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Someone figured out the secret.
Yea, the Major Brands are all pretty much the same.
Paying more money for one as opposed to a cheapie might get you better range, or more features.... but the $100 Linksys is just as good as the $100 D-link.
Some people swear that if you have a Linksys wireless card you should have a Linksys router... even that isn't really true. They all use the same standards... that's why they call them standards.
Cue... just about everyone else that will disagree with me.
How can anybody truly agree with you? You haven't given any evidence to suggest what you're saying is actually 100% true. I can give evidence as to my experiences at work and at home. We purchase 802.11 G Linksys Routers with external antenna for work, because for what we need them for, they are far superior over the new stuff. I have had the same experience for my routers at home. I even went out and bought the highest priced router Best Buy had to offer, and returned it the very next day because it's performance was horrid compared to my old 802.11 wireless router.
Others may have had very different experiences than myself. I don't agree that they all are the same, based on price and based on performance, because I have not had that experience. To broadly say they are all the same and just pick one might work depending upon a perfect situation, but I assure you that isn't always the case, and some routers just plainly performance better than others. This isn't a brand VS brand...it's drilled down to model VS model, standard verses standard. If it was true that they are all the same, people would just pick the cheapest one and the rest would go out of business.
Every IT technician I come across seems to swear that Brand X router is the only one to use and that all other brands are the source of various problems. Tech #2 will say the same about Brand Y. And so on.
Do some brands "play better with other equipment" than others?
There is "some" aspect of quality of components and how they are designed to which gives one particular brand/model a benefit over another, but most basic consumers aren't going to notice that much of a difference.
In most cases, it is simply a feature evaluation concerning them and subjective appeal. That is, if you are talking about unmanaged devices (ie limited configuration, plug and play, average consumer devices).
Now managed routers (Cisco ISR's, Juniper, HP, etc...) are a different story and there is much more arguments to be made when choosing between them (quality, speed, reliability, IOS features and design, etc...)
I don't think the average person would care or know much of a difference between the average consumer based routers past subjective opinion of features and configuration ease.
You'll always have somebody that says "My Linksys" router was crap. Don't buy one of those." Then somebody else tells you about their Linksys that ran until it was obsolete.
In a given price range, they're all pretty much the same.
(Having said that, I'm on my third round of D-Link routers in the past 15 years. I bought the last pair on a bargain to get more range than the ones I have now.)
I would say that might be an issue in "quality" aspects (getting a lot of bad devices), but I honestly don't know as I haven't used a consumer based router in years.
Maybe because I am a proven expert on this forum in the field of technology and have over 15+ years of experience in the IT Industry which many people here know??
Maybe because I never give BS advice on here and the "regulars" know this?
And look.... quite a few people DO agree with me.
However, as I expected, someone would come along and tell me I am full of ----. What I did NOT expect was the number of people that AGREED with me. Why is that? Because, simply, it's true.
Quote:
You haven't given any evidence to suggest what you're saying is actually 100% true. I can give evidence as to my experiences at work and at home. We purchase 802.11 G Linksys Routers with external antenna for work, because for what we need them for, they are far superior over the new stuff.
I used to have 2 2002 routers in place to cover my entire office. I replaced both of them with a new modern business class router that not only covers the same space, but actually covers it better.
Comparing a 10 year old router with a one year old router is hardly fair, I am sure you would agree.
What I am saying is: if Linksys and Netgear both release a CONSUMER GRADE ROUTER in 2013 there is very little, if any, difference in the coverage or quality of coverage. There is a thing called "Standards" which I am sure you are aware. A consumer class N router needs to meet the same specs whether it is a Linksys or a D-link. And I say, with zero doubt, you will notice zero difference when it comes to coverage or range if you use a Linksys or a D-link or a Netgear.
This one may have one feature this one does not have, but for 90% of consumers, they all provide the same level of coverage and reliability.
Even in the "old days" (5 years ago) D-link used to advertise that you could get "even better speeds" by using a Dlink device with another Dlink device that supported Hyper Speed or some other BS marketing term. I had those devices. And yea... pure. Marketing. BS.
Maybe because I am a proven expert on this forum in the field of technology and have over 15+ years of experience in the IT Industry which many people here know??
Maybe because I never give BS advice on here and the "regulars" know this?
And look.... quite a few people DO agree with me.
However, as I expected, someone would come along and tell me I am full of ----. What I did NOT expect was the number of people that AGREED with me. Why is that? Because, simply, it's true.
Doesn't give a license to mislead people. You're argument is based upon what should be, and you're passing off as fact, when in reality, isn't always the case. Sure, all wireless routers adhere to the same standards - that isn't why I was disagreeing with you, but that does not mean the same quality and reliability. If that is your argument, I definitely call BS because my experience in both my professional life as an IT expert, and in my private life, I have NOT experienced such. I don't care how many people agree or disagree with you or me, doesn't change what I have experienced in a business setting and home setting. If I have two routers who are supposed to do exactly the same thing, and one lasts 10 years and the other lasts a year, I don't call that exactly the same.
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