ASUS RT-N66U and TRENDnet TEW-680MB a good match?

[balforth]

I have a netgear NAS with a couple TBs of music, tv shows, and movies, some HD, som SD. Sometimes I have one laptop and my HTPC streaming video, and another laptop streaming music simultaneously.

I currently have the Cisco e4200v1 and the old trendnet 5ghz usb gaming adapter hooked up to my HTPC in another room. Sometimes I can't see the 5ghz network at all, and sometimes get some nice stutters on the 2.4ghz network. I've recently had to do a couple of factory resents on the Cisco because performance tanks and power cycling doesn't fix it. I think it's time for some new gear.

So, per the title, would the ASUS RT-N66U router and the TRENDnet TEW-680MB bridge be a good match up?

 

[stevech]

Perhaps you are too quick to blame the router, rather than the client device or competition for air time among neighbors' systems on the same channel +/- 3. If you do a WiFi SSID survey... remember that the issue is how busy that SSID is, rather than the number of SSIDs near your selected channel (auto-select off).

 

[balforth]

The factory reset comes mainly because of internet speeds. Not sure if I would have related the problem streaming from my NAS to my HTPC on my internal network without it.... Sparing the details, I was getting fractional speeds to my router even after power cycling, but full speeds to a computer directly connected with the ppoe connection to my ISP. Factory reset was the only thing that brought my entire network back to life.

My HTPCs nic is the trendnet gaming adapter, and most often cannot even see the 5ghz n network. Sometimes it can't even see the 2.4ghz g network without unplugging and plugging it back in. It all seems a bit hokey.

I use inSSIDer to audit the local networks. While there are lots of 2.4ghz networks in my area (29), I am the only person with a 5ghz network.

I'm fully prepared to blame the client device, hence my question about the trendnet bridge but after the 3rd factory reset on my router in a couple of weeks to even be able to play bf3 on my laptop, i know my router is a bit faulty.

regardless, it's fathers day and my birthday, and i have an itch to upgrade, so i'd like to know if the dark knight and trendnet bridge would be a good pair, or if there's some other obvious choice i'm overlooking.

thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[stevech]

How well does a laptop on the 5.8GHz WiFi work? (if you have such)

 

[balforth]

I actually have several, but unfortunately I've never really ran any metrics on them. When the router starts misbehaving, the whole family notices it, however. BF3 on my gaming laptop becomes unplayable. But again, the main effect is on internet speeds. Power-cycling doesn't fix the issue, only doing a factory reset.

The other issue is the fact that my trendnet 5ghz usb gaming adapter rarely sees the 5ghz network, even though I can be sitting in the same room with any number of laptops and see it just fine with high signal strength.

But I'm still looking for that piece of advice.... it seems like the RT-N66U gets very good reviews and performs well. Seems to be one of the top dogs. Just want to make sure the TEW-680MB would be the smartest choice for a PC. It seems kinda cool too since it's a multi port bridge, so I could also connect my PS3 and TV.

 

[sfx2000]

I currently have the Cisco e4200v1 and the old trendnet 5ghz usb gaming adapter hooked up to my HTPC in another room. Sometimes I can't see the 5ghz network at all, and sometimes get some nice stutters on the 2.4ghz network. I've recently had to do a couple of factory resents on the Cisco because performance tanks and power cycling doesn't fix it. I think it's time for some new gear.

Cisco-Linksys has issues with uPNP on the their consumer grade routers - i.e. Linksys - try turning off uPNP in the router admin page...

 

[balforth]

Turns out I had to adjust what channels the Trendnet wireless adapter was looking for the 5ghz network on in the advanced properties.

I went ahead and got the RT-N66U and immediately flashed Tomato firmware. There's already a huge difference. In the far corners of my house I used to only get 3 bars on the 5GHz network, now I get 5. My Trendnet USB adapter locks in at 450mbps. I know this isn't a great way to measure throughput, but before with my E4200v1, copying files from my NAS to my HTPC, it would transfer around 5MBs/s. Now it's between 11 and 12.