It appears if you want a wireless N router (Rev G gigabit) the options are; 1) upgrade to 150/35, or buy your own, but what, precisely, is the advantage if you have 35/35 over the previous router Revs?
Solved! Go to Correct Answer
One thing to remember about having more speed available is you can pump more data through your Internet connection.
In my home for example I have 5 PCs, smart phones, Xbox/Wii, Itouch, work VOIP phone (connection goes Coast to Coast) and my vonage phone in addition to 4 tvs.
Having all the bandwidth to you makes all this possible without interuption from each other. On top of that speed, you can download HD movies from VOD or other providers, again run everything without stepping on each other.
The important thing to remember with a lot of bandwidth is not always the speed (since there will be a choke point along the way) but rather how much data you can potentially pump through your Internet Connection.
just my 2 cents
Jim
@zich6 wrote:It appears if you want a wireless N router (Rev G gigabit) the options are; 1) upgrade to 150/35, or buy your own, but what, precisely, is the advantage if you have 35/35 over the previous router Revs?
You'll only get the 35/35 nominal Internet speeds, but properly equipped, your INTRANET speeds will be at a much higher level. That's particularly important for local media and video use.
You typically can only get about 20/20 wireless without wireless N.
The advantages depend upon the uses you have in mind. In a perfect world, 802.11g can attain 54mbps, however since your home isn't an anechoic chamber, it is very tough to get past about 20mbps with 802.11g, while 35mbps should be easily attainable under the same conditions with 802.11n. I should point out that some wireless devices have 'hardwired' receive windows that can limit the effective wireless speed to something considerably less than even 802.11g can provide.
You can check to see if that is going to be an issue with http;//ndt.anl.gov which is a speed test from the Argonne National Laboratory, and measures various networking parameters. The information you need will be at the bottom of the info you get by clicking on the 'more details' radio button.
The other feature that comes with the Actiontec with official 802.11n support is gigabit ethernet. That would increase the speeds on your local network assuming the PC and other devices connected also supported Gigabit Ethernet. The standard versions of the Actiontec routers in circulation are limited to 100mbps Ethernet.
The Argonne server says I'm getting 20 down and 19 up on my using the wireless connection on the Actiontec, with a LAN max of 38 and change. So adding an N router will bring us up to 35/35 for wireless?
I don't think there is much doubt you would get higher data rates with 802.11n, the question is how much higher.
The issue is at 35mbps, you are bumping the limits on your performance from other issues. My guess is you could get north of 30mbps, but I doubt you can get to 35mbps.
One other question. Which version of Windows are you running? Windows7 (and probably Vista) tweaks the receive buffers on the fly, and the 38 mbps limit may be a result of Windows7 not rolling out the buffers adequately.
Did you try the test more than once?
In Windows XP the Verizon High speed optimizer will adjust the buffering for you to get maximum performance.
The fly in the ointment is that some wireless cards have the buffer 'on board', so what ever it is on the board, that is what you are stuck with (I have a laptop with that problem)....
I'm running W7.
I tried the test twice and got slightly lower values the 2nd time.
The laptop card is a Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN.
The Dell 1397 card is a Wireless G unit from Broadcom. Getting an N router won't get you anywhere higher with that card unless you swap it out for another one.
So, if I replace the card, I can get at least 30/30 with an N router? Thanks.
One thing to remember about having more speed available is you can pump more data through your Internet connection.
In my home for example I have 5 PCs, smart phones, Xbox/Wii, Itouch, work VOIP phone (connection goes Coast to Coast) and my vonage phone in addition to 4 tvs.
Having all the bandwidth to you makes all this possible without interuption from each other. On top of that speed, you can download HD movies from VOD or other providers, again run everything without stepping on each other.
The important thing to remember with a lot of bandwidth is not always the speed (since there will be a choke point along the way) but rather how much data you can potentially pump through your Internet Connection.
just my 2 cents
Jim
So, is that a "yes."
So, what is the speed on my Verizon router? I have 35/35 and a second PC.
There's aluminum coated fiber installation between the Verizon router and the second PC and it slows things down terribly.
Lemme know please.
Jim P.
@jim-pc wrote:So, what is the speed on my Verizon router? I have 35/35 and a second PC.
There's aluminum coated fiber installation between the Verizon router and the second PC and it slows things down terribly.
Lemme know please.
Jim P.
With Aluminum you've essentially got a Faraday cage effect. I'd say you have three choices:
1: Go with a Cable to the PC
2: Remove the aluminum
3: Use some High gain/High power Wireless gear to bust through the Aluminum.
Not much of an option you really have. Wireless N speeds become less stable and drop off faster due to noise when the signal is being weakend by objects, not air.
@zich6 wrote:So, if I replace the card, I can get at least 30/30 with an N router? Thanks.
Yes. it's best to replace the 1397 (You should keep the card around or sell it to someone who will use it. Don't toss it away!) with a card, such as this one: http://www.intel.com/products/wireless/adapters/6200/index.htm
That one is in fact a Dual Band card, in case you're wondering. It runs for no more than $30 online and it should be compatible with any system having a Dell 1397 wireless card in it. If you're wondering how it changes out, at the bottom of most laptops there is a door covering up the Wireless card. As long as you can open that door, remove the two delicate antenna connectors, unlock the old card, put the new card in the slot, lock it, connect both antennas, and put the cover back on the laptop, you should be good to go. I would never use a USB Wireless card on a laptop since the cards are easy to replace and all laptops have a dedicated PCI Express Bus just for Wireless, which is loads faster and has far less overhead over other methods.
As a tip: Most laptops put the Wireless card in the same location or somewhere near the RAM!
Thanks man.
Thanks for all the info - I just want to confirm that Verizon will not upgrade the router to N -- even if you pay for the new one?
Not until they start selling them as optional upgrades for those who don't get the newer routers.
Thanks for all the info - I just want to confirm that Verizon will not upgrade the router to N -- even if you pay for the new one?
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
