Which Wireless N router?

[Quo]

I need a new router.

I'm looking at the 'N' routers... Ars Technica seems to think that the
Apple Airport Extreme Gigabit Edition and the Linksys WRT350N are the best options...

they both have a USB connector for network storage media (I can add a hard drive), which is awesome... I can kill two birds with one stone here.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had any experience with either of these routers?
2. On the Apple one, are there any compatibility issues with the windows streaming stuff?
3. Am I going to be able to finally stream music to my 360 with this thing?

Thanks fellas! I know just enough about networking to be extremely dangerous.

[dmiller68]

I use Linksys WRT350N and have been very happy with it.

[KEEZY]

Get that one. It's about as big as PS3 And is supposed to hang from a drop ceiling.

Quosef! Will you have any computers plugged directly into the router? Also, do you plan on buying an N card for your wireless devices?

[Quo]

Originally Posted by KEEZY

Get that one. It's about as big as PS3 And is supposed to hang from a drop ceiling.

Yeah, and my entire family will grow extra appendages... that thing looks like a table turned upside down! hugeness!

Originally Posted by KEEZY

Quosef! Will you have any computers plugged directly into the router? Also, do you plan on buying an N card for your wireless devices?

I'll try to keep the whole story short. I've got a single wired computer at the moment (wife's) and the entire house is wired with Cat-5. The 360 is currently the only other hardwired connection-- so to answer, I've got 2 direct connections into the router at the moment. My laptop has built in (Intel-based) b/g wireless. For the time being, I was going to run the new N router in compatiblity mode (G) and continue using the internal wireless device. I just wanted the N for the future as I don't like to buy routers all the time.

My new toy (HAVA recording and internet TV device) requires wireless G and will supposedly support N in the near future. When that happens, I'll likely upgrade the laptop card to get better performance with the streaming/recording.

Does all that make sense?

Dmiller, the Ars Technica article makes me nervous about the Linksys because they claim it had connection/reliability issues... but my last router was a Linksys. I liked it... the WRT600N looks sweet as well...

The Apple has fewer hard connections... I'd hate to run short with all that wiring I've got in the house. But supposedly it's fast and reliable. What about compatiblity?

[Wondermonkey]

Quo fo sho,

I can't speak directly on either of them, but I think you're pretty safe with the compatibility questions on the Apple product.

I did find this comparison, which gave a nice rundown of the Apple router vs. a Windows Home Server, if that helps you at all.

Good luck!

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by KEEZY

Get that one. It's about as big as PS3 And is supposed to hang from a drop ceiling.

Quosef! Will you have any computers plugged directly into the router? Also, do you plan on buying an N card for your wireless devices?

We use 3 of these in our office. Very cool devices a little bit of any overkill for home use.

[Quo]

Originally Posted by Wondermonkey

...a nice rundown of the Apple router vs. a Windows Home Server, if that helps you at all.

Nice info! i hadn't thought of piggybacking a switch on there to provide additional hardwired ports.

the apple one appears very nice. My fears of compatibility aside, my only other issue is that Apple doesn't yet make a PC laptop 'N' card or usb adapter.

I'll go by Best Buy later today and make an impulse decision. looks like it's either the Airport Extreme from Apple or the WRT600 from Linksys. both have badass speed & a USB port for network storage. Sweetness!

Can the 360 stream music during gameplay from a network storage device (or other PC, for that matter?)

[Wondermonkey]

Originally Posted by Quo

Can the 360 stream music during gameplay from a network storage device (or other PC, for that matter?)

Yeah, I stream Michael Bolton when I play Vegas 2.

[KEEZY]

Quo, the reason I ask is 2 of the best features of that thing are the Gigabit Ethernet ports and the N (obviously). When you buy your new computer (I know you will) it will probably come with a Gig network card, which means your home wired network will be 1000 instead of 100. Baller.

That 600N is sweet because it's dual band.

I'll look into the streaming question, Koowoah. I feel like Crippler talked about this before, and was let down. I think there needs to be a program running on the device that allows it to be shared. Like having Media Center or Windows Media Connect running on your PC.

Maybe you can have the storage on the router, and then share it via your home PC... but I'm guessing you just want to share right from the router's share.

Dmiller: Our senior project is working with those heavy MFs. Sexy and modular, but heavy!

EDIT: P.S. - I have the D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router and it has worked great. No storage though.

[Crippler]

Originally Posted by Quo

Can the 360 stream music during gameplay from a network storage device (or other PC, for that matter?)

Good question. I have never tried streaming over a network while playing a game. I would think it would hinder online play if it can stream. I can try it later.

Personally, I'm not touching any pre-N routers until everything is set in stone.

[Wondermonkey]

Originally Posted by Crippler

Good question. I have never tried streaming over a network while playing a game. I would think it would hinder online play if it can stream. I can try it later.

Personally, I'm not touching any pre-N routers until everything is set in stone.

Wait wait wait, other people don't stream music while they game? I don't understand, is it complicated to do on a PC?

[Quo]

Originally Posted by KEEZY

I think there needs to be a program running on the device that allows it to be shared. Like having Media Center or Windows Media Connect running on your PC.

Maybe you can have the storage on the router, and then share it via your home PC... but I'm guessing you just want to share right from the router's share.

I think there's something out there that will do this... basically turn your network storage into something accessible. Like this Twonky thing. Who knows. And yeah, I think it would work to stream via the laptop, then to the 360, but it sounds kinda excessive and overheadish... I'd love to go straight to the device.

Originally Posted by Crippler

Good question. I have never tried streaming over a network while playing a game. I would think it would hinder online play if it can stream. I can try it later.

Personally, I'm not touching any pre-N routers until everything is set in stone.

Scairdy...

I think it'll be ok... I guess it depends on how much overhead that stream takes. I have no idea, I'm not aware of the numbers on that. Considering the whole reason I was doing this is to stream video back to the laptop to record, having streams in two directions, plus playing online might become too much for the network... I guess it all depends on throughput.

[Crippler]

Originally Posted by Wondermonkey

Wait wait wait, other people don't stream music while they game? I don't understand, is it complicated to do on a PC?

It's not complicated. I just haven't actually thought of streaming over the network while playing any multiplayer games. I've done it locally, ie. off the HDD or my Zune.

Quo, you need a media server running to stream the content to your 360. Media Player and the Zune software work. TVersity also does a good job. I have never seen a router with a built-in media server. I was at a local home show over the weekend and was drooling over the home integration dealers there. Some hot shit right there. I'm actually looking at possibly the HP Home Server for all my backup and streaming needs. This also looks hot: Data Robotics, Inc. Not sure if it has a media sever though.

[lovekeiiy]

Originally Posted by KEEZY

...

Holy bat turds! Sounds sweet, but it's priced around $850 to $1000. Probably not the best home solution. Plus, it's not a router, it's an access point only.