Airport Exteme Base Station..Same Functionality from Other Routers?

I'm looking for something that provides the same functionality and features as the Airport Extreme Base Station but costs less and is configured over http. Primarily I'm looking to attach a drive to the router and provide 'n' to my Macbook and 'g' to my Xbox360 and a Windows notebook at the same time.

Any suggestions?

BTW...which wireless chipset does the AEBS use?

The Airport Extreme Base Station is essentially just like every other router in terms of features. So getting any other 802.11n router should pretty much provide essentially the same functionality. The only thing that you might have trouble with is finding a router with a USB port.

I just bought the D-Link DIR-655 and it's a great router. The 802.11n functionality really helps increase speeds and range in my house. Most, if not all, of the dead spots in my house are now gone and the computers that were only getting modest connections under my previous router are now connecting at full speed. It has one more Ethernet port than the Airport Extreme, but its USB port is essentially useless, so I can't stick a hard drive or printer in there like you can with the Airport Extreme. However, if you don't need either of those features, then this is one of the best 802.11n routers currently on the market.

To answer your second question, it looks to be an Atheros chipset

Kash said:

The Airport Extreme Base Station is essentially just like every other router in terms of features. So getting any other 802.11n router should pretty much provide essentially the same functionality. The only thing that you might have trouble with is finding a router with a USB port.

I just bought the D-Link DIR-655 and it's a great router. The 802.11n functionality really helps increase speeds and range in my house. Most, if not all, of the dead spots in my house are now gone and the computers that were only getting modest connections under my previous router are now connecting at full speed. It has one more Ethernet port than the Airport Extreme, but its USB port is essentially useless, so I can't stick a hard drive or printer in there like you can with the Airport Extreme. However, if you don't need either of those features, then this is one of the best 802.11n routers currently on the market.

To answer your second question, it looks to be an Atheros chipset

Click to expand...

It's the USB thingy that I really want so I can transfer to the HDD on the USB port at 'n' speeds. No other computer / device in my home network is 'n' capable. Although the Xbox360 can use 'a', which I understand is supported by the AEBS.

The reason I ask about the chipset is that I used to have a Linksys WRT300N, their first 'Draft-n' product with the Broadcom chipset. It was abysmal..it always dropped the connection from my dsl modem, had poor range, crappy 'g' speed and all my devices had trouble staying connected. I downgraded to a 'Pre-n' Linksys MIMO router and it's been rock-solid ever since as the MIMO router uses an Airgo chipset.

My two issues with the Linksys is that my Macbook isn't 'Pre-n' compatible (only 'Draft-n') and there's a strange interoperability between the Mackbook and the Linksys where I can not access any Google properties (there are a few other sites too) while using WPA security. Hard-wired to the router OR using no security encryption work fine with anything google, but not otherwise.