In 1998, Ask Ars was an early feature of the newly launched Ars Technica. Now, as then, it's all about your questions and our community's answers. Each week, we'll dig into our question bag, provide our own take, then tap the wisdom of our readers. To submit your own question, see our helpful tips page.
Q: I'm thinking of buying a new wireless router, and can't decide between a cheap 802.11N router and the more expensive dual-band versions. Are they worth the extra cost?
Like most other commodity devices, wireless routers have seen their prices pushed inexorably downward, with the exception being when new technology—the G and N protocols—has come onto the market. It's been a while since the N standard was introduced, so you might predict that even top-of-the-line routers would be sitting in the $50 range. They're not. Instead, prices from most manufacturers still top out at well over $100. How can they get away with that? The secret to the new high end is (primarily) the use of what's called dual-band technology, along with a sprinkling of other features that are nice, but not essential. We'll take a look at what dual band brings to the table, and whether paying more for the additional features is likely to be worth your while.
When it comes to WiFi, there are a total of four protocols and two frequencies. The initial flavor of WiFi, 802.11b, occupied the 2.4GHz area of the spectrum, which was also used by the enhanced, higher throughput G version. This tends to give it decent range, penetration, and omnidirectionality (a single antenna provides good signal in three dimensions), but the spectrum around 2.4GHz is a bit more prone to interference from other devices. As time has gone on, it has also gotten very, very crowded. If you live in a dense urban environment, it's possible to end up with so many WiFi devices trying to find space in this area of the spectrum that your router may end up dropping connections.
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