dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
uniqs
20

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

1 recommendation

djrobx to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3

Re: Its about time!!!

That said, 802.11n has been pretty hit or miss for me. I've gone through several brands, several different chipsets, and it's ALL been extremely prone to interference. Speeds fluctuate dramatically, so much so that I've disabled it on my access points and gone back to standard 802.11g for connection stability.
Me too. I'm extremely disappointed with N. I use a laptop just a few feet from my N router, an it rarely shows a full speed connection, regardless of what channel I'm on. In "N exclusive" mode, the actual throughput I get is only about double what I saw with G, which my ancient D-Link "G+" router was capable of, without sacrificing compatibility with my old stuff.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

1 recommendation

BillRoland

Premium Member

Me 3. I've got a Linksys WRT160N and I am very disappointed in the performance of N. Its so bad I am considering picking up some powerline adapters, I have used them in other applications and they worked a lot better than this.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

1 edit

Matt3

Premium Member

said by BillRoland:

Me 3. I've got a Linksys WRT160N and I am very disappointed in the performance of N. Its so bad I am considering picking up some powerline adapters, I have used them in other applications and they worked a lot better than this.
Yep, the WRT160N was my most recent purchase having previously used a WRT350N and a D-Link DIR-655, and a Trendnet TEW-633GR. The speeds aren't bad, but the damn connection is constantly cycling rates so there are maddening pauses. It only seems to be stable if I'm in the same room. Glad to know it's not just me.
vinnie97
Premium Member
join:2003-12-05
US

vinnie97

Premium Member

This constant cycling is also happening in the 5GHz range?

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

said by vinnie97:

This constant cycling is also happening in the 5GHz range?
I don't have any 5GHz gear.

BillRoland
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL

BillRoland to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3
said by Matt3:
said by BillRoland:

Me 3. I've got a Linksys WRT160N and I am very disappointed in the performance of N. Its so bad I am considering picking up some powerline adapters, I have used them in other applications and they worked a lot better than this.
Yep, the WRT160N was my most recent purchase having previously used a WRT350N and a D-Link DIR-655, and a Trendnet TEW-633GR. The speeds aren't bad, but the damn connection is constantly cycling rates so there are maddening pauses. It only seems to be stable if I'm in the same room. Glad to know it's not just me.
Oh no, its not just you, I see the exact same behavior. Real fun to get those drop outs when you're using Remote Desktop.
LowRider
join:2006-06-23
Dallas, GA

LowRider to djrobx

Member

to djrobx
Not sure why but that's not uncommon for any router. Did some research awhile back trying to figure out the same thing, and the person said something I forgot mow but it's not uncommon
vinnie97
Premium Member
join:2003-12-05
US

vinnie97 to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3
Oh, sorry, I was thinking of the wrt610n.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

said by vinnie97:

Oh, sorry, I was thinking of the wrt610n.
No problemo.

I think running in the 5GHz range would remedy a lot of the issues I experienced. 802.11n needs a 40MHz channel (20MHz is standard) in the 2.4GHz range to achieve max throughput, but I found even when my APs were in 802.11n mode with a 20MHz channel forced, they still wildly varied their rates.

PGHammer
join:2003-06-09
Accokeek, MD

PGHammer to BillRoland

Member

to BillRoland
Actually, the reason it's not uncommon has to do with the sheer number of devices that use the 2.4 GHz range (not just other routers, but cordless phones, especially those that channel/frequency-hop, such as DECT) are a big reason why range shrinkage is an issue (not just with draft-N, but even g). It's why dual-band N adapters *and* routers are the only real solution to come close to taking advantage of all of N's advantages.
vinnie97
Premium Member
join:2003-12-05
US

2 edits

vinnie97 to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3
I'm using DD-WRT on my Asus WL-500W. Up until this month, I was using it regularly in 40MHz but rates still varied wildly in comparison to your experience (it is now rebooting when using 40MHz so I have to leave it at 20MHz, which effectively halves the available bandwidth...not so sure it makes much difference anyway).

I'm getting 7.2Mbps transfer rates from the room over right now at 20MHz....fairly consistent but still a bit too slow for some 1080p streaming.

I'm in the market for that 610n thanks to its dual band action and DD-WRT support.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

I have had a horrible experience with DD-WRT and the newer N routers. You should research it very well before you buy thinking it's going to work well. For my WRT160N, I had to use a special community build (NEWD) of DD-WRT as the main Brainslayer distro was completely borked and no one seems to care.