> For my edification -- I know nothing really about the different wireless
> router brands...
>
> 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?

It's a B/G only, but the key is that it's an enterprise class AP with
enterprise class features.  I have a 1231 that I use specifically
because it handles VLAN trunking in a much better manner than a
Walmart type AP running dd-wrt.  The hardware is designed to properly
segregate out layer 2 etc.  If you like buying Cisco licenses, you can
even deploy a wireless controller and manage your fleet of Cisco APs
as one contiguous wifi fabric.

The Cisco AP is just that, an AP.  It is not a router.  It doesn't not
have a built in switch.  It won't hand out DHCP and DNS settings to
your clients.  It's just an AP.  But a darn good one.

> I thought maybe it had to do with the 2.4, but that means 2.4 GHz, right?
> And doesn't everything run at 2.4 GHz?  This article says 'yes':

B and G run at 2.4 Ghz, yes.  There's an allotment of the spectrum to
allow consumer devices to run in a specific range of 2.4 Ghz
frequencies.  802.11 gear has an interesting property though, it is
allowed to run outside of the consumer band.  Channels 11 and higher
are actually borrowed form the ham bands, which means that cordless
phones and other problem devices can't interfere (well, sorta... it's
not as bad anyway).

N runs at 5.something Ghz, which IIRC is another "consumer" allotted
space.  Generally speaking, the higher the frequency, the more
bandwidth available for a given carrier signal.  A carrier at 5 Ghz
has significantly more bandwidth than a 2.4 Ghz carrier, meaning
potentially faster transmission speeds.  In the end, all APs have to
run at the same frequencies, otherwise how would your wifi card work
at all?  A Cisco AP and a Linksys AP have to run at the same
frequencies for your Dlink wifi card to use them both.

So if you have an existing network infrastructure and you want a
solid, manageable AP, this is a good one to get.  If the
Router/firewall/AP you bought from Best Buy IS your infrastructure,
well... maybe this isn't going to help you a lot.  Pick the right tool
for the job.

Brian