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I was doing some research on 802.11s (wireless meshing) for the One Laptop Per Child section I am posting. This is totally SuperGeek and even if you're a SuperGeek you're going to want a cup of coffee or big tin of Jolt Cola for this.
So, if you're SuperGeek, you know your 802.11.... 802.11b (11mbps, 2.4ghz) 802.11g (54mbps, 2.4ghz) 802.11n (superfast [LOL] in 2.4ghz or 5ghz and backwards compatible with b and g). 802.11a is 5ghz but not as cool as 802.11n. I'm not going to go into specifics because this is a project log and not an actual explanation page, and SuperGeeks know their Google and Wikipedia.
So, I use Macs, primarily, for security reasons. I bought an Apple Time Capsule because it's reliable (it backs up your Mac wirelessly so you don't have to remember to plug in a USB drive and hit backup). And it backs up your whole Mac, not just your Documents and Pictures. Hard drive crash? Restore from Time Capsule. I'm not just saying that, I had a hard drive corrupt on me and did successfully restore from the Time Capsule. It took several hours... but all I had to do was boot my Mac and hit Restore from Time Capsule... the rest was automatic. It gave me a lot of confidence in the device. And you can use multiple Macs with one Time Capsule. Anyway, this isn't a sales pitch, just a set of thoughts, so let me continue.
The Airport Extreme ($179) is pretty much a Time Capsule without a hard drive built-in, although there is a USB port for a hard drive or printer. The Airport extreme is dual-band SIMULTANEOUS. A band is the frequency, yanno, 2.4ghz, 5ghz... so the Aiport Extreme can run two at the same time (typically 802.11n in 5ghz for high-speed stuff... that's how I backup wirelessly to my Time Capsule, and b/g in 2.4ghz for other devices such as Windows laptops and iPhones, PSPs, all that fun stuff).
So I'm looking through the Linksys by Cisco site, thinking I'm totally being ripped off by Apple. But looking through the models, the only one comparable with the Airport Extreme is WRT610N. By the way, it's an absolutely awesome router by the specs. It's dual-band SIMULTANEOUS just like the Airport Extreme, but guess what... it's $20 more at $199. The other models don't appear to have the USB port which is a main selling feature of the Airport Extreme.
I never thought Apple products could blatantly save me money...