Have 3 'n' comouters and one 'g'

[deepakvrao]

Hi guys,

My first post here.

I have 2 Macbook Airs, and an iMac, but also have an old Win XP laptop which is b/g.

So, I read here that using a n router will not help my speeds for the n enabled devices? True? If so, is there any router which can set up a regular n network, and a separate g 'guest' network?

I am currently using a cheapo Belkin b/g router. If I set up the n router as b/g/n, will it at all help in better speeds with n enabled laptops?

Was looking at the Asus RT-N13U

http://in.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN13U/#specifications

The specs say that the USB port on it can be used to connect an external HDD as a FTP server. Not clear on what exactly that means, but can I connect a USB HDD and just use it to copy files from the laptops as a back up?

Thanks for any help.

Deepak

 

[thiggins]

So, I read here that using a n router will not help my speeds for the n enabled devices? True? If so, is there any router which can set up a regular n network, and a separate g 'guest' network?

I don't know where you read that. If a client supports 802.11n, then it will have higher throughput when used with an 802.11n router.

The specs say that the USB port on it can be used to connect an external HDD as a FTP server. Not clear on what exactly that means, but can I connect a USB HDD and just use it to copy files from the laptops as a back up?

That means that the USB drive will not appear as a network share. You'll need to use an FTP client to move files.

 

[deepakvrao]

Thanks Tim.

I read in the below link that if you mix n and g clients, you won't get the maximum speed possible for the n? Or did I understand that wrong?

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30224/100/

If I get the Asus RT-N56U, which is dual band, I guess I can have a separate g and separate n network? This has 2 USB ports too, but are these also like FTP servers, or will they show up as external HDDs?

 

[sfx2000]

Hi guys,

My first post here.

I have 2 Macbook Airs, and an iMac, but also have an old Win XP laptop which is b/g.

So, I read here that using a n router will not help my speeds for the n enabled devices? True? If so, is there any router which can set up a regular n network, and a separate g 'guest' network?

I am currently using a cheapo Belkin b/g router. If I set up the n router as b/g/n, will it at all help in better speeds with n enabled laptops?

Was looking at the Asus RT-N13U

http://in.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN13U/#specifications

The specs say that the USB port on it can be used to connect an external HDD as a FTP server. Not clear on what exactly that means, but can I connect a USB HDD and just use it to copy files from the laptops as a back up?

Thanks for any help.

Deepak

Meh, don't worry too much - buy an n-router run it in b/g/n mode, and the devices will be happy,

In most home use cases - you don't really _need_ dual band, considering what you have on the network, most of the clients are already 802.11n. Worst case, disable the 802.11g card in the old XP laptop, pick up a USB 802.11n dongle (they're cheap enough these days) if it really impacts things.

Most of the home gateways out there these days aren't too terribly affected by mixed mode operations - performance may, and I say may, be impacted a little bit, but only when the G station is on and requesting data to/from the network. If you don't use it much, I wouldn't worry about it...

 

[sfx2000]

hanks Tim.

I read in the below link that if you mix n and g clients, you won't get the maximum speed possible for the n? Or did I understand that wrong?

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30224/100/

If I get the Asus RT-N56U, which is dual band, I guess I can have a separate g and separate n network? This has 2 USB ports too, but are these also like FTP servers, or will they show up as external HDDs?

The article you mention is 4 years old, and pre-dates the release of the 802.11 final release - newer radios are much better about mixed mode these days...

 

[deepakvrao]

Thanks guys.

 

[thiggins]

The article you mention is 4 years old, and pre-dates the release of the 802.11 final release - newer radios are much better about mixed mode these days...

Really? I guess I need to look at that again.

Regardless, as noted, you only need to worry if you have a lot of continuous 11b/g traffic.

Dual band radios have one radio for each band. So you can't set one radio for, say, 2.4 GHz 11n only and the other for 2.4 GHz b/g.

 

[sfx2000]

Really? I guess I need to look at that again.

Regardless, as noted, you only need to worry if you have a lot of continuous 11b/g traffic.

Dual band radios have one radio for each band. So you can't set one radio for, say, 2.4 GHz 11n only and the other for 2.4 GHz b/g.

Tim - it's still very good advice to add rather than replace...

1) Newer routers tend to have faster processors/better routing performance/more features, etc...

2) Older legacy wireless clients that may not support WPA2-AES or other more recent features, one can always setup the old router in AP mode, and push the legacy clients over to that AP - case in point is older handhelds might be 802.11b, and support WEP or if lucky with OS updates, WPA1 - putting them on a dedicated AP is much better than limiting a new 802.11n router to basically 802.11g speed.

It would be nice to have a refresh on the article, as things have changed...