Airport Extreme VS D-Link

[ChaePod]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum, and I'm planning to get a Mac in late Feb ~ Early March

I have a few questions i want to ask.

1) I am ready to get a new router cos my current one is beginning to die it is like 3 years old... and i am stuck between 2 routers. The Airport Extreme Base Station and the D-Link DIR-655.

They both seem like very good routers and each router has some appealing features. The AEBS obviously has the USB port which i would use for wireless printing (if you could tell me how well this works it would be nice). But the D-Link has QoS which is very appealing as well.

Which one would u guys suggest i get?

2) I currently have 2 Pc's and they are 802.11g connected via ethernet ports on my current router I heard briefly from somewhere that if i get a new Mac and use 802.11n with those PCs, the Mac's speed would see a significant decrease? is this true o does it only count if my PC's are wireless? and could u explain why?

3) Um.. this isnt really relevant but i just have to know this. How do the Mac Pros use Photobooth and iChat etc. ? Do the cinema displays have isight on them ?

Thanks in advance

 

[smenzer]

Hi, this is my first post on this forum, and I'm planning to get a Mac in late Feb ~ Early March

I have a few questions i want to ask.

1) I am ready to get a new router cos my current one is beginning to die it is like 3 years old... and i am stuck between 2 routers. The Airport Extreme Base Station and the D-Link DIR-655.

They both seem like very good routers and each router has some appealing features. The AEBS obviously has the USB port which i would use for wireless printing (if you could tell me how well this works it would be nice). But the D-Link has QoS which is very appealing as well.

Which one would u guys suggest i get?

I have the same question -- any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[MarkSTi04]

The Cinama Displays have iSight Cameras built in. You can use your own camera if you want. My friend has his older Mac Pro running an external Camera and it works great. The only downfall to his, is the camera he is using is older and not as many mega-pixels as the one built in my MacBook Pro.

Thats about all I know.

 

[flopticalcube]

D-Link can take a USB printer or hard disk just like the AEBS.

 

[bubbamike]

D-Link can take a USB printer or hard disk just like the AEBS.

Only if you run windows, won't work from a Mac because the software in Windows only.

Also the 655 is single band where the new AEBS is dual band. However I think the external antennas on the 655 is a positive over the AEBS.

 

[belvdr]

The QoS is only going to really help on the local LAN, unless your ISP works with you on a QoS policy for your WAN (which is very highly unlikely unless you are on some sort of business plan).

 

[FarSeide]

If your PCs are connected via Ethernet then there won't be any speed issues. But even if you are running them on wireless the new AEBS has dual band so you won't have issues with them when you run N and G simultaneously.

 

[digitaldean]

Just installed DIR-655

Just installed DIR-655.

The single/dual band issue previously listed could cause to be an issue. But not a major one.

Have 1 laptop and 2 desktops hardwired, then 2 eeePC netbooks and a Wii wirelessly connected. So far, so good. The netbooks and Wii are connected via 801.11g, plus my reserve MacBookPro comes in with an N connection.

Admin is not as daunting as I was lead to believe in previous reviews. Would have preferred an Apple solution, but it had 1 less hardwire port plus got the DIR-655 for a little over $90 on Amazon.

 

[Hot Snowboarder]

My experience with D-Link products is that they are bottom of the line. I'd be inclined to go with the apple airport or a netgear router.

 

[ceezy3000]

i use a nintendo branded router, its pretty powerful actually, and very compact sleek design

 

[digitaldean]

...and my experience with D-Link has been pretty much problem free. A couple minor shutdowns where I had to reset the router before I replaced it with the DIR-655.

 

[pastrychef]

My experiences with the DIR-655 has been excellent. It handles tons of connections without ever needing a restart. LAN performance has been great. However, the USB port is useless to me since there are no Mac drivers and I've read that the Windows drivers leave much to be desired.

 

[J&JPolangin]

...I was looking at a D-link 628 dual band router today but it wasn't dual band simultaniously (sp?) like the AEBS so it went back on the shelf...

 

[t5rider]

Amazing...I have a DIR-655

router and it is pretty much issue free. In fact, very reliable. However, I want to add a NAS device, and hook my printer up to the USB port, but cannot do so w/ this as it only has Winders drivers for that functionality.

So it is between a standalone 1TB drive w/ a AEBS, or the 1TB Time Capsule...

I have heard/read a lot of negative about the TC's, so I hesitate to go that route.

And this thread didn't necessarily persuade me that the AEBS is better than the DIR-655 I have now.