help in selecting wifi router

[Newmarket2]

I'm tech savvy but weak on networking. I currently have a DLink WBR 2310 and want to get an N.
Range is my major issue. In my home, I can only get to 3 of 7 locations I would like to use. I'm guessing that ANY N router would do a lot better, but as long as I'm here, there are some other locations (a terrace outside the kitchen) where it would be great to get a signal.
My place is isolated, so there are no security concerns of fighting with other wireless networks.

My wife has an office about 200 ft from the cable modem and the router location - connected by CAT5. We get a great broadband connection using any of our PCs. I just don't want to lose that.

I also am thinking about adding an NAS because my wife and I work together on photographs and slideshows, but wifi range is a clearer need.

My budget is up to around $150.

I'm currently looking at the Linksys E3000, and the D-Link DIR 655 and DIR 628.

2 QUESTIONS:
1. which of the 3 would you recommend? and why? and, if it's the E3000, why should I spend $150 instead of $90?
2. is there another router you would recommend ahead of one of these 3.

!! Thanks for the help!! I'm dying here.....
Michael

 

[tipstir]

Go with E3000

 

[Newmarket2]

Go with E3000

well, based largely on the performance measures on SNB, and the fact it was on sale and I could get it IMMEDIATELY at a local Staples, I purchased a Netgear WNBR3700.

The proof will be in the pudding - do I get the throughput from the locations that are important to me.

But, do you think I made a mistake?

 

[tipstir]

well, based largely on the performance measures on SNB, and the fact it was on sale and I could get it IMMEDIATELY at a local Staples, I purchased a Netgear WNBR3700.

The proof will be in the pudding - do I get the throughput from the locations that are important to me.

But, do you think I made a mistake?

Well not going to be about equal or better it depends on your dwell and EMI/EMF RF interference? I personally don't like internal ANT, I just tested one out myself last week and compared to external ANT for 802.11n it's was about the same performance. I was at my local Walmart I didn't go into Staples though. Walmart had: E3000, WNDR3700 and PlayMax. I ended up ordering online Trendnnet TEW-673GRU since that and the WNDR3700 have the same chipset except for the LED/LCD panel. For P2P better off with ESR-9850 if you do P2P, if not the either Netgear or Trendnet will be better than E3000 when it comes to wireless. The charts are posted here for E3000 and WNDR3700. 680MHz i-32Kb / d-32Kb cache in both Netgear and Trendnet is very strong processor along with the 64MB of DDR2 RAM and Realtek Gig PCI Controller with 832KB of packet buffer.

 

[thiggins]

Hi Michael. Welcome to the SNB Forums.

First, you should realize that N routers generally don't provide more range than G.
That is, if you have a current generation G router and replace it with an N router, you'll probably find that if you couldn't get a signal at a specific location with the G router, you also won't get one with the N router.

An N router will provide more speed at a given location, which can itself be useful, since it can turn an unusable weak-signal location into one that is more usable.

You didn't say whether you have any dual-band or N clients. If you have only G clients, you don't need a dual-band router. And since you are interested in more range a dual-band router doesn't help even if you had dual-band N clients. A 5 GHz signal doesn't go as far as a 2.4 GHz signal because it is absorbed more as it passes through walls.

You didn't make a mistake, since the WNDR3700 is one of the top N routers. I use one and am am happy with its performance, range and reliability. But I don't push it and certainly don't stream video with it. But you probably spent more money than you needed to, since all you need is a single band router.

 

[tipstir]

Good enough router for now. Enjoy it!

 

[Newmarket2]

Status: the 3700 gets to all parts of my house with good performance, so it addresses my main problem.

But, I can't see the 5Ghz bandwidth signal. I think that 2.4 has slightly greater range, but the 5 band has higher throughput, which would be good for my desktop machine which is close.

New Question:
Netgear tech support says that my wifi adapters don't support the 5 band. I must have missed something when I was trying to absorb the basics - I had assumed that the 5Ghz band WAS N. ?Wrong?

 

[thiggins]

The 5 GHz band does not have higher throughput than 2.4 GHz.

The N products can operate in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. But not all N products cover both bands. You need to read the product descriptions.

Your clients need to support 802.11a or 5 GHz N.

 

[tipstir]

Need to buy USB/PCI/PCI-E adapters that support both bands 2.4GHz/5GHz. None of the 2.4GHz will support 5GHz. This extra band is only use when 2.4GHz is so crowded and you need an extra band. Or if you need to put Guest users on a different band and not be able to access your home network and just the internet only this is where the extra band comes into play. Distance going to vary between the bands.

 

[Newmarket2]

Sounds like, for my current gear and without spending more $, I'm not going to take advantage of the 5Ghz band at all. So, is there any advantage in turning it off?

And, thinking about the future:
if I get a blue-ray with Netflix, Pandora, etc - can I assume that a normal unit will use the 5Ghz band or do I need to read the specs carefully? I would put the player in a location not too far from the router so range isn't important, but throughput and smooth operation are important.

 

[thiggins]

Main advantage in turning off the unused radio is to prevent it from being used by freeloaders. But you should be using WPA2/AES security anyway, which should prevent that.

You can't assume anything. Read the specs of any product to be sure that it supports
5 GHz N.

If throughput and smooth operation are important, don't use wireless, use Ethernet. You will be much happier with the result.

 

[Newmarket2]

I live on a farm - far from anyone, so I don't really worry about security.

And, I always read the specs - if I know what I"m looking for!

This is an antique farmhouse, so any cabling isn't as easy as you might imagine. A nearby friend runs a similar set up and he says he NEVER gets buffer overruns or giggles - he has a dual band N from Linksys. So, I'll probably try wireless and see how it goes. It's in the future anyway. I have to buy a tripod/head next.

Thanks for the help!

 

[tipstir]

Sounds like, for my current gear and without spending more $, I'm not going to take advantage of the 5Ghz band at all. So, is there any advantage in turning it off?

And, thinking about the future:
if I get a blue-ray with Netflix, Pandora, etc - can I assume that a normal unit will use the 5Ghz band or do I need to read the specs carefully? I would put the player in a location not too far from the router so range isn't important, but throughput and smooth operation are important.

Don't need it on if you don't use it. Security reason you don't want to have open channel open so disable it. Thus you can also save on that radio band from using power.