Yet Another Networking Question - Wireless N

[Matt Meiser]

I have used Linksys WRT54G routers running DD-WRT firmware as access points for several years, and in fact have 4 of them running, 2 for the house, one for the shop, and one for guest access on a network that can't see my LAN, plus 1 spare in a box.

Now that we have a few N-capable devices, I thought it would be a good time to upgrade to N-capable access points so I ordered a Buffalo WHR-HP-G300N with DD-WRT. I set it up as I have all my others, configured it for mixed mode (B/G/N) and found I can't get over 65M on the N devices. I put it in N-only mode and get 150M, which I expect since they probably don't have multiple antennas. I put it in G/N mode and at first got 150M connections, until the first G device connected, then the N device fell back to 65M.

Is this normal behavior? Am I going to have to run a G network separate from an N network if I want my N devices to run faster than 65M? If so I think I'll just return the N router and stick with my trusty G's.

[David Weaver]

I have never checked mine when there's more than one PC, but I guess my thought about it is what's the real advantage in everyday use over G speed? G over B, B over A and over 802.11 were big, and in number, I guess the N is a lot faster than G, but I never do much at home where the difference between 65mb and 150 would really amount to much.

I'd return it and spend the money on tools! :o

[Shawn Pixley]

We have had similar experience. We don't use the Buffalo however. For streaming (watching movies, etc...) we use in N only mode. Normal day to day mode, we use in G/N mode. We set up two profiles for router to switch on the fly to N only.

In your configuration, with many devices they are probably competing. We found significant degradation with our 4-5 computers and then when my son wanted to stream (online gaming). We ended up switching several pieces out to get "equal access".

[Matt Meiser]

For every day use, no advantage, but when copying a lot of files or a big file there's a noticeable speed difference between a wired 100M connection and a wireless 54M connection so that was my reasoning for the upgrade. For example when downloading a lot of photos from the camera to our Windows Home Server or when I copy a 20GB VMWare image for work to my NAS for backup. But real-world, it was a useless upgrade it appears.

[Jerome Stanek]

It sounds like one of your devices hooked up is not running a n speed. A router will only run as fast as the slowest device hooked to it.

[Matt Meiser]

Yes, that's the case. I never knew that they were limited. Guess I'll just stick with my WRT54Gs until everything we have is N. We've got a mix in laptops and our Wii is B/G-only and doesn't have an ethernet port.

[Darius Ferlas]

If used simultaneously B will slow down G and N. G will slow down N. It is normal behavior.

[Bryan Morgan]

Is this normal behavior? Am I going to have to run a G network separate from an N network if I want my N devices to run faster than 65M? If so I think I'll just return the N router and stick with my trusty G's.

This is normal. I setup some Cisco wireless phones awhile back and somewhere in the whitepapers it explains why mixed mode wifi runs at slower speeds.

[Jerome Hanby]

There is a netgear dual band router that actually has two separate bands. I use the 300 MBS for serving Video and the 150 MBS band for the PCs.

[glenn bradley]

Is this normal behavior?

In a word, yes. We have hundreds of 802.11n AP's on campus but only have a few "N-only" zones (hard to police) for specific throughput purposes.

[Jim Becker]

Unless your AP has dual radios, you'll compromise your top speed. This has been the case all along. The best solution outside of buying APs that have dual radios (usually not consumer grade gear) is to just keep your A/B/G APs in place for that purpose and run the new AP(s) in N-only mode for top performance.

[Curt Harms]

I'm using the ActionTec router that Verizon supplies with their FiOS installation. I'm running it in compatibility mode because I have a couple wireless MFDs that are G only. I could never get over 18 Mb/sec using a G adapter. An N adapter will download at 30 Mb/sec on the same machine so while not running at full single frequency N speeds(150Mb/sec), it's still faster than using a G router and the compatibility seems good. What would be interesting would be to transfer a large file like a DVD image between machines and time it in both modes. That would tell the true store, I'd think.

[greg a bender]

I use a dual band Linksys 610. One band in N only and one in mixed. Works very well. All 20 wired connections are 1GB - even the shop:)
The N only reliably connects at 250MB and the mixed mode does 105MB (all clients have Linksys cards)

Greg

[Matt Meiser]

I get around 36MB/sec in testing with my WRT54Gs running DD-WRT. I was getting the same on the Buffalo in compatibility mode. I'm using a little app I found that copies 100MB of data to a network drive and back as a test.

Maybe I'll end up keeping this one and put it somewhere centrally located to run in N-only mode. I'm guessing I'll also have to use a new SSID so that the N devices know to associate with that AP even if one of the G's has a stronger signal.

[Jim Becker]

I'm guessing I'll also have to use a new SSID so that the N devices know to associate with that AP even if one of the G's has a stronger signal.

Yes, that would be a good idea, IMHO.

I use this same technique in our house with the two Apple Airport Express APs I use so I can more easily shut down the girls' access if I need to. They only have credentials for the SSID at their end of the house. Professor Dr SWMBO and I have credentials for both SSIDs and can roam between them.