G or N Router?

[TravelGal]

Hoping you can come to my rescue. The people in the box stores tell you anything to get you out of their face and we can't seem to find this answer online.

We have have a 2-3 year old Linksys G router. 2.4 GHz. We have three 1-year old computers all running Windows 7, currently networked with said router. Roadrunner 100 Mbps connection.

Question is would we be better served with an N router? Can we even use one? I ask that because the twit, er, sales guy, at Staples said our "old" computers could not handle it.

Thanks in advance.

[Sean Malone]

"Realistically, the theoretical throughput of 802.11n devices would be no more than 100Mbps which is still a considerable improvement over the 25Mbps of 802.11g."

I haven't made the jump yet but I understand that you really notice the difference when streaming HD media etc.

[dando]

Hoping you can come to my rescue. The people in the box stores tell you anything to get you out of their face and we can't seem to find this answer online.

We have have a 2-3 year old Linksys G router. 2.4 GHz. We have three 1-year old computers all running Windows 7, currently networked with said router. Roadrunner 100 Mbps connection.

Question is would we be better served with an N router? Can we even use one? I ask that because the twit, er, sales guy, at Staples said our "old" computers could not handle it.

Thanks in advance.

N routers are backwards compatible with older B and G WiFi cards. That being said, you won't experience the full benefits of N w/o using N WiFi cards. However, you should still see the benefit of the stronger N signal and range. I recently upgraded to an N router and it is working great with two machines with G cards.

On a side note, the N standard was just recently finalized after YEARS of debate on the standard, which has affected the roll out of N products over the past 3-4 years. N routers have been available during this time, but they were based on the draft N standard, but should be able to have their firmware upgraded via a simple download and install.

-Kevin

[BZSetshot]

If you bought an N-Router you would need to upgrade your G cards for your laptops to N cards to have the speed boost of N. (I doubt you can easily do that). A 1 year old lap "may" have a N-Card. Check your configuration...

An N-Router with an N-Card will see about double the throughput of a G-Router with a G-Card under real world scenarios in general. 40Mbps vs 20 Mbps more or less. Not bad, but if you use a G-Card with an N-Router I doubt you would notice any increase.

What you "may" see is an increase of signal strength/distance if you used an N-Router as long as you buy one that is backwards compatible with G-Cards (I do not know of any N-Router not backwards compatible, but still just make sure).


(I type V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y... :D)

[TravelGal]

If you bought an N-Router you would need to upgrade your G cards for your laptops to N cards to have the speed boost of N. (I doubt you can easily do that). A 1 year old lap "may" have a N-Card. Check your configuration...

An N-Router with an N-Card will see about double the throughput of a G-Router with a G-Card under real world scenarios in general. 40Mbps vs 20 Mbps more or less. Not bad, but if you use a G-Card with an N-Router I doubt you would notice any increase.

What you "may" see is an increase of signal strength/distance if you used an N-Router as long as you buy one that is backwards compatible with G-Cards (I do not know of any N-Router not backwards compatible, but still just make sure).


(I type V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y... :D)

BZ, running Windows 7, we cannot find HOW to check. All the online instructions do not take us to a place that lists anything to do with router or compatibility.

Can you type, slowly, the path to enlightenment?

Thx

[Sean Malone]

They make PCMCIA and USB N cards, so I'm assuming you can disable your enternal G card and use the N. That's $50 to $65 each adapter plus the router cost.

[Elmo T]

Which one is least likely to give me a brain tumor? :rolleyes:

[Sean Malone]

Which one is least likely to give me a brain tumor? :rolleyes:

H, I, J, K, L and M. :)

[TravelGal]

They make PCMCIA and USB N cards, so I'm assuming you can disable your enternal G card and use the N. That's $50 to $65 each adapter plus the router cost.

Having just read through my entire "Device Manager" list, I think this is the way we might have to go.

Oh, and Elmo, I've thinking the same thing about the new Samsung Monitor I bought this morning. It's fabulous compared to my old NEC but am I trading lack of eye strain for a brain bomb?

[dando]

A 1 year old lap "may" have a N-Card. Check your configuration...


No chance. The standard was finalized just this past fall and I have yet yo see any configs offering N support through the end of Q4 (I was in the market for a new laptop and actively looking @ several makes and models). It's much easier to upgrade router firmware than a WiFi card.

-Kevin

[dando]

Which one is least likely to give me a brain tumor? :rolleyes:

http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PCO1974.jpg

:D

-Kevin

[Elmo T]

for a brain bomb?

I am not one to normally worry about such things - but I have been contemplating putting the wireless on a clock timer - on at 6AM and off at 9PM. I am way too lazy and/or forgetful to actually turn it off and on.

Of course, that doesn't address the other 200 wireless units in the neighborhood, my fire radios, 3 cellphones, the giant cell tower down the road, solar flares, red meat, etc... ;)

[dando]

I am not one to normally worry about such things - but I have been contemplating putting the wireless on a clock timer - on at 6AM and off at 9PM. I am way too lazy and/or forgetful to actually turn it off and on.

Of course, that doesn't address the other 200 wireless units in the neighborhood, my fire radios, 3 cellphones, the giant cell tower down the road, solar flares, red meat, etc... ;)

There's a simple fix for all of this:

http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lghr0173+homer-simpson-duff-beer-the-simpsons-poster.jpg

;)

-Kevin

[Methanolandbrats]

N will help. Buy a Cisco and only a Cisco. Do not under any circumstances buy a Belkin. Complete POS. I tired to set one up for an hour. Kept crashing, dropping things, needing to be rebooted.....called Delhi and they told me it was my computer or cable connection. Took POS back to Staples, bought Cisco, set up secure wireless/Ethernet network in five minutes and been firing ever since. Cisco cost twice as much and there is a reason for that.

[dando]

N will help. Buy a Cisco and only a Cisco. Do not under any circumstances buy a Belkin. Complete POS. I tired to set one up for an hour. Kept crashing, dropping things, needing to be rebooted.....called Delhi and they told me it was my computer or cable connection. Took POS back to Staples, bought Cisco, set up secure wireless/Ethernet network in five minutes and been firing ever since. Cisco cost twice as much and there is a reason for that.

Linksys == Cisco these days, BTW. I've used Netgear forever until my recent upgrade, and both have been comparable in my experience.

-Kevin

[TravelGal]

Thanks to everyone. Talk about a crash course (pun not intended) on routers. We've learned that we'll need the USB N cards for the desktops but we're going to leave well enough alone for the time being. My wallet is still stunned from the Samsung SyncMaster 2333HD monitor. You know, you go to buy one thing and you see something that is so much better and .......

[Methanolandbrats]

Linksys == Cisco these days, BTW. I've used Netgear forever until my recent upgrade, and both have been comparable in my experience.

-Kevin
Linksys is a division of Cisco, so I call it Cisco..........a side effect of watching John Chambers interviews.:D

[nrc]

Old linksys stuff was good. When they lobotomised their routers and kept the same model numbers they became much less good. Don't know about the latest Linksys/Cisco stuff but I'll probably try Netgear next time.

[Methanolandbrats]

Old linksys stuff was good. When they lobotomised their routers and kept the same model numbers they became much less good. Don't know about the latest Linksys/Cisco stuff but I'll probably try Netgear next time.

I never tried Netgear. My old Pre-Cisco Linksys never missed a beat and the new one came with great software and instructions. I guess the support is pretty good too although I haven't used it yet.

[WickerBill]

Doesn't enter my house if it can't do DD-WRT. But that's just me.

[BZSetshot]

BZ, running Windows 7, we cannot find HOW to check. All the online instructions do not take us to a place that lists anything to do with router or compatibility.

Can you type, slowly, the path to enlightenment?

Thx


Bottom line is:

You do NOT need to upgrade your router.

If you do upgrade your router to an N, then your laptop G cards should work with your N router. This might give you a bit more of range.

If you want the extra speed, then you need to upgrade your router to N, AND upgrade, or add, N cards to your laptops.The easiest way is to add USB N adapters:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2050410031%201133010001&ShowDeactivatedMark=False

but you can also consider PCMCIA or CardBus if your laptops have any of these slots:

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=34&name=Laptop-Networking




Hope this clears it all up a bit..:laugh:

[JoeBob]

Also keep in mind that most (especially cheap) wireless routers are not dual band routers. They will run at the speed of the slowest device on the wireless network.

If you pay extra for a dual band router, then your Wireless N devices will connect at those speeds, while your G (or B) devices will run at the slower speed.

If you get a single band router, the entire wireless network will run with the bandwidth that the slowest device can handle. So, a single Wireless G device on the network will have the entire network running at Wireless G speeds, regardless of how many other devices are wireless N.

[ChampcarShark]

N-Netgear is working fine with me, I had an old G-linksys that eventually burned out.

Went with N and the range is way better, my old laptop has g wireless, but lets me stream video better than my G-Router.

Thanks to y'all, it never crossed my mind lately to upgrade the firmware, now its on the to do list, next to the taxes.

[dando]

Also keep in mind that most (especially cheap) wireless routers are not dual band routers. They will run at the speed of the slowest device on the wireless network.

If you pay extra for a dual band router, then your Wireless N devices will connect at those speeds, while your G (or B) devices will run at the slower speed.

If you get a single band router, the entire wireless network will run with the bandwidth that the slowest device can handle. So, a single Wireless G device on the network will have the entire network running at Wireless G speeds, regardless of how many other devices are wireless N.

Good point and often overlooked. Dual band routers will run in the $100 range and single bands <$50.

-Kevin