802.11N is it all its cracked up to be?

Friday, March 16th, 2007 @ 7:00 am | Electronics, Mobile, Personal, Semiconductors

Ok so using some of the money I got from selling my GM calls, I bought a D-link DIR-655 802.11n router and wireless PCI adaptor. Now the benefits of wireless N are numerous: 4x the range, 300 Mb/s throughput, and less interference. How does it do this is MIMO (multiple in, multiple out), which basically opens multiple channels of communication with the router and allows each adapter to process multiple channels simultaneously. Interference is reduced since if any channel has interference there are other channels to provide bandwidth.

Now, how does it work? My experience was less than stellar. the biggest problem was getting 802.11 g and n to work together. My roommates all have wireless g and I couldn’t get it to connect at high speeds while an 802.11g computer was connected. The connection speed was 300mbps when I was the only one connected or the router was set to n only mode. However, I refuse to pay such a premium to wireless g routers to get such a minimal upgrade. I really wonder if this is actually how it is supposed to behave or if it was a consequence of the router being a draft-n product. Regardless, I returned the product less than satisfied.