Should we holdout in buying a wireless n router?

Question

According to wikipedia, wireless n has been finalized. Does that mean all the wireless draft n routers are obsolete? Should we just wait to buy a wireless n router that implements the final draft?

Answer 1

I am sure that it will be backward compatible. I know people who have the first generation N based devices and can use the latest draft usb adapters.

It seems to be pretty solid tech.

However, if you have lived this long without it, and if you have no desperate need for it - I would personally wait. If you have waited this long, it isn't that much longer to wait!

Answer 2

No, existing Draft-N routers will continue to work and are (as far as I know) fully compatible with the final standard.

Answer 3

According to engadget (which isn't always the most technical authority, but they usually know what they're talking about) the finalized spec is very similar to the "draft" spec that has been floating around for quite some time. In that respect you should be fine.

Answer 4

Draft-n has been finalized and is very close to being approved. All devices that were sold as draft-N will continue to work

IEEE 802.11n-2009 is an amendment to the IEEE 802.11-2007 wireless networking standard to improve network throughput over previous standards, such as 802.11b and 802.11g, with a significant increase in the maximum raw OSI physical layer (PHY) data rate from 54 Mbit/s to a maximum of 600 Mbit/s. The current state of the art supports a PHY rate of 450 Mbit/s, with the use of 3 spatial streams at a channel width of 40 MHz.[1] Depending on the environment, this may translate into a user throughput (TCP/IP) of 110 Mbit/s.

Since 2007, the Wi-Fi Alliance has been certifying interoperability of "draft N" products based on what was draft 2.0 of IEEE 802.11n specification.[2] They have affirmed that all formerly certified products will remain compatible with the products conforming to the final standard.[3] The Alliance expects to upgrade their suite of compatibility tests to coincide with the amendment's publication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE%5F802.11n-2009

Answer 5

This article contains some info on what you might expect "post-draft" wireless-n devices to be able to do.