Wireless Performance - Competitive Comparison

For a competitive comparison, I pulled together the first "pseudo-N" router, the Linksys WRT110 and the other single-stream router that I've tested so far, the Belkin N150.

As I have seen with every other wireless router, Figure 22 shows that the WRT120N isn't the best performer in all test locations.

Figure 22: Wireless competitive comparison - 20MHz mode, down

So I'll once again turn to my trusty throughput summary tables (Tables 2 and 3) to perform a more comprehensive comparison.

The tables are generated by going through each six-location comparison plots and putting the throughput value in the product's box that had the highest throughput for each test. If throughput differs by 1 Mbps or less, then both products get the throughput entered.

Table 2: Best downlink throughput summary

Table 2 shows that the WRT120N and WRT110 are essentially tied for downlink performance both in 20 and 40 MHz modes. But Table 3 shows the WRT110 the clear winner for uplink and so the overall winner. Not surprisingly, the Belkin N150 is the poorest performer of the group.

Table 3: Best uplink throughput summary

But let's see what happens if you spend a bit more money for a certified draft 802.11n router. I chose the D-Link DIR-655 [A4] since it's a popular choice and good performer. I also wanted to include a draft 11n router that had also been tested with the Intel 5300AGN client, just to see if there was a pattern of bad performance using that adapter.

Figure 23 shows the four routers compared for 20 MHz mode downlink.

Figure 23: Wireless competitive comparison w/ DIR-655 [A4] - 20MHz mode, down

And once again, throughput comparison tables for down (Table 4) and uplink (Table 5).

Table 4: Best downlink throughput summary - w/ DIR-655 [A4]

Table 4 shows that the downlink contest is between the DIR-655 [A4] and WRT110, with the 655 coming out ahead. Uplink is just no contest, with the 655 shutting out the other two products in all locations (except for a tie in Location F, 40 MHz mode).

Table 5: Best uplink throughput summary - w/ DIR-655 [A4]

It's not surprising, to me at least, that the Certified draft 11n dual-stream router and card are the clear winners. But it's nice to have the data to back up the assumption.

Use the Wireless Charts to generate other comparisons.