Linksys Wireless-G router and new powerbook

[larry98765]

I'm planning on getting a 12" Powerbook with Airport extreme built in some time in the future. In the meantime, I need a router for my desktop G4 and my home-brewed PC, and thought I'd buy one that will grow with my needs.

I'm considering the Linksys over Airport because it's got a 4-port hub built in and it's $100 cheaper. (The new WRT54G is equipped for the new G standard, as well as B, as is the new Airport.)

I've heard good things about Linksys, and have read that there's no incompatibility problems with mac.

That said, I have a few questions I wanted to toss to the forum:

1) Is that so? Are there any compatibility problems?

2) Why DOESN'T Linksys say they support mac if they work just fine?

3) Is a router that's managed through a web browser a much bigger hassle than the plug-n-play of an Airport? I've never used either, so I'm wondering what user experiences have been.

In all, is there anything I should know before buying a Linksys wireless router as opposed to Airport.

Many thanks.

[jeb1138]

1) I heard somewhere (on this forum?) that the 802.11g spec wasn't totally finalized yet and that Linksys was promising firmware upgrades to make everything fully compliant when the spec was out. If so, there could be problems with interfacing with Airport Extreme for now. But maybe that's old news.

2) LinkSys has never "supported" Macs but their products have always worked perfectly for me. I've used their 802.11b router/AP/switch for over a year now and their router/switch before that and never had any compatiblity problems.

3) The web-based configuration works great in my opinion. I've never used Airport Admin so I can't compare the two, but it was a one-step process for me: 1. Plug the cables into the router. 2. No step two! The airport card in my Powerbook picked up the signal and connected automatically, and the router talked to the cable modem and connected automatically. I also like the cusomizability of the Linksys. Looking at the screenshots of the Airport Admin utility on Apple's website, it looked like there were a whole lot less options. So for me Linksys worked better -- if I wanted easy setup it couldn't get easier, and if I wanted lots of options I could change them (and did).

The LinkSys price point was the real killer though. With more features and a 4-port 10/100 switch that the Airport Base Station didn't have and less than half the price, it couldn't be beat. I don't know if this will repeat with the 802.11g products though. Maybe Apple's price will be more competitive. Maybe Apple's mistake was making their computers too good -- they work so flawlessly with 3rd party products that we don't need their base station!

[larry98765]

Thanks for your thoughts, jeb.

Re the price point, I belive it's still a bargain. I saw the WRT54G listed for $135.

Only one more feature that Airport Extreme has that I don't know if other wireless routers have:

From Apple's site on the Airport Extreme page:

"6. Lets you phone home ? literally
The PPP dial-in feature in AirPort Extreme lets you make one very important wireless connection ? to your own Macintosh at home. Thanks to connectivity options such as DSL, cable and Ethernet, you can call the 56K V.90 modem-equipped AirPort Extreme Base Station at home when you?re at work or traveling. Need a document that?s on your Mac desktop at home? Not to worry. If your Mac is on, ready to share files, and connected to the Internet using the AirPort Extreme Base Station and a broadband connection, you can access it as well as the other computers ? from almost anywhere in the world."

Where can I find specifics about this process? Why would I dial in if I'm accessing it using broadband? Is that just so I can get the ip address if I don't have a static IP? Or is it to wake the machine and let it know I'll be logging in?

[g3joel]

Don't forget, Apple's base station has a USB port to allow network printing and also an external antenna connector. I don't think the Linksys has either of these features. Plus going by reviews I've read around the net Apple's has much better signal strength and range than any of the other popular consumer models.

[jeb1138]

Here's how I think the dial-in thing works: Say you're away from home somewhere, you don't have broadband or dial-up access, and you want to get a file off of your home desktop computer. If you have your phone line plugged into your Airport Basestation and have turned your answering machine off you can call your home phone number and the Airport Basestation will answer. Then it will connect you to your desktop computer and you can get that file you desperately need.

The description on Apple's page is really vague and I'm not sure if you become a full-fledged member of the network (in which case you should be able to access the internet and any computer connected to your home network) or if you get a connection to a single prespecified computer. Sounds interesting though, if anyone has any more info I'd love to hear about it. You have to remember, however, that you will have to call long distance to do this if you're out of your local calling area. I haven't heard of any routers out there that automate this task, but they may exist. The Linksys definitely doesn't have it.

g3joel -- where did you read about the Airport's range being so much better? I've never heard it mentioned as anything spectacular. We used one at work and it didn't seem that impressive. The USB print server is a nice feature, but I would (and did!) go with Linksys' wireless print server (http://linksys.com/products/product....id=37&prid=440). You can get both the print server and the Wireless AP Router for the same price as an Airport Extreme Base Station and then you only have to pay for it if you want it, and you get a 4-port 10/100 switch built-in too. You can also then put the printer anywhere within range of the basestation, instead of having to put it within USB range of the base station, because it connects wirelessly to the network. It's worked great for me.

The linksys antennas are removable and you can extend the range. Linksys even sells a range extender.

I think the new Airport Extreme is a lot more competitively priced than the old Airport Basestation but it still seems pretty pricey.

Oh yeah, I checked and the final 802.11g spec isn't out yet. Both Apple and Linksys say their products adhere to the "802.11g Draft Specification" so I believe they should work but am not sure.

[g3joel]

Hi jeb, thanks for that info re. the wireless printing with a USB printer. It sounds like a really nifty idea. The only reason I was planning on getting an Apple Airport myself was because of the USB port for wireless printing, none of the other routers I had looked at actually had this capability. With regards to the range I am going by something I read on either PracticallyNetworked.com or 80211-planet.com, but more specifically this review on ZDNet which said it outperformed both the LinkSys Etherfast and the Proxim Skyline. Btw PracticallyNetworked.com mentions the Proxim Skyline as having *the best* wireless performance compared to anything. I'd take this with a pinch of salt though as the review could be old.

P.S: Actually now that I've looked at it, the information about the LinkSys wirless print server doesn't say anything about a USB port, only a parallel port

P.P.S: Nevermind, I found their USB version

[larry98765]

Jeb: Yes. Apple is *very* vague. In any case, dialing directly into your mac at home home has always been available as long as one had a modem. So I'm curious how this differs.

[jeb1138]

Originally posted by larry98765
Jeb: Yes. Apple is *very* vague. In any case, dialing directly into your mac at home home has always been available as long as one had a modem. So I'm curious how this differs.

Right, but potentially this could give you free dial-up internet access away from home (as long as you were within the local area code) without having to configure any computer, depend on it, or even leave it on, by linking you to your broadband connection very straighforwardly.

Also, it could make you a full-fledged member of the entire network, allowing you to really virtually be at home instead of having to work with only one computer. I assume the old dial-in options didn't provide such connectivity options, right? In any case, this would be much more straightforward, dependable and easy to configure than any method of dialing into a single computer.

I wouldn't have any use for this feature, as the other 12 computers on our apartment network (well, 4-apartment network if you count the 3 people connecting wirelessly downstairs and across the hall and the next door neighbors we drilled a hole to ) don't have any of my data, and I generally have broadband access on campus so I can just forward ports on the Linksys to whichever computer has the service I want. But still, it sounds pretty cool technically and I'm sure it would be useful for some people. Are you one of those people? I'd be interested to know how you would or have used it.