Wireless Reviews

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.

Product	2.4GHz /20						2.4GHz / 40
	A	B	C	D	E	F	A	B	C	D	E	F
Linksys WRT120N			41.1	21.5			66.9				1.9	0.2
Linksys WRT110	37.6	35.1			2.3	0.4		48.2	59.1	25.1
Belkin N150

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.

Product	2.4GHz /20						2.4GHz / 40
	A	B	C	D	E	F	A	B	C	D	E	F
Linksys WRT120N					0.4	0.3		39.3		13.9	0.7	1.0
Linksys WRT110	42.4	38.9	38.2	25.5	0.8	0.9	63.3	38.9	52.4	14.0	0.5
Belkin N150

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).

Product	2.4GHz /20						2.4GHz / 40
	A	B	C	D	E	F	A	B	C	D	E	F
Linksys WRT120N				21.5							1.9	0.2
Linksys WRT110		35.1			2.3	0.4		48.2	59.1	25.1
Belkin N150
D-Link DIR-655 [A4]	67.4		48.4	22.1	2.8	0.8	83.1				0.9	0.8

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).

Product	2.4GHz /20						2.4GHz / 40
	A	B	C	D	E	F	A	B	C	D	E	F
Linksys WRT120N												1.0
Linksys WRT110
Belkin N150
D-Link DIR-655 [A4]	62.4	41.7	54.4	35.4	6.0	2.3	100.1	52.2	63.8	30.1	2.2	1.4

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.