Group test: Draft-N wireless routers

Draft-N routers promise high speeds and extended range - we see how the latest shape up

Wireless networking has always been the poor cousin of wired networks in terms of speed. With 802.11g limited to a mere 54Mbits/sec, it looks pedestrian compared to the giddy heights of Gigabit Ethernet’s 1,000Mbits/sec.

This is set to change with the 802.11n standard that boasts link speeds of 300Mbits/sec. Sadly, the final ratified standard has been delayed until about 2008, so vendors have gone ahead and created products based around draft 1.0 of the standard that was released in 2006.

Such products are commonly referred to as ‘draft-N’ and are advertised as offering wired-equivalent, real-world speeds of 100Mbits/sec or more.

But can they deliver? We tested six routers based on this draft-N standard to see how they compare in real life. We were particularly interested to find out how they compare to the existing 802.11g models that offer various performance enhancements.

Speed is not the only reason to consider a draft-N wireless network; the range is also improved using clever Mimo (multiple input, multiple output) radio technology that can remove the need for extra access points.

We first saw this technology in the so-called ‘pre-N’ products that appeared almost two years ago.

You’ll find out how the routers performed in our tests, and whether they lived up to the promised 802.11n speeds.

All these early devices are router-only with no ADSL modem, which reflects the nature of the US broadband market where they were first launched, but modem-equipped models are now starting to appear.

If you have cable broadband or an ADSL modem with an Ethernet connection, these devices could be the perfect Christmas gift for your network.

This article is part of a group test of draft-N routers.
See also: Belkin N1
Buffalo Airstation Nfiniti
D-link DIR-635
Linksys WRT300N-UK
Netgear Rangemax Next
Trendnet TEW-631BRP
Graphs and table of features can be read via our pdf downloads above.
Editor's Choice/the winner is on the next page

Choosing a product that’s based on a draft standard is not something we do often, but in the world of Wifi it’s becoming the norm because of to interminable industry wrangling over small print.

There’s no guarantee that any of these products will be compatible with final ‘true’ 802.11n products when they arrive. Having said that, this problem has dogged wireless standards pretty much since they started. At least draft-N is compatible with the existing 11b and 11g standards.

It’s going to be at least a year before 802.11n is ratified, so in the meantime there’s no overwhelming reason for home or small-business users to hang back if they need a fast solution right now.

You should be aware that your PC’s wireless networking status panel may tell you that the link speed is 300Mbits/sec, but that’s not the actual throughput speed.

Some vendors we’ve talked to claim to have seen 100Mbits/sec in practice, but apart from occasional peaks we certainly saw no sustained activity approaching even half that in our real-world setup.

Speed certainly isn’t vastly better than older ‘pre-N’ Mimo units or even some enhanced 11g models, and we would advise against buying these units purely on the promise of speed.

Coverage is definitely much better than 11g, however, so if you have a problem getting good signals, they’re worth investigating.

The Trendnet TEW-631BRP gave the best overall performance and, although this is one of the most expensive routers in the test, it’s also one of the best-featured and most configurable models tested. For this reason we’ve given it a Recommended award.

But overall we think the best of the bunch, and hence the product that gets our Editor’s Choice award, is the Buffalo Airstation Nfiniti WZR-G300N. It manages to achieve the best balance of price, performance and features in this group.

Although it wasn’t the fastest in our tests, it’s the only one that costs under £100, has an excellent feature set, plus the clever AOSS security system for adding Buffalo-powered clients securely to the network is a boon in a home environment.