Should I add, not replace?

[emperor]

I've been suffering from poor wireless reception in my house.
I have two D-Link 655 routers. One is set up access point, connected through the first one using Ethernet.

There are about 6-7 meters from one of the routers to the bedroom, with one wall in between, but it's enough to get really poor Netflix reception on a Chromecast. The house is about 300 years old, so the walls are pretty thick.

I have now purchased two Asus RT-AC68U routers to replace the D-Links.
I plan to have the same setup as before with the new routers, but maybe I should keep one or maybe even both of the old ones?
They could then serve the few g devices I still have, and the new routers could be set to N only (so far, I don't have any AC devices).

My house is far away from any other buildings, so I don't use any security settings on the wireless and I don't have to deal with neighboring networks.

What do you think?

If I should keep the old router(s), how should the network be configured (SSID, channels etc)?

 

[L&LD]

Keep the old routers for the old G devices, but leave the new routers to Auto - it works much better than when you specify 'N' only and by keeping the G devices on physically separate routers, the newer routers and N devices won't slow down either (make sure you specify the ssids and the channels and keep the routers physically separate too).

 

[sfx2000]

You'll probably be fine with the Remove/Replace on the dlinks with the Asus boxen..

Don't worry too much about 11g/11n interaction - newer chipsets are much better about this.

I would gently encourage you to use WPA2/AES rather than an open network - also leave the radios as B/G/N on the 2.4GHz side, and A/N/AC on the 5GHz side, the radios work better that way...

 

[stevech]

My house is far away from any other buildings, so I don't use any security settings on the wireless and I don't have to deal with neighboring networks.

What do you think?

Bad idea. No speed penalty for turning on WPA encryption.
Finally, about 99.5% of all homes have wised up to NOT using an open system.

 

[emperor]

Thanks.
Regarding modes, I can choose from these:

2.4 GHz:
======
Auto
Allows n, g and b devices.
Legacy
Allows b/g/n devices, but n devices only run at 54Mbps.
N Only
Maximizes performance, but does not allow b and g devices.

Tick b/g protection to allow b/g devices to connect without affecting n devices, but this increases the routers workload

5 GHz:
=====
Auto
Allows ac, n and and a devices to connect.
Legacy
Allows n/a devices, but n devices only run at 54Mbps
N+AC
Maximizes performance, but does not let a devices to connect.

So, I'll choose Auto on 2.4GHz and N+AC on 5GHz (and tick the b/g protection).

If I would prioritize range before speed, would any setup be different?

Is it recommended (or even mandatory) to use different SSID on both frequencies? I'd prefer to have same to make it easier to set up my devices.

 

[azazel1024]

I'd use same, that is what I do. I leave it up to my devices to decide what band to use...though it would be nice if routers/APs came with management options for band steering, but meh. I don't really have issues letting my devices decide.

I would consider keeping the DLinks for 11g devices if you have several. I'd set both the one SSID and channel 1. Then I'd set the pair of Asus to channel 6 and then channel 11, or possibly set them both to 40MHz mode and 6+10 on their own SSID (but 2.4 and 5GHz the same SSID for them).

That way your 11g devices just connect with the DLinks on the 2.4GHz 11g network and everything else goes to the Asus on whatever band the client feels is appropriate.

One tip, do NOT locate the DLinks too close to the Asus if you are going to co-locate them. Even on different channels, they can produce interference if the antennas are too close to each other. I'd leave (ideally) at least 2ft, or maybe 3ft of distance between them if possible.

 

[thiggins]

I would consider keeping the DLinks for 11g devices if you have several. I'd set both the one SSID and channel 1. Then I'd set the pair of Asus to channel 6 and then channel 11, or possibly set them both to 40MHz mode and 6+10 on their own SSID (but 2.4 and 5GHz the same SSID for them).

That way your 11g devices just connect with the DLinks on the 2.4GHz 11g network and everything else goes to the Asus on whatever band the client feels is appropriate.

How are the G devices going to know to connect to the D-Link's if everything has the same SSID?

 

[azazel1024]

I guess I wasn't very clear. I meant set both of the DLinks to one SSID and then set the Asus to a seperate SSID and both bands on the Asus to the same SSID.

To Dlinks MyHomeNetwork11g channel 1 and Asus (2.4 and 5GHz) MyHomeNetwork channel 6 and channel 11 and channel 36+ and channel 142+, or 2.4GHz 40MHz and 6+10 (or 7+11).

 

[emperor]

Sorry, I meant if I don't use the D-Link at all.
After some inventory, it seems the only g devices are two Squeezeboxes, which are very rarely used.
So the same SSID would be for the two ASUS routers (this is what I had before with the D-Links).

The question is if I also can have the same SSID on 2.4GHz and 5GHz?

 

[azazel1024]

I already addressed that and said yes, you can have the same SSID for both bands. Then clients decide which band they'd rather connect to.

I'd also not retain the DLinks since you only have those two rarely used 11g devices.