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Be Mindful When Buying Pre-N 802.11 Devices |
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Written by OJ Jonasson
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Tuesday, 10 July 2007 |
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I recently picked up a draft/pre-N 802.11n card (D-Link Rangebooster N) for my notebook to see what it could do & how it might perform. It should have screamed when associated with an N access point (Linksys WRT300N) - instead it connected to it at a G rate (54Mbps) and displayed the same power level (medium) as a G card (AirLink 101 AWLC4030-II) - whatever happened to the increased distance claims. Tried it on a D-Link DI624 and a Linksys WRT54G router and got the identical results. Lessons learned: i.) pre-N devices are not necessarily compatible - makes perfect sense since the standard is still in draft; and ii.) if you must have N it is best to stay with one vendor's solution until the standard is agreed upon and the Wi-Fi Alliance has tested the various vendor's devices and certified them as N-compliant.
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