Wireless N Router & Wireless B/G Adapters

[cul8erppl]

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, here goes...

I know nothing about wireless networking technology...all i know is, my wireless network sucks a$$ rite now...i have an old wireless D-Link DI-5XX or 6XX (can't remember) B/G router, with wireless D-Link B/G adapters on each computer...

The router is in my room...I have a computer in the room beside me...plenty of walls in between, i guess, so the connection sucks, as it's always fluctuating and mostly hanging around 11Mbs...

I was wondering, if I picked-up a wireless N router, would it boost the signal strength, so that the adapters would remain constant on 54Mbs?...I don't want to change the adapters to wireless N yet, cuz it's not in my budget rite now, so I wanna change one thing at a time...thanks...

[Arinoth]

It will not. Long story short depending on your router it will either broadcast just wireless N and if it gets a wireless G it downgrades the signal to your slowest wireless device, the other is a dual band which will broadcast both N and G, but still you will not gain a signal boost from that. Only way to do it is to get a signal boosting antenna for either the router or the wireless card.

[LarkStarr]

you must have read somewhere that wireless N tech has increased signal strength and etc. but you need wireless N on both ends to utilize the technologies used in the N tech. that's not to say that a newer router can't give you increased wireless G performance though, but that's never a guarantee, and always a risk.

the more computers you have on your wireless network, the slower the network will go, too. it might be a PITA for you, but invest in wires if you can, for desktops and the like that stay stationary.

also never buy dlink again >.> jm2c! :D (personal hatred)

[cul8erppl]

sigh...wonderful...ok, i guess i'll save my $$$ for now, or maybe get a bigger antennae...

thanks arinoth & larkStarr...

[JD]

If you get a router that has a higher output power, it may help. Something like this perhaps: Buffalo Nfiniti WIRELESS-N High Power Router / Access Point 802.11B/G/N Gigabit QoS USB NAS - DirectCanada

Even if you don't use N for the time being. When you decide to move to N though, you'll need to switch all the PCs over at once, otherwise you most likely won't see the full benefits. And I'd probably suggest using the adapters Buffalo (or whatever router you buy) recommends.

Bigger antenna doesn't really help much. You need a very significant increase in size and output power to actually get any additional gain.

[sswilson]

If a directional antenna would do the trick for you, do a google search for pringles can antenna..... ;)

[DCCV44.2223]

Originally Posted by cul8erppl

I don't want to change the adapters to wireless N yet, cuz it's not in my budget rite now, so I wanna change one thing at a time...thanks...

Keep in mind that with all networking it's usually tough to get the full advertised bandwidth in real life. For your situation, I'd first download InSSIDer and get some real data on the signal strength you're getting:

inSSIDer Wi-Fi Scanner | MetaGeek

Then try changing the orientation of the antenna or moving the router around and see if the signal improves. If you have other wireless APs in the neighbourhood, check their signals strength and what channels they're using, if there're strong APs near you using the same channels that you're using, change your channel to one that's furthest removed from the others.

Instructions for home made directional antennae here:

www.freeantennas.com

Good luck...

[cul8erppl]

^^^ awesome! you guyz rock, thanks, i'm gonna do some research.

[BootlegUsher]

Does this mean that if you have a wireless printer you are rocking G speeds no matter what? I haven't heard of any wireless N printers.

[Sagath]

Originally Posted by BootlegUsher

Does this mean that if you have a wireless printer you are rocking G speeds no matter what? I haven't heard of any wireless N printers.

No. Most routers have compatibility mode that allows BG and N to work together. The comment about performance was solely to state that the compatibility mode does reduce some of the maximum potential of Wi-N.