Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Router Reviewed

Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N router (US$117) features:

• 802.11n (draft-n)
• Broadcom chipset
• WPA security
• Parental Controls
• SPI

PC Magazine reviewed the WRT160N, and gave it a 3 out of 5 ("Good") rating:

"The Linksys Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Router WRT160N is a good choice if you're looking for the cheapest wireless-n router you can find. It's a little slow, even for a 2.4-GHz-only router, but it's still significantly faster than wireless-g and slightly faster than the ultra-cheap WRT110. Linksys LELA 3.0 will be a nice addition, once Linksys gets it working right. In any case, the router's management interface offers enough options to make most home users happy-once they get past the installation bugs. There are certainly better, easier-to-use routers out there, but few you can find for under $100 on the street." [PCMag.com | Linksys WRT160N]

Technorati : broadcom, draft, linksys, n, router, wireless, wrt160n

Linksys WRT110 RangePlus Wireless Router Reviewed

The Linksys RangePlus Wireless Router WRT110 (US$70) is a router that features:

• Broadcom chipset
• 802.11n (not draft n)
• Parental Controls
• SPI
• WPA Security

PC Magazine gives the WRT110 2.5 out 5 ("Fair"):

"I suppose if money is extremely tight and you're looking just for wireless home networking with a minimal feature set, the WRT110 is one way to go. Even then, for an additional cost that's no more than the price of a couple of movie tickets, you can buy the Linksys Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Router WRT160N, a true draft-n router that has better throughput, the same backward compatibility with wireless-g as the WRT110, and the LELA network management kit (which, granted, still needs some work). While it's got decent range, the WRT110 just doesn't have much else to recommend it." [pcmag.com | WRT110]

As PC Magazine recommends, the WRT160N would probably be a better buy. It would be a good idea to get a draft-n router (which the WRT110 is not), if you are looking in to taking the Wireless-N plunge. As for me, I'd still opt for wireless routers and/or clients that feature external antennas. Sometimes, upgrading to better antennas can cure signal problems.

Technorati : linksys, n, router, wifi, wireless, wrt110