802.11n question - thanks!

[crotalus99]

Hi All,

Just joined the forum and I have a question and would appreciate any help. I am thinking of upgrading my powerbook to a macbook pro with 802.11 N. At present my home network is 802.11 G. I have a couple of Tivo's, Xbox 360, 3 kids computers, my wife's ibook, and an Escient system that will all remain 802.11G.
My home office is far enough away that it requires an extender to reach the wifi and that has caused constant issues with printers and sharing files to the point I ran an ethernet cable into the office and plug my present laptop into it. I can receive the wifi signal though without the extender but it is slow and inconsistent.
I have cablevision internet, the router is linksys as are the bridges that hook up to the Tivos and Escient and one windows home computer, the rest are airport extreme.
I have too questions. Would the range help me eliminate the extender? Would I see any speed improvements over the G network I have now? I read some statements the with G devices attached to the N network the speed would be reduced, but have been unable to find any detailed explanation of this.

Thanks for any help and let me know if you need more info.

Chris

[Alan87i]

If you remove the G AP's / router,,, and put a N router in it's place but leave G devices as client devices the speed will remain in maxed at G.
Now What I would suggest is toss the extender if it's just for your laptop in your office, leave the current G network set up!! . When you get your new laptop with N card pick up a N router or AP and plug it into that cable you use in your office now. Configure it to work only in N mode Don't allow B or G ( Keep the wife off it ) LOL .

That way only your N laptop can connect , I would also set the frequency as far away from the G networks current channel as possible to further reduce interference and improve signal quality. If you get a N router ( cheap on sale what ever) Set it up with DHCP disabled put it's IP address on your subnet /security ect . then plug in your cat 5 cable to one of 4 switch ports.

Allan
VA2CBE

[M/Q]

I might inject some caution about having both 802.11g and n active in the same area. There have been many cases where the 802.11n technology has overwhelmed the 802.11g devices. The extent of the interference depends on what kind of Pre-N technology the device is using but it may use up to 4 channels.

[umdivx]

The older N routers using the airgo chipset where the ones that would cause interference issues, but if you would go with one that used the aerthos chipset then you more than likely won't see the issue.

- Josh