Netgear WNDR3700 dual band, both n/g clients, yes i read the sticky

[rcloud]

Hi all,

first off, yes, i've read the sticky about about mixing n/legacy clients, and the attached article, and various other articles on the subject, and i understand that network performance will suffer if you have n/g clients on the same network. i just hope to confirm that i'm understanding the situation correctly.

i have a netgear wndr3700 dual band router. previously, all network clients had g clients, so i turned the 5gh radio off...the router supposedly has radios, one for 2.4 and one for 5ghz.

anyway, i'm building a new desktop pc on another floor, don't want to run cat5 cable, and i want to get a n (or dual band) network card, like the linksys ae1000 (i read before that the wndr3700 didn't perform very well with other netgear wifi cards).

if i enable both the 2.4 and 5gz radios on my router, does this mean that all my existing g clients will connect to the 2.4 network, i can let my new pc connect to the 5 ghz network, and NEITHER networks will suffer in terms of performance, because they're technically 2 separate networks???

thanks for the clarification!

 

[claykin]

You have it correct. Your existing "g" clients are only compatible with 2.4Ghz so no worries about them connecting to the 5Ghz radio.

If you choose the AE1000 make sure to manually select the 5Ghz radio. This device is dual band, but not concurrent so you'll need to manually select which band you want to connect to.

Also keep in mind that 5Ghz has shorter range than 2.4Ghz so I hope this PC on a different floor setup works for you.

 

[rcloud]

thanks, claykin!

i picked the ae1000 because it has some pretty decent reviews, and it has switchable n/g.

all else fails, i'll just switch to g and connect to my g network. i've been using my laptops in the exact location of the intended new desktop pc, and wireless (G) works....adequately enough, no real slowdown for any day-to-day activities.

net speeds won't be any different anyway, but if i can get some faster wireless network transfers over the 5ghz N network, that'll be a nice little feature.

my router is almost directly above the intended desktop pc, about 10-15 ft, but separated by the drywall ceiling/plywood subfloor, and the particleboard TV stand on which the router is sitting. hopefully that's not too much of an obstacle!

 

[stevech]

sometimes there can be a weak signal area directly above or below the WiFi router. External "rod" like antennas tend to have a weak signal directly off the tip of the antenna, and again on the opposite end. You might try rotating the antennas 45 or 90 degrees and see what happens down on the adjacent floor above or below. Could well be negligible.

Remember too that making signal strength observations takes more than a 4 bar graph, i.e., a display in dBm is needed - or that odd percent display some use (RF path loss tends towards logarithmic units). And you need to take an average over many minutes.

For routers with internal antennas - who know! Trial and error as to orientation/placement.

 

[rcloud]

thanks, stevech. I'll keep those considerations in mind.

my wndr3700 has an internal antenna, and technically the new pc will be at about....35 degrees diagonally below from the vertical. hopefully it won't hurt my connection.

as i said, i'm currently using my laptop with a 2.4 ghz card, and it seems to be fine enough for my purposes.

 

[RogerSC]

My WNDR3700 worked great with the Netgear WNDA3100v2 client adapter on 2.4GHz. and 5GHz. I think that there were problems with the WNDA3100v1, so be sure to get the v2, if you use this adapter.

The WNDA3100v2 also works well with the Linksys E4200.

The warning about range on 5GHz., especially involving walls and floors is really true though, they cut down the range (speed as a result) considerably. Hopefully this will work well enough for you.

-Roger