Questions on Wireless N
#1
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Questions on Wireless N
My older router (Linksys SRX) had served me well. The ethernet ports were only 100 Mbps, but that's lots faster than the stuff coming down the wire. The throughput on the wireless-G connection averaged around 500 - 600 Kbytes/sec but I could live with that.
Anyhow, the wireless connection took a dump - most of the time there was almost no wireless signal. Power off/power on would restore it, but I found I had to do it several times a day. So ...
Found another one (Netgear N150) laying around, which supposedly would provide wireless-N connectivity. All my wireless cards are Dells, and they are described as "dual band". I know that when I detect my neighbor's network, it lists it as G and N. So, I installed this one, and sure enough, it shows up as G and N.
I was downloading some updates for Win 7 and I noticed that the wireless throughput had gone up to match my wired speeds (2+ Mbytes/sec), so at least that aspect of the thing is making me happy.
But do I really have wireless-N? I watch the Task Manager graphs and it lists it as 54 mbps. If it were really -N, wouldn't it show up as 108 or something? I can't connect to my neighbor's network, but the wireless driver shows it as 108.
1. Just because the card is 'dual band', does that mean it's necessarily wireless-N?
2. Is there any way to positively identify a channel as -N?
3. Should I be doing something to enable simultaneous throughput on both bands, or am I mis-understanding how the whole thing works?
Not a big deal, but I'd hate to be leaving unused bandwidth on the table if I can get at it.
Anyhow, the wireless connection took a dump - most of the time there was almost no wireless signal. Power off/power on would restore it, but I found I had to do it several times a day. So ...
Found another one (Netgear N150) laying around, which supposedly would provide wireless-N connectivity. All my wireless cards are Dells, and they are described as "dual band". I know that when I detect my neighbor's network, it lists it as G and N. So, I installed this one, and sure enough, it shows up as G and N.
I was downloading some updates for Win 7 and I noticed that the wireless throughput had gone up to match my wired speeds (2+ Mbytes/sec), so at least that aspect of the thing is making me happy.
But do I really have wireless-N? I watch the Task Manager graphs and it lists it as 54 mbps. If it were really -N, wouldn't it show up as 108 or something? I can't connect to my neighbor's network, but the wireless driver shows it as 108.
1. Just because the card is 'dual band', does that mean it's necessarily wireless-N?
2. Is there any way to positively identify a channel as -N?
3. Should I be doing something to enable simultaneous throughput on both bands, or am I mis-understanding how the whole thing works?
Not a big deal, but I'd hate to be leaving unused bandwidth on the table if I can get at it.
#2
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Freeload Univ. Where are you sitting?
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Answering my own question - no, dual-band does not imply -N. It just means it can work on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and -G uses both.
So still ... would my wireless card say "N" on it if it were capable of that, otherwise assume it's "G"?
So still ... would my wireless card say "N" on it if it were capable of that, otherwise assume it's "G"?
#3
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And ... further research shows that I probably do not have wireless N in my laptop. I would need a replacement card.
So - back to the drawing board. At least I'm getting better throughput, at least as fast as the hard-wired connection when I'm connected to the router.
I tried connecting to my server by copying over a large file using wireless, and I was getting about 3 MBytes/sec, so I guess I'm pushing G to it's practical max (which I assume is about half its theoretical max).
Fine for now. I'll look into upgrading as time goes by and I decide it worth it.
So - back to the drawing board. At least I'm getting better throughput, at least as fast as the hard-wired connection when I'm connected to the router.
I tried connecting to my server by copying over a large file using wireless, and I was getting about 3 MBytes/sec, so I guess I'm pushing G to it's practical max (which I assume is about half its theoretical max).
Fine for now. I'll look into upgrading as time goes by and I decide it worth it.
#4
Join Date: Jun 2008
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2. Is there any way to positively identify a channel as -N?
3. Should I be doing something to enable simultaneous throughput on both bands, or am I mis-understanding how the whole thing works?
Last edited by chx1975; Mar 14, 2015 at 7:11 pm
#8
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Whew! For a while there I thought I would just be talkin' with myself.
And, yeah - I did some homework while I was waiting and I have a better picture of it now.
Thanks, guys.
And, yeah - I did some homework while I was waiting and I have a better picture of it now.
Thanks, guys.
#9
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And when you see 54Mbps or 108Mbps or whatever, that is just the link rate. That is not the actual throughput. And of course you can have a 1Gbps WiFi connection but if your connection to your Internet provider is limited to 5 or 10Mbps, then you don't get benefits from 802.11n in most cases. The major case where 11n helps is if you are in a room with a lot of metallic surfaces that reflect the WiFi signal. That's a bad thing with 11A or 11G, but its a good thing with 11n and MIMO technology.
#11
Join Date: May 2004
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Based on the specs it looks Draft-N tech wise to me. This is an older router model. You need true 5Ghz to be 'N'. And you would know if your devices were going to use it in two ways, 1) The router has an SSID for G and another one for N. Any device that supports N is going to show both wireless network SSIDs. I can tell you for sure that any iPhone IOS type device is not going to show, or connect to an 'N' connection that is 2.4Ghz as N.
-Patrick
-Patrick
#12
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And you would know if your devices were going to use it in two ways, 1) The router has an SSID for G and another one for N. Any device that supports N is going to show both wireless network SSIDs.
I can tell you for sure that any iPhone IOS type device is not going to show, or connect to an 'N' connection that is 2.4Ghz as N.
#13
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 460
I don't remember if Dell whitelists WiFi cards in their BIOS like Lenovo since that requires you to use a modded BIOS that does not whitelist and that can be a daunting endeavor.