Wireless Router Question

[FZ1]

To the Ken's, Bill and any other networking guru's...

I'm not that well versed with networking stuff (enough to be dangerous) and I've been thinking about getting a new wireless router. I'm currently using a Linksys WRT310N which has performed flawlessly and I've been happy with. However, most of the devices (except one) in my house use 802.11n and the other uses g. As such, all of my n devices are forced to use g (as I understand it). I was doing some reading on dual band routers where I can run n on 5GHz and g on 2.4GHz simultaneously which sounds like it will give me performance for those devices able to use it and g for the other.

My questions are - am I understanding this correctly and second, any recommendations for a router? Some notes...
> I've never had issues with any Linksys router so I'm partial to them but willing to look elsewhere. Netgear seems decent as well.
> I only do basic networking, I don't use the advanced features so I don't need all the bells and whistles
> Needs to have good range. The WRT310N does a good job of coverage.

[vbironchef]

5GHz is more secure, the reason is that the range is limited to say like one room. 2.4GHz is for everything else, it has the range for hopefully the whole house. We use Netgear for a few years and never had any issues.

5GHz is supposed to be faster and because of limited range more secure. Probably signal would not be detected on your street. As far as g vs. n goes if your router has n then the devices that also have n will be n. n is supposed to have better encryption than g. That's about it.

[kenc51]

Linksys are fine. I haven't much experience with retail consumer grade routers so can't recommend one over the other, but have used a WRT54GL in the past and loved it.
I mostly know Motorola (previously Netopia), Zyxel and Thomson brands as these are what we provide our customers.

When you use a g device on an n network, it shouldn't drop to g speeds for all devices; but throughput will drop to somewhere in between the two.
5GHz isn't anymore secure than 2.4GHz, both support the same security protocols (WEP, WPA with TKIP, WPA with AES or using a radius server for enterprise users)
5GHz does have less coverage than 2.4, so in a way it's more secure but that's like saying my laptop is more secure than yours because it's powered off. Using wifi you have to accept your broadcasting a network for others to see and try connect to.
WPA is secure. Currently there are no vulnerabilities in the protocols.
WPS is NOT secure in a lot of cases, so make sure you disable this on your router / access point(s)

I've just finished testing and we just signed a new deal with Zyxel to supply a dual band gateway and I'm really impressed.
Unfortunately it's not in retail yet and proly won't be until next year.
I can PM you the model number if you're willing to wait a few months before it's released. (I'm under nda so can't post it here)

5GHz does take some tweaking to get it right. I found I had to change channels for both the N and also the G networks to get the most from it.
Location is also critical for 5GHz, even moving it 8" from the wall increased coverage by ~30%

I'd stick with Linksys as they were one of the first to support draft N over 5Ghz so have had lots of time to tweak their firmware and get the most from the hardware. They also have good support, as in frequent bug fixes for f/w.

There is a good chance you will loose some coverage with 5GHz, but it will probably only affect one client and you can use 2.4GHz for that.


KenC

:edit:
I'm far from a network guru.
Tried CCNA, got half way through and decided networking isn't for me
I'm back in limbo with no idea what I want to do, sys admin, hardware, product dev / mgmt, project mgmt; who knows

[FZ1]

Thanks for the help. I ended up picking up the ASUS RT-N66U router (thanks to Ken's review) and, so far, am very happy with it. The 5Ghz band reaches throughout my whole house (the router is upstairs too) no problem and I'm seeing good speeds. A surprising number of my devices (TV's, gaming wifi adapter, etc) see the 5Ghz signal.

[egloeckle]

Tried CCNA, got half way through and decided networking isn't for me
I'm back in limbo with no idea what I want to do, sys admin, hardware, product dev / mgmt, project mgmt; who knows

Ill make my standard recommendation of "anything far, far away from being IT related". Seriously, do something that you like that doesnt most likely involve crazy hours and most everyone you work for (users) hating you.

Sorry for the off topic, but yeah...

[kenc51]

Tried CCNA, got half way through and decided networking isn't for me
I'm back in limbo with no idea what I want to do, sys admin, hardware, product dev / mgmt, project mgmt; who knows

Ill make my standard recommendation of "anything far, far away from being IT related". Seriously, do something that you like that doesnt most likely involve crazy hours and most everyone you work for (users) hating you.

Sorry for the off topic, but yeah...

Hey, Mr. Awesome

I'm thinking product development is where im heading. it's interesting and technical. I need to keep "IT" as part of my job. I don't know anything else, that's legal anyhow

/Ken (aka Mr. Fantastic)

//Joe, Sorry for the OT posts