Best Gigabit Wireless Router ? What You Need to Know?

Best Gigabit Wireless Router ? What You Need to Know?

The term the best for wireless router is relative, because manufacturers always ship new product introductions each several months or so which are better performance and by adopting the latest technologies available in the marketplace.

Today, each of the wireless manufacturers has shipped new wireless routers with gigabit LAN and WAN interfaces for their high-performance category products. Now, which one is the best among those gigabit wireless route products?

Assume you get the best gigabit wireless router today, the next six months or so come a new product introduction with much better performance and the latest technology, who knows. So, in selecting the best one, you should include the following criteria:

1. High-speed. To provide high speed data throughput – the wireless router should be powered with the latest wireless technology – the ratified version of the 802.11n technology. The draft version of 802.11n was approved last Sep 2009 with some option additions.

2. Clean wireless. 5 GHz is cleaner frequency band compared with 2.4 GHz band since wireless router which operates in 5 GHz frequency band is less noise / interference. So, the best router should support the 802.11a technology which operates in 5 GHz frequency band. The router should support the dual-band technology.

3. Further range. So far, the technology adopted for the wireless devices to deliver longer distance range is the MIMO (Multiple-in Multiple-out) technology combined with wireless N. Some manufacturers do not specifically specify the MIMO technology in their products but they adopt the technology into the products.

4. Consistent data throughput. High-intensive bandwidth applications such as gaming and video streaming demand consistent data throughput for lag-free and jitter-free performance. Your best gigabit wireless router should support the Quality of Services (QoS) technology for multimedia traffic prioritizations.

5. Secure. Mostly all new wireless routers today are powered with the latest security technology including the WPA/WPA2; NAT and SPI firewall; VPN pass-through; and the new feature option is the capability of providing a security boundary for guest access. Typically the router supports the multiple SSID for secure guest access. Guest access is ideal for your SOHO environment where you allow your business visitors access the internet without providing your private network resources.

In selecting the best gigabit wireless router, you should examine that the router support the above criteria for high-performance wireless network.

The following list some of the best gigabit wireless routers – the new product introduction from the leading wireless networking manufacturers:

DIR-665 D-Link Xtreme N450 Gigabit Router

DIR-665 Xtreme N450 is the fastest router introduced by D Link early this year (2010). The router is powered by the new version of 802.11n with 3x3 MIMO technologies (with 3 External Dual Band Antenna) which uses three distinct data streams for extremely high-speed data throughput of up to 450Mbps (in ideal condition). With the addition of advanced Intelligent QoS Prioritization Technology, the router is ideal for smooth streaming video and fast response gaming applications.

DIR-665 is also powered by the HD Fuel technology for high-performance environment for lag-free streaming video and jitter-free online gaming applications. The router also supports the selectable dual-band technology.

DIR-665 also supports advanced security features including dual-firewall (NAT & SPI); WPA/WPA2; IGMP; VPN-pass through; and also parental control. Push Button (for WPS) is also supported for easy secure client connection. It supports Windows 7, Vista, XP SP2, or Mac OS. However, DIR-665 doesn't support guest network access . For home environment, you do not need this feature.

WNDR37AV Wireless Router For Video And Gaming

WNDR37AV is designed for high-performance wireless network for smooth video streaming and online gaming. Unlike DIR-665 which is designed with selectable dual-band, WNDR37AV is designed with simultaneous dual-band for mix environments both in 2.4GHz and 5 GHz at the same time.

The router supports advanced QoS including WMM (Wireless Multimedia) QoS. This router is embedded with USB port with ReadySHARE technology for USB Storage Access. The good thing with this USB port is that it is DLNA compliant.

WNDR37AV supports advanced security features like DIR-665, but it also supports free live parental control and multiple SSID for secure guest access.

Cisco-Linksys E3000 High-Performance Wireless-N Router

Linksys E3000 is one of new Linksys E-Series which is designed for high-performance environment to support smooth online gaming and streaming video. It is powered by 802.11n with simultaneous technology and it is equipped with 6 internal antennas for further range.

E3000 is equipped with USB port to allow you connect USB external storage for centralized file sharing with built-in UPnP AV media server to stream entertainment content. The storage can be shared for accessible across your home network or over the internet.

For security, the router supports common security features like other routers but this router supports secure guest access with Cisco connect software for simple setup steps.

In selecting the best gigabit wireless router, you should consider the router that is powered by the final version of 802.11n (not draft) technology, supports dual-band and MIMO (or other MIMO variant) technologies, QoS, and secure with guest network access (for offices environments).

By Ki Grinsing