Does mixed mode (802.11g + n) slow me down?

[blake]

Regarding the Engenius ECB350, in wireless access point mode

If both 802.11g and 802.11n devices are connected (to the same ssid), does performance /speed decrease? It seems to me it does.

If this is the case, is there any way around this problem? Would creating two separate ssid on this unit fix the problem (one in 802.11n only mode, and another in mixed mode to support this 802.11g devices )?

Thanks

 

[sfx2000]

Regarding the Engenius ECB350, in wireless access point mode

If both 802.11g and 802.11n devices are connected (to the same ssid), does performance /speed decrease? It seems to me it does.

If this is the case, is there any way around this problem? Would creating two separate ssid on this unit fix the problem (one in 802.11n only mode, and another in mixed mode to support this 802.11g devices )?

Thanks

Most current gear these days handle mixed mode quite well - depends on how much traffic the legacy gear generates - if it's a just a printer or a game box (PS3/XBox/Wii), it's not an issue - if it's a media streamer, it can impact traffic when it is streaming.... the 802.11n STA's will be impacted to some degree of course, but like I mentioned, newer gear is better about this.

 

[thiggins]

If this is the case, is there any way around this problem? Would creating two separate ssid on this unit fix the problem (one in 802.11n only mode, and another in mixed mode to support this 802.11g devices )?

See 5 Ways To Fix Slow 802.11n Speed Fix #3.

No. Another SSID just provides a different way to connect to the same radio. The reason for the slowdown is the longer airtime the slower b/g devices need vs. faster N devices.

If you are noticing a slowdown with mixed devices, then the only way around is to move N traffic to a different radio. This could be the 5 GHz radio in a simultaneous dual band router. But more typically, you need to add another 2.4 GHz access point or router-turned-into AP.

 

[tipstir]

I use mix mode on this side. If the AP or WiFi Router AP has better hardware you might now even notice any lag in performance.

 

[stevech]

mixed mode
11b vs 11g mix
11b/g vs 11n mix

When a mix is present, products should revert to "request to send" (RTS) mode. This would be the 11n client and the 11n access point/router.

Example: 11n device has detected 11g devices' presence. It then resorts to sending an RTS to "own" the RF channel for a time. The other 11n device responds with "Clear to send" (CTS). This pair of messages is done so that all 11b/g/n devices in range can be aware that in the time window, transmissions will occur that the older devices cannot "decode"; even the encrypted data frame headers.

The overhead of RTS/CTS is why the 11n devices' throughput declines somewhat.

I've long wondered how many products implement this correctly. If the don't then the system can thrash somewhat, as collisions occur.

Now 11n's 40MHz mode is a different story than RTS/CTS. How these devices do the equivalent of RTS/CTS for the 40 MHz swath I don't know.

And remember too: This RTS/CTS and the like has to be done by ALL SSIDs using the same RF spectrum. Your neighbors. It's complicated by the overlapping channel widths.

 

[tipstir]

Some routers now have N/G only instead of N/G/B or B/G/N.

20MHz = Single
40Mhz = Double

But on SNB it is recommended to use 20MHz and it does work, but still I use Auto/20MHz for 802.11g devices and 40MHz for 802.11n devices. To kinda balance it out.