11g unit for $30 now? :D

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 21st 2006 4:59AM]

Is that LinkSys Linux capable?

I love my WRT54G with updated Linux firmware.

http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/10/upgrade-the-linksys-wrt54g-with-open-source-firmware/

[Craig @ Jun 21st 2006 5:51AM]

I know asthetics don't really matter with a router, but what is that linksys router like? They started styling their new products really well, and now go back to fisher price styling!

[theCardinal @ Jun 21st 2006 8:25AM]

Why don't aesthetics matter with a router? With wireless routers such as these there's a good chance they'll end up hanging on your wall or in some other prominent position to maximize the range of the wireless network.
No way I'd hang that linksys router on my wall unless it offered something significantly better than the competition, which, it seems, it does not.

[adam @ Jun 21st 2006 8:57AM]

when are they going to stop trying to go with a single WAP and use a multi WAP solution that makes sense...

http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2006/05/26/1660840.htm

can't wait to see how this turns out.