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So recently the wireless router at work died, and since I'm the closest thing to a computer literate person at work, I am tasked with selecting a new one. I decide reliability is the rule of the day, and get a Linksys WRT54GL. Today this guy comes in (he works for Comcast) and sees the new router, and starts bagging on me for not getting a router that supports Wireless-N.

I figure who cares, since the most taxing thing our huge two computer network does is accessing Quickbooks and accessing websites germane to our work (which are not bandwidth heavy at all), so why pay more for wireless-N?

Dude kind of made me feel like a jerk for going with wireless-G (in front of the boss, no less), so I'm wondering; should I feel dumb, or should I be pissed at the guy for trying to make me look dumb?

Depends on the situation. The WRT54GL is certainly very competent even if it does not support tons of advanced features. It's a solid purchase, much like a Honda Civic or Chevy Aveo. It gets the job done with no frills and is pretty well supported by most vendors due to its popularity. The only unreasonable thing would be if you paid more than about USD $50 for it.

The only real reasons to get something more advanced (such as an n-capable router) would be for concerns such as increased range/speed, MIMO, reducing interference from cordless phones/microwaves, resolving ssh/tunneling/VNC/torrent/port forwarding issues, etc. If none of these are requirements, then don't beat yourself up about it.

--Patrick

Unless you're competing with a lot of 2.4Ghz wireless networks and want to set up a 5Ghz just to get a good signal, then you're not going to get much speed boost on surfing the internet. There's just not much on the internet that needs more than the average throughput of 802.11g.

Thanks for the input guys, at least now I feel justified in my decision. Too bad the guy already made me look like a jackass

Your router will still be WAY faster than any internet connection that you have. N is only good if you are sharing large files over the airwaves locally.

Wireless N also has considerably more range (around 200ft indoors), so if you're having coverage issues, getting a Linksys N router will often take care of that, beyond its other benefits.

But like the others have said, if you don't need any of that, N is useless.

Another item to consider - purchasing a Wireless N device is great and all, but unless the devices that connect to it are N as well, you really won't get the actual usage out of N to make it truly worthwhile.

As a former IT consultant (was laid off due to this economy), if the one you purchased meets your current needs, it's perfect. The only reason that I can see for purchasing N APs without having N-capable devices is only possibly future-proofing yourself somewhat - technology changes quickly - what you pay for an N device now could end up costing more than an upgrade in the future.

Personally, when my Wireless router died late last year, I did get a N-capable router, but I only buy devices when they need to be replaced (previous one lasted 4 years) and wanted to have the capability there for when I get a new laptop in the next year or so... It's currently running at G only because my Wii and laptop are only G-capable.