Travel Technology - Replacing a Wireless G with a Wireless N Router

My seasonal home has an old Linksys G wireless router. Can I simply replace it with a high speed wireless N router or is it more complicated than that? Desktop is connected to internet wirelessly as are a couple of laptops, printer, BluRay players and a smart TV.

What issues might I have if I try to replace the G with an N router?

No issues. Newer routers may have encryption options that weren't available on the old, such as WPA2. If the router has options for connection type, select N + G, though this is probably unnecessary. Even with the same device name, security type, and password you may have to reconnect TV, laptops, and other devices. But there really shouldn't be any problems.

Oh - take the old router offline before connecting the new, and use an ethernet cable to configure, not wireless.

N routers are backward compatible, so no problems, but if your devices all have G receivers you will get no benefit from the N router other than better security (except when you buy new devices). I would recommend the Netgear N600 - under $100 & easy to set up (I have one in my house & I set it up myself & I am not a geek).

Should work fine.

Curious -do you do a lot of file-sharing/heavy traffic between your devices, or does your bandwidth from your ISP exceed the G capability 15-20Mb in real life)?

I swapped mine for security reasons, but with only 12Mbps to my ISP, there is no speed difference.

What issues might I have if I try to replace the G with an N router?The biggest issues are likely to be unrelated to the wireless technology change. Make sure you have documented your current setup before replacing the router. For example, if your router logs into the ISP on your behalf, what's your username and password? Also, you'll need to re-enter the name of the wireless network (called the SSID) and WiFi password into the new box. Finally, existing devices that connect to your network may have to rediscover their connection.

N routers are backward compatible, so no problems, but if your devices all have G receivers you will get no benefit from the N router other than better security (except when you buy new devices). I would recommend the Netgear N600 - under $100 & easy to set up (I have one in my house & I set it up myself & I am not a geek).

Most everything is wireless N, maybe an older laptop here or there which is G.

And the current network is not password protected... please don't throw bricks!

Most everything is wireless N, maybe an older laptop here or there which is G.

And the current network is not password protected... please don't throw bricks!
Any reason it isn't?

Any reason it isn't?


Never bothered, very rural area. If I lived in a dense suburb or an apartment bldg., it would be protected.

Never bothered, very rural area. If I lived in a dense suburb or an apartment bldg., it would be protected.

My vacation home is fairly isolated, but I can "see" the access points of my neighbors on occasion. This means, of course, that they can see mine as well.

I also used an older G router there (Buffalo WHR-HP-G54), and regularly had issues streaming Netflix . . . even after installing 3rd-party firmware and tweaking everything I could. I finally purchased a Netgear WNDR4500 for home, and reallocated the WNDR3700 I was using there to the getaway place. Since then, issues with streaming have virtually disappeared.

you might want to find something with some QoS services built in, the connected TV might want to be able to be prioritized for video streaming.

To future-proof it for your seasonal residence for the next, urrrrr, 5 years +/- get a dual band N router, less congestions & more channels away from the overcrowded 2.4 Ghz band that older draft-N and G routers are on, and up to the higher & less prone to interference 5 Ghz band.

Or, if you wanted to put new life into that old Linksys - most likely a WRT45G model, give it a new life by running DD-WRT on it, open source codes & very powerful, including QoS ... http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_DD-WRT%3F

Never bothered, very rural area. If I lived in a dense suburb or an apartment bldg., it would be protected.
Watch out for those racoons downloading on your open wifi.

Watch out for those racoons downloading on your open wifi.

The racoons only go online in the middle of the night... it is those pesky squirrels that hog the bandwidth during the day and early evening!:D

or does your bandwidth from your ISP exceed the G capability 15-20Mb in real life)?

I routinely blow 15 Mb out of the water and that is why I switched to N.