802.11n WAP

[clwolf]

What is a good WAP to buy in the $100 range? I don't need a firewall nor router as I am using untangle for that need.

Not sure why most things reviewed are always routers. What happened to the tried and true WAPs?

Thanks.

 

[clwolf]

oh, and I am fine if the best WAP to buy is a router.

 

[clwolf]

I shouldn't post when I am so tired.

Sorry, I need a good access point or router to use dual band 802.11n. The firewall features aren't important, only speed/throughput.

Thanks again. (I promise no more posts till there are some replies!)

 

[BBurgDave]

Do you mean "simultaneous" dual band, or just dual band? Personally, I don't understand the use case for dual band other than simultaneous since you have to pick either 2.4 or 5 ghz and use it for everything (as I understand it). I guess it is so you can experiment and find which works better for mix of devices?

 

[thiggins]

For $100, you should probably look at consumer N routers and convert to an AP.

Dedicated APs are focused on biz users, so usually cost more (although don't necessarily work better). Look at NETGEAR and D-Link wireless business offerings.

 

[joeybaker]

↑ what he said ↑

$100 probably isn't enough to be a straight-up AP. But adding a bit to the price will get you things like mesh networking and dual band.

 

[clwolf]

Hey guys.

Thanks for the thoughts. Yeah, I normally am in "business mode" and get Cisco, HP, or Orinoco APs. But I really don't think my wife would like me buying one for our little 3 computer, 1 wii, 1 BD player house.

So, after looking over some benchmarks, it seems like the Netgear wndr3700 would be my best purchase.

Thoughts?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[clwolf]

Do you mean "simultaneous" dual band, or just dual band? Personally, I don't understand the use case for dual band other than simultaneous since you have to pick either 2.4 or 5 ghz and use it for everything (as I understand it). I guess it is so you can experiment and find which works better for mix of devices?

Definitely simultaneous.

 

[BBurgDave]

So, one more question Since you say you are looking for a router to use as an access point, that implies you already have a router that will be your main router and this one will piggy-back on that one to extend your network, right? What is your main router? Depending on what you already have, it might not really be necessary to get a simultaneous dual band router for WAP since your main router, combined with the new one you are using as a WAP are, effectively, simultaneous dual-band.

I have WNDR3700 that I am "trying out" at the moment (Best Buy, I have 30 days ) and so far it is great. The WNDR 3700 is $159 at most places though and if you really just need an N router to extend a G router you can get good N routers for a lot less than that (e.g. Belkin N+ for about $79).

 

[clwolf]

So, one more question Since you say you are looking for a router to use as an access point, that implies you already have a router that will be your main router and this one will piggy-back on that one to extend your network, right? What is your main router? Depending on what you already have, it might not really be necessary to get a simultaneous dual band router for WAP since your main router, combined with the new one you are using as a WAP are, effectively, simultaneous dual-band.

I have WNDR3700 that I am "trying out" at the moment (Best Buy, I have 30 days ) and so far it is great. The WNDR 3700 is $159 at most places though and if you really just need an N router to extend a G router you can get good N routers for a lot less than that (e.g. Belkin N+ for about $79).

Right, my main router is a P4 Dell with three nics, and running Untangle. What do you mean depending on my router simultaneous dual band isn't needed? Very curious about this.

Hmm do you mean since I already have an 802.11G wap, I should just keep it in place and get an 802.11 single band that runs at 5.4Ghz?

 

[BBurgDave]

Yes, that is what I meant, although I am wondering if I misunderstood what you already have, having reread this thread. I was assuming you already had 802.11G covered with what you have, is this true? If so, than you should be able to just add an 802.11N router to use as an AP and have the equivalent of dual-band as Tim describes very well in this article. This is all assuming that I am understanding what you have in the first place!

 

[clwolf]

Yes, that is what I meant, although I am wondering if I misunderstood what you already have, having reread this thread. I was assuming you already had 802.11G covered with what you have, is this true? If so, than you should be able to just add an 802.11N router to use as an AP and have the equivalent of dual-band as Tim describes very well in this article. This is all assuming that I am understanding what you have in the first place!

I think this is an excellent idea.