Wireless N Routers...

I'm just trying to find out more information about Wireless N Routers and whether purchasing one would be a good idea for me or not.

My current networking setup consists of a Wireless G Router connected to 3 clients. These being 2 x Laptops and 1 x 80Gb PS3.

These all have Wireless G built-in as well as having Ethernet ports.

I've tried connecting these devices up to the Router via an Ethernet cable and this is when I get the best download speed via this setup.

I've done the speed tests extensively. But whenever I connect to the Router wirelessly I only get half the download speed I get via Ethernet despite having excellent signal strength.

Can anyone explain why this happens? Would I see any improvement in wireless performance by buying a Wireless N Router for my networking setup?

Download and run TcpOptimizer. Let it do automatic setting but I took the option to Save the previous settings, although I found I didn't need to go back.

If you are running Windows XP that will almost certainly fix the problem. On Vista or Win 7 they should already be doing the important adjustments, but still worth a try.

You might get a more consistent signal with an N router but unless you have N cards there won't be much increase in speeds. A G card will only connect at 54Mbs maximum, an N card will give you 150Mbs+ (router to laptop).

In reply to a post by GeoffB:

You might get a more consistent signal with an N router but unless you have N cards there won't be much increase in speeds. A G card will only connect at 54Mbs maximum, an N card will give you 150Mbs+ (router to laptop).

I had an idea that this might solve the problem. I�ve considered getting some Wireless N Network Interface Cards. I gather that these can be bought as USB adapters?

Even if I did buy a Wireless N Network Interface Card then how do I go about getting it to work on the PS3?

The PS3 internet connectivity is quite important to us as we use it for BBC iPlayer, Youtube and Dailymotion streaming almost on a daily basis. So we really notice a drop in download speed on the PS3.

I�ve considered hard wiring the PS3 permanently to the Router with an RJ45 Network Cable but would like to connect it Wireless if possible and with the best possible download speeds.

PS3's can't do N wireless even with an external adaptor, best option is to cable it up, dedicated bandwidth compared to the shared G wireless.

Not that i know much about technical jargon concerning Broadband like the previous guys but my suggestion would be a simple solution called Homeplugs from various suppliers.............The ones i use are netgear and i am a avid gamer and i download at speeds of my connection with no problems .

I uses to use a wireless network with the Netgear router in my office upstairs and the consoles downstairs in the living room,to download a demo of around 500 meg could take 2/3 hours now i can download this in about 7 minutes if not quicker.

They are the best purchase i have ever made and i have never looked back and its the best £90 i have ever spent on a gaming solution.

http://www.reghardware.com/2007/01/22/review_netgear...

I've had a look at homeplug powerline adapters and they cost upwards of £70. Not worth it in my opinion.

I've also had a look at the official playstation forums regarding Wireless N and there are some users who are reporting increased wireless performance when using a Wireless N Router with a PS3. Likewise with PCs and Laptops with a Wireless G NIC and a Wireless N Router.

A Wireless N Router might be worth a try. I've seen something else from Netgear a universal Wi-Fi adapter that requires no drivers and is Wireless N compliant. Apparently works with a PS3 and almost anything that has a RJ45 Ethernet port. But again it's pricey at around £50.

I may have to stick with what I've got at the moment though. I would prefer to hard wire the PS3 to the Router but can't really do this at the moment as there is some major building work being done in my home at the moment so can't really set the Router down in one place for longer than a few days. The network cabling is already setup but is inaccessible due to the constant need to move the Router between different rooms hence the reason why I'm having to use the Wireless.

You are looking in the wrong place for your adapters. They start from £20 each without a pass-through socket, certainly a lot less than buying a new router and N wireless adapters.

As you have to plug the PS3 into a socket anyway, it would be better to connect this via a homeplug and use the other devices on wireless.


Here's a link to some homeplugs http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Search?free_text=h...

We are using a BT Hub 2 which is wireless n enabled and the PS3 works fine with much better download speeds so far (day 1 only) having upgraded from Hub1 which was wireless b enabled.

54G wireless can do at a maximum 27Mbps in either direction at the same time.
100Meg ethernet can do duplex, i.e. 100 Meg in either direction at the same time.

150Meg N is really 75Meg in each direction.

Ethernet is the best way, better than HomePlug and other than hassle to do, is cheaper to do.

Some people will see improvements when using an N device, not so much because of N but because of it being a better router, better antenna etc

Not all G kit is created identical, some might manage only 15Meg download even in ideal conditions. In the same way all N kit is not identical.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Ethernet is the best way, better than HomePlug and other than hassle to do, is cheaper to do.

Some people will see improvements when using an N device, not so much because of N but because of it being a better router, better antenna etc

Not all G kit is created identical, some might manage only 15Meg download even in ideal conditions. In the same way all N kit is not identical.

I know that Ethernet is better. I did mention that there is some building work going on in my house right now so there is no real place where I can sit the Router down permanently and nail down wires onto the wall.

It would be pointless in nailing down the wires now when the Router has to be moved every few days hence why I�m only using the Wireless at the moment.

I�ve been having signal strength problems with the PS3 since I started using it Wireless. It went down to as low as 3% last night. The Router is downstairs and the PS3 is upstairs about 30 metres away. I was hoping that a Wireless N Router would at least solve the strength problems.

I know that I�m never going to get full download speeds via Wireless unless I install Wireless N NICs at every client but if I can just get a consistent strength then that will solve half the problem until I can find somewhere to put the Router permanently.

I�m with Sky Broadband so I can�t use my own Modem Router. I wanted to buy a Wireless N Cable Router to connect to the Sky Modem Router. The cheapest Wireless N Cable Routers are £30 or so.

I gather that they can be connected to an ADSL2+ Modem Router via Ethernet leading from the Sky Modem Router and into the WAN port on the Cable Router. Then the Wireless can be disabled on the Sky Modem Router and then the Wireless can be enabled on the Cable Router. Is it really as simple as that? Just plug in and go? I'm seriously considering this as an option seeing as I can't use my own ADSL2+ Modem Router.

You need to buy a Wireless Access Point - not a wireless router if you want to keep things simple

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

You need to buy a Wireless Access Point - not a wireless router if you want to keep things simple

What is so significant about a Wireless Access Point? I thought that a Wireless Router has a Wireless Access Point built-in?

Stand alone Wireless Access Points are hard to come by even in places like PC World whereas Wireless Cable Routers or Wireless ADSL Routers are readily available.

My idea was to use my existing Sky Modem Router as a Modem only by disabling the Wireless and disabling the DHCP Server. Then I can hook up an RJ45 Ethernet cable into Ethernet port 1 on the Sky Modem Router and put the other end of that cable into the WAN port on the Cable Router. Then I can setup the DHCP Server and Wireless on the Cable Router.

I was hoping that the Cable Router can piggyback the WAN IP Address from the Sky Modem Router and then the Cable Router can assign local network IP Addresses automatically via the DHCP Server and Wireless interface. Does that make sense? I�ve never done something like this before but have a fair idea on how it should work (in theory).

Wireless router includes routing abilities, i.e. The next from you Sky router, would be taken and a second network created, so that machines connected via Etherent to the Sky router won't see computers connected to the wireless router. In effect you create a double NAT situation which can cause problems with some games.

A wireless access point simply converts an Ethernet network into a wireless network, i.e. computers using wireless will be able to see all the ones using ethernet.

You are best doing this:

1. Leave Sky router in place and let it handle all the DHCP
2. http://www.linksysbycisco.com/EU/en/products/WAP610N (no idea how good but the sort of thing you want)

Your idea will work in theory, in practice very hard to impossible to achieve with the Sky router.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/49655/TP-L...

I've been doing more testing and have now got a new problem.

The 2 Laptops that I'm using are both Wireless G enabled but one Laptop has an Atheros Wi-Fi NIC with Windows XP installed and the second Laptop has a Broadcom Wi-Fi NIC with Windows Vista installed.

I've been doing the speed tests again and the second Laptop now gets the full download speed capable from my phone line despite the Wi-Fi network speed being 54 Mbps.

Now I'm starting to think that the behaviour with the first Laptop and the PS3 is some kind of bizarre compatibility problem.

Incidentally, the Sky Router that I'm using is a Sagem with a Broadcom based chipset. I don't know if that has any bearing on things in terms of compatibility.

In reply to a post by shinystar77:

I've been doing more testing and have now got a new problem.

The 2 Laptops that I'm using are both Wireless G enabled but one Laptop has an Atheros Wi-Fi NIC with Windows XP installed and the second Laptop has a Broadcom Wi-Fi NIC with Windows Vista installed.

I've been doing the speed tests again and the second Laptop now gets the full download speed capable from my phone line despite the Wi-Fi network speed being 54 Mbps.

Now I'm starting to think that the behaviour with the first Laptop and the PS3 is some kind of bizarre compatibility problem.

Incidentally, the Sky Router that I'm using is a Sagem with a Broadcom based chipset. I don't know if that has any bearing on things in terms of compatibility.

Well if the Vista laptop is fine and the XP one isn't, it looks as though you ignored this post.