I'm moving into a house (woot), and I obviously need some sort of wireless router. I got my parents' place setup with an AEBS, and I was wondering if there's some major reason I shouldn't go with one. I haven't had any problems with it since a firmware update many months ago, and even then it was only disk-mounting issues. I'm especially loving the dual-band networks so I can use N devices at full speed while still using G stuff.
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Any reason to not get an AEBS?
- Thread starter Michael CM1
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a) They're expensive (I guess most dual-bands are)
b) They are not as full featured as others
You can get dual band from two cheap routers by joining them together and putting one into slave or bridged mode.
Other than that, they're great.
b) They are not as full featured as others
You can get dual band from two cheap routers by joining them together and putting one into slave or bridged mode.
Other than that, they're great.
Dual Band...doesnt that just mean you can have both 2.5Ghz and 5Ghz multicasts?
I still think if you have G & N devices mixed on there...they will still perform according to the lowest speed (G)?
I still think if you have G & N devices mixed on there...they will still perform according to the lowest speed (G)?
The new Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme Base Station are actually simultaneous dual-band, meaning they can broadcast two separate networks (for example one 802.11g/802.11b/802.11n 2.4Ghz network and one 802.11n/802.11a 5Ghz network). You can even have three (two real, one virtual) networks if you activate the "Guest" mode.
A few MAJOR disadvantages:
1. No QoS (Quality of Service) - this is important if you plan on opening multiple network intensive streams on the router. For example, my AirPort Extreme can't handle recording from an HDHomeRun to my PC and streaming HD video from my PC to my XBOX 360 (via Windows Media Center) at the same time. I'll frequently get "network congestion" errors even though all devices are wired.
This should not happen on a gigabit router.
2. No proper uPNP support - this can be a problem with game consoles. Most are smart enough to get around the lack of uPNP. However, it takes extra effort on the part of the device.
3. Number of LAN ports - most routers include four or more LAN ports. The Time Capsule and AirPort only include three.
A few MAJOR disadvantages:
1. No QoS (Quality of Service) - this is important if you plan on opening multiple network intensive streams on the router. For example, my AirPort Extreme can't handle recording from an HDHomeRun to my PC and streaming HD video from my PC to my XBOX 360 (via Windows Media Center) at the same time. I'll frequently get "network congestion" errors even though all devices are wired.
This should not happen on a gigabit router.
2. No proper uPNP support - this can be a problem with game consoles. Most are smart enough to get around the lack of uPNP. However, it takes extra effort on the part of the device.
3. Number of LAN ports - most routers include four or more LAN ports. The Time Capsule and AirPort only include three.
Good bit of kit
I can't think of any reasons personally why not It's a great bit of kit one feature I love is the ability to extend the network with my Airport Express just the fact it all works seamlessly together each to they're own i guess
I can't think of any reasons personally why not It's a great bit of kit one feature I love is the ability to extend the network with my Airport Express just the fact it all works seamlessly together each to they're own i guess
Thanks for the input. I don't think I have any concerns with the drawbacks listed. My dad's has been well worth the money for how darn simple it is compared to the Linksys unit I wanted to go postal on. I don't recall any game issues with my Wii aside from me never remembering the bloody password. I played Mario Kart Wii online plenty of times and I've been playing World of Warcraft over the wireless connection as well.
All the stuff mentioned that I forget from my Cisco classes shouldn't affect me. I just need to get Internet connections to about 4 or 5 wireless devices, probably half of them G (iPhone, printer). When streaming video from a networked HDD back to the computer, that's where I need all the speed I can get.
I'm not really too concerned with the number of ports, especially 3 vs. 4. I'll never turn down an extra port of any kind, but that's what hubs are made for.
I guess the only thing not address was whether some new technology is floating about that could cause an update. I don't think there is aside from 802.11n getting finalized, but that'll be a software update. I know better than to spend full price on an iPhone right now, so I just wanted to get a lot of opinions on getting an AEBS of my own.
All the stuff mentioned that I forget from my Cisco classes shouldn't affect me. I just need to get Internet connections to about 4 or 5 wireless devices, probably half of them G (iPhone, printer). When streaming video from a networked HDD back to the computer, that's where I need all the speed I can get.
I'm not really too concerned with the number of ports, especially 3 vs. 4. I'll never turn down an extra port of any kind, but that's what hubs are made for.
I guess the only thing not address was whether some new technology is floating about that could cause an update. I don't think there is aside from 802.11n getting finalized, but that'll be a software update. I know better than to spend full price on an iPhone right now, so I just wanted to get a lot of opinions on getting an AEBS of my own.
I don't think I would worry about new technology coming out anytime soon.
If you were considering the Time Capsule, I would probably wait till the conference next month just to make sure they don't bump the HD size, but that is unlikely.