Finalized vs Draft N compatibility

[LwoodPDowd]

I bought a Belkin Draft-N router to take advantage of the increase range (my apartment's seemingly lead lined walls killed the signal of all b and g routers I tried). Have any sites out there done a compatibility/performance comparison between draft N hardware and post draft approved hardware?

 

[spidey07]

There is no such thing.

Until it is ratified it's just each manufacturer's "best guess" and how much they push the commitee.

 

[LwoodPDowd]

my bad, I thought the Draft 2 announcement a few weeks ago was a finalization of the standard.

 

[kevnich2]

You may as well just buy it, by the time it actually gets finalized and products are finalized, it might be a few years.

 

[n0cmonkey]

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to protocols designed by committe."

 

[Fallen Kell]

Any Draft 2 compliant gear will be update-able into full N compliant gear. That is one of the requirements of the Draft 2 specs (i.e. they will not change the specs so much that hardware made with the Draft 2 specs can not be used for the final product).

 

[LwoodPDowd]

I purchased my router about a little more than a year and a half ago. Draft 1 I would assume.

It only comes up because I'm getting a new notebook from work and don't have the patience to find out if it would be compatible. It hadn't mattered to me before because I only had wireless-G in my laptops (like I said before I was buying for increased signal not speed.)

In addition, my lab only buys macs. The new macbooks list as wireless b/g with a note that you can buy the enable in the fine print. While it is only $1.99, I can't believe they would make me pay for the patch. The weak ass tax excuse for having to charge would not be an issue with new hardware.

I'll find out soon if N is enabled out of the box, if people are curious I can post an update to this thread when I find out.