On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 3:12 PM, Mike Miller <mbmiller+l at gmail.com> wrote:
> What makes this router better than, say, the D-Link wireless N router I
> bought in December at Micro Center for $30 (and left in Ecuador).  Is it the
> range?  It doesn't do 802.11n, right?  Is it faster than 300 Mbps?

For home use, there likely wouldn't be any difference at all, aside
from the Cisco being more complicated to configure.

For business/enterprise use, though, the Cisco offers *much* more
flexibility and *much* better performance than consumer-grade
equipment. Hardware-wise, it'll have more RAM, a faster processor, and
better radios. Software-wise, the Cisco will offer many more features
that are essential in larger deployments (central management via a
wireless controller, 802.1q support, QoS, radius/802.1x, SNMP, config
via ssh, greater stability and performance under load, etc.).

Regarding range, you need to remember that wireless is a two-way
street. While it may be possible to turn up the TX power on the AP
side, that doesn't help the signal from the client get back to the AP.
Several third-party AP firmwares allow you to turn up the TX power
(DD-WRT, Tomato, etc.), but this is generally ill-advised except in a
few limited circumstances. In addition to the client range issue,
turning up transmit power can not only reduce the linearity of of the
finals, introducing distortion into the RF signal, but also can push
the SWR[1] up over what the finals can handle, putting them at risk of
burning out.

-Erik
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_wave_ratio