Is it worth it for me to get an "N" router?

[Jschultz]

I have a brand new iMac that supports N, although it is plugged in via ethernet, and always will be.

My iPhone, and my fiancee's acer notebook are both G.

What's the consensus?

 

[bigjnyc]

you dont need N unless you forsee going wireless with your imac in the future. it would just be a waste.

 

[Chaszmyr]

Wireless networks scale down to the speed of the slowest device connected to the network. That means if you have an N router and connect your iPhone to it, for example, everything on the network will only be using G speeds. In other words, you don't need an N router. Moreover, if you're not wirelessly connecting any N devices, you really don't need an N router. Not that it would hurt to have one, but...

 

[Jschultz]

Ok, with that being said, is it worth the extra cash to get an AEBS over any other plain jane router? I forgot to mention that I am considering an AppleTV, which uses wirless N.

Is the AEBS easier to use and live with than comparable brands? I've got a 4 year old linksys now that I don't necessarily like.

 

[himansk]

I would say it depends on what your plans for the future are. If you are planning to buy a laptop or something with N wireless, then it could make sense to buy N capable router today. I myself am planning to upgrade to a newer MBP later this year so I bought the Time Capsule when it came out to replace my ancient Linksys G router.

 

[skorpien]

If you're getting an Apple TV, you might want to consider getting an AEBS, setting it to broadcast an 802.11n only 5 GHz network, and setting your Linksys to work as a b/g bridge. That way, your Apple TV and future N devices will get 300 Mbps (theoretically) and your iPhone and other b/g devices could connect to the Linksys (and therefore not slow down the N network). I have a TC in 802.11n only 5 GHz with a Linksys WRT54GS b/g bridge and it works without a hitch (sans having had to restart the Linksys once for some weird reason I've yet to figure out).

 

[krye]

Don't get it unless you need it.

 

[atszyman]

How fast is your internet? Do you do a lot of LAN transfers between computers? Do you have plans on getting any 802.11n devices in the near future?

802.11b has more throughput than a 3 or 6 Mb/s typical DSL connection. Verizon FIOS at 15-20 Mb/s is still eclipsed by 802.11b speeds. The only place you'd see the speed boost is between other 802.11n devices on your local network, and if you're sharing that with any 802.11g devices the whole network falls back to g.

So unless you're getting some 802.11n devices that are going to be doing a lot of local transfers in the near future, you probably don't need anything beyond 802.11g right now.