Wireless router speeds

[texasboy]

  Absolutely no complaints with the present Netgear system which I have had in place for almost 2 years. Very reliable and  with 2 laptops and another pc running  on it, is more than sufficient. My question is. Are the latest routers worthwhile upgrading to? Is there much of an increase in speed (using broadband) and any recommendations.
cheers

[Quantum]

Absolutely no complaints with the present Netgear system which I have had in place for almost 2 years. Very reliable and  with 2 laptops and another pc running  on it, is more than sufficient. My question is. Are the latest routers worthwhile upgrading to? Is there much of an increase in speed (using broadband) and any recommendations.
cheers

Hmm, you're unlikely to see any increases in speeds when it comes to broadband usage. The typical broadband connection is 8mb/s | 0.5 mb/s, most wireless routers are 802.11g which is a maximum transfer rate of 54 mb/s, which is well above the needed 8, however most wireless connections rarely make this speed, but even under a weak connection you'll often find yourself getting more than 8. The only real time you need a faster connection is when you are transferring files from one computer to another, in which case the faster the better.

802.11g+ provides 108 mb/s but I think this is a proprietary standard and therefore some routers will support it and some won't, I don't think it's IEEE ratified. Some routers advertise themselves as 802.11n offering speeds of 300 mb/s+, now this is somewhat a con, as 802.11n has not be ratified by the IEEE, but rather, draft 1 and draft 2 have, however there will at least be a draft 3 before finalization. Companies employing this standard are causing some real problems, as in certain circumstances 802.11n can kill wireless networks running on 802.11g, b and a.

But in short, if it's to speed up broadband, it's likely unworth it.

[texasboy]

Many thanks Quantum, Just as I expected. Happy with with what I have.
cheers

[Synbios]

I know this post is rather old. But I just wanted to add my 2 cents

I also have a netgear router, among a few other brands. I have to say from my experience netgear are my favorite and the most stable. I have two of them now, one supporting 108Mbps. You do need a compatible network card for it to work.

In all honesty, 54Mbps is the most you ever need because internet speeds have yet to even come close to that (in most regions at least). Once your internet speeds surpass 54Mbps, then yeah, upgrade so you can make use of it.

If your goal is to transfer huge amounts of data over your LAN, then just get a gigabit wired router, put the computers in close vacinity, and you can laugh at any wireless speed.

[DC]

maybe you Netgear guys can help....

WGT624v3
drops at random every 30min to an 1hour but it's only for a few mins then it back up...
get's IP dynamically

tried....
turning off/on Ping
turning off/on firewall
changing routers MAC address to computers
reseting router
rebooting system (modem, router, PC)

when it drops i can still get to http://192.168.1.1/

[chip!]

what kind of internet connection do you have?

i used to have a similar problem a while ago using a Motorola Cable Modem.. anytime someone would try to download torrents, the modem would die out (but not the router)..  so i'm wondering, you said you can still get to 192.168.1.1, is that your modem or your router? obviously you cant get to your modem if your wireless router is down (unless you plug straight in with a patch/usb cable). but if you can get into your modem, you can check its status page to see if its still connected to the service provider..

[TheHalf™]

what kind of internet connection do you have?

I used to have a similar problem a while ago using a Motorola Cable Modem.. anytime someone would try to download torrents, the modem would die out (but not the router)..  so i'm wondering, you said you can still get to 192.168.1.1, is that your modem or your router? obviously you cant get to your modem if your wireless router is down (unless you plug straight in with a patch/usb cable). but if you can get into your modem, you can check its status page to see if its still connected to the service provider..

192.168.1.100 is the address to the router. Now I have been tinkering with a wired router (Linksys) just to gear myself up for a wireless router (also a Linksys) and I have learned quite a bit in the last 72 hours; including the UTMOST built in firewall this router has and to get Zonealarm to work along with this router.

TheHalf™

[Quantum]

what kind of internet connection do you have?

I used to have a similar problem a while ago using a Motorola Cable Modem.. anytime someone would try to download torrents, the modem would die out (but not the router)..  so i'm wondering, you said you can still get to 192.168.1.1, is that your modem or your router? obviously you cant get to your modem if your wireless router is down (unless you plug straight in with a patch/usb cable). but if you can get into your modem, you can check its status page to see if its still connected to the service provider..

192.168.1.100 is the address to the router. Now I have been tinkering with a wired router (Linksys) just to gear myself up for a wireless router (also a Linksys) and I have learned quite a bit in the last 72 hours; including the UTMOST built in firewall this router has and to get Zonealarm to work along with this router.

TheHalf™

To be honest, hardware built in firewalls put software firewalls to shame. Most people only ever need a hardware firewall, they're extremely effective and don't waste your CPU or other computer resources. But up to you if you feel a software firewall is worth it.

I've not run a software firewall in over 2 years now I know about hardware firewalls in detail.

[DC]

what kind of internet connection do you have?

i used to have a similar problem a while ago using a Motorola Cable Modem.. anytime someone would try to download torrents, the modem would die out (but not the router)..  so i'm wondering, you said you can still get to 192.168.1.1, is that your modem or your router? obviously you cant get to your modem if your wireless router is down (unless you plug straight in with a patch/usb cable). but if you can get into your modem, you can check its status page to see if its still connected to the service provider..

modem, i have a discontinued 3Com HomeConnect...  umm.. how do i get to the modem's status page...

[Quantum]

what kind of internet connection do you have?

i used to have a similar problem a while ago using a Motorola Cable Modem.. anytime someone would try to download torrents, the modem would die out (but not the router)..  so i'm wondering, you said you can still get to 192.168.1.1, is that your modem or your router? obviously you cant get to your modem if your wireless router is down (unless you plug straight in with a patch/usb cable). but if you can get into your modem, you can check its status page to see if its still connected to the service provider..

modem, i have a discontinued 3Com HomeConnect...  umm.. how do i get to the modem's status page...

Eeek a modem? Well this usually works for routers, go to:

Start > Run

Type "cmd" and hit enter

In the new Command Prompt type: "ipconfig" and hit enter

Take note of "Default Gateway" address. Type that address in to your browsers address bar and hit enter. You now should be presented with your modems status page, if you have to login, the the typical set-ups are:

Username: admin
Password: password
or
Password: admin

[DC]

thats the router status/settings page...

when it drops if i check the status it sometimes shows 0.0.0.0 then i few mins later it's back up..
it's like the router and cable modem get out of sync or something....

[Synbios]

I've never ran a software firewall, my hardware firewall is all I ever needed.

Also one thing that not a lot of people realize is that most modems, switches, and routers we buy in the store for consumers are NOT hot pluggable. Yeah you can usually get them to work that way, but it causes inconsistencies and disconnecting problems. Are you by any chance disconnecting computers through the wired ports?

I found the following to help for the longest uptime:

shut down all components, wait a minute
plug everything in (if you ever make a change, you have to repeat this whole process again)
power up modem
power up router(s) and switch(es) in the order that they're connected
then start up computers.

make sure you have a key on your wireless network so other people aren't getting on it obviously, and also make sure your p2p clients are properly configured to not overload the connection.

[ZootCadillac]

I'm running Netgear WGT 624v3 108Mbps to 1 wired and 3 WPN111 usb2.o wireless network adapters fed by Virginmedia's 20Mb Cable ( UK ) and i could not be happier with it.