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prokkos
join:2003-11-14
Holmdel, NJ

prokkos to Tonice2007

Member

to Tonice2007

Re: Which Router to Replace Actiontec for WiFi Only?

said by Tonice2007:

If you want further distance (in regards to wireless signal) you have a couple of options:

1. Get a "newer" Wireless router, when I say newer I mean a newer standard, not a brand new 802.11b router, that won't really help you. I mean a newer standard router, like a 802.11n router or a 802.11ac router. Now the issue with this is, unless you have "new" computers, a lot of times, you don't have NICs that "accept" the new standards (like 802.11ac, which is pretty new, it hasn't been really fully ratified yet.) So there would cost you a little money depending on the NICs and the quantity of NICs you need.

2. Use multiple access points (repeaters) I know that you said that you don't really want to use multiple repeaters, but that might be a cheaper option, especially if you can get 802.11g routers/access points pretty cheaply these days.

Also, if your getting 10-25MBps than your doing fine, since your only provisioned for 50Mbps, which is about 6.25MBps.

Also, another thing is it that your connecting to your router at that speeds (meaning, that your "network connection" is that speed), not your internet speed.

Tonice - appreciate the feedback but not quite following you on a couple of points:

-By newer router, I mean 802.11n. I'm not going to replace the 3 PCs plus ipads/iphones/etc. that all use wifi in the house. I don't think any of them have 11ac so its not an option.

-In my experience multiple access points/repeaters add another level of complexity and points of configuration/failure that I'm trying to avoid.

-I don't quite understand your point on 10-25MBps being fine. On a LAN line ethernet cable connected PC, I can get close to the 50MB that I think I'm paying for. On an Ipad next to the router, I can get 25+ and sometimes 40Mb down. But on PCs that are connected to it over WiFi, I struggle to get above 10 sometimes and seldom see 20MB.

-I do not understand what your point on being provisions for 50Mb meaning 6.25Mbps means - as I regularly can get beyond 6 even using the Actiontec. I'm trying to get to the advertised 50.

-And I assume the connection speed test I try online from a PC is an internet speed test so do not understand the router speed point. Buying the router I referenced, or even the Actiontec, advertises something like 100-300Mb speeds (which I assume is the router speed you are referring to) so I assume they will not be the blockage or holdup and that I'm getting the lower speeds because of the Actiontec having a horrible ability on throughput.

If I'm missing something, please let me know and appreciate the feedback.
Expand your moderator at work

More Fiber
MVM
join:2005-09-26
Cape Coral, FL

More Fiber to prokkos

MVM

to prokkos

Re: Which Router to Replace Actiontec for WiFi Only?

For best speed, you want an 802.11n router that supports both 5Ghz band and 40Mhz channels. The Actiontec rev. I supports neither.

The range on 5Ghz is generally somewhat less than 2.4Ghz (other things being equal).
So if you have areas of your house that have poor reception now, you may want both a new router AND an Access Point. Place the access point in the area of the house that is currently getting poor reception.

Tonice2007
Premium Member
join:2005-12-20
Brooklyn, NY

1 edit

Tonice2007 to prokkos

Premium Member

to prokkos
said by prokkos:

said by Tonice2007:

If you want further distance (in regards to wireless signal) you have a couple of options:

1. Get a "newer" Wireless router, when I say newer I mean a newer standard, not a brand new 802.11b router, that won't really help you. I mean a newer standard router, like a 802.11n router or a 802.11ac router. Now the issue with this is, unless you have "new" computers, a lot of times, you don't have NICs that "accept" the new standards (like 802.11ac, which is pretty new, it hasn't been really fully ratified yet.) So there would cost you a little money depending on the NICs and the quantity of NICs you need.

2. Use multiple access points (repeaters) I know that you said that you don't really want to use multiple repeaters, but that might be a cheaper option, especially if you can get 802.11g routers/access points pretty cheaply these days.

Also, if your getting 10-25MBps than your doing fine, since your only provisioned for 50Mbps, which is about 6.25MBps.

Also, another thing is it that your connecting to your router at that speeds (meaning, that your "network connection" is that speed), not your internet speed.

Tonice - appreciate the feedback but not quite following you on a couple of points:

-By newer router, I mean 802.11n. I'm not going to replace the 3 PCs plus ipads/iphones/etc. that all use wifi in the house. I don't think any of them have 11ac so its not an option.

-In my experience multiple access points/repeaters add another level of complexity and points of configuration/failure that I'm trying to avoid.

-I don't quite understand your point on 10-25MBps being fine. On a LAN line ethernet cable connected PC, I can get close to the 50MB that I think I'm paying for. On an Ipad next to the router, I can get 25+ and sometimes 40Mb down. But on PCs that are connected to it over WiFi, I struggle to get above 10 sometimes and seldom see 20MB.

-I do not understand what your point on being provisions for 50Mb meaning 6.25Mbps means - as I regularly can get beyond 6 even using the Actiontec. I'm trying to get to the advertised 50.

-And I assume the connection speed test I try online from a PC is an internet speed test so do not understand the router speed point. Buying the router I referenced, or even the Actiontec, advertises something like 100-300Mb speeds (which I assume is the router speed you are referring to) so I assume they will not be the blockage or holdup and that I'm getting the lower speeds because of the Actiontec having a horrible ability on throughput.

If I'm missing something, please let me know and appreciate the feedback.

I'm sorry if I confused you, but let me explain myself, first 8 Mbps (8 Mega Bits per second) translates to 1 MBps (1 Mega Byte per Second) so basically 8 Mb would equal to 1 MB or another way of putting it is 1 MB = 8 Mb. Therefore 50 Mbps would translate to 6.25 MBps (50/8 = 6.25).

So, I got that part covered. Secondly, is your link speed to your router, sometimes there's "things" that block signal between your device and router, therefore, your connection speed to the router is effected (ex. I was my college library, during midterms so there are a lot of people connected to the school's network, so in order to get the maximum signal strength my laptop connected to the network (router) at a slower than optimum speed (36-48 Mbps when the router and my laptop both supports 54 Mbps). So you might want to check that first to see if there is a lot of devices operating on the 2.4 GHz band. (By the way Bluetooth also operates on this band, as do a lot of older "wireless" telephones [not cellphones] and I believe so do microwaves.)

Another thing, is that you might want to check your signal strength when your only getting 10 - 25 Mbps (I'm guessing that you mean Mbps and not MBps) you might be losing signal when your connected at those low speeds.

The best thing you could do is as what MoreFiber have suggested is to migrate to the 5GHz band, you might want to check your devices if they support this frequency, because a lot of NICs don't, in order to decrease costs. You might also want to read this for more information.