Second WNDR3700

[bryanchewy]

here's my setup:

cable modem wired to main 3700 and a couple gigabit switches wired to the main 3700

i also have a separate "g" AP wired to the main 3700 to spread "g" around the main house so that "n" doesn't suffer speed drop

I have the 2.4 radio(on main 3700) set to "n" only for the main house area


I want to add another 3700 out in my office/garage 300 feet away line of site, no obstructions.

So that would be done on the 5.0 band to bridge between the 2 3700's.

I would set the 2.4 band on the 2nd 3700 to "n"only as well for my laptop out there.

I would wire my desktop and network printer to the 2nd 3700.

I would also wire a "g" 2.4 ap to the 2nd 3700 for the office/garage area.

So the questions:

Do you see this as being the best (speed and reliability) for my setup?

Do you think the 3700 5.0 band will reach 300 feet if the main 3700 is in a window looking directly at the other 3700, also in a window, with nothing but air in between them?


Thanks so much for your help.

 

[thiggins]

Don't bother with a second "G" ap out in the Garage. I doubt you'd see any performance degradation with one client (or even a few).

Even if the two 3700's connect on 5 GHz, I doubt you'll like the throughput. If you try it, be sure to use 20 MHz bandwidth mode (Up to 130 Mbps).

 

[bryanchewy]

Don't bother with a second "G" ap out in the Garage. I doubt you'd see any performance degradation with one client (or even a few).

Even if the two 3700's connect on 5 GHz, I doubt you'll like the throughput. If you try it, be sure to use 20 MHz bandwidth mode (Up to 130 Mbps).

Thanks for the input.

I thought that if you have 2.4 "n" and even a single g client connects to that, that it drops the whole thing to 54Mbps. Am I wrong on that? That's why i was going to connect an old G router (set to AP only) to each 3700 by wire. Wrong plan?

So your saying that at 300 feet on the 5.0 band that I will be lucky if they even connect over the bridge(even though its only 2 windows and air in between) and even if they do, the throughput will be bad?

And is the 20MHz stronger or something on 5.0? Why not allow the channel banding(not sure if that's proper term) to get the full 300Mbps?

Thanks so much for the help, I just don't want to waste money on this setup if it isn't going to get me maximum throughput.

Can anyone recommend an alternate setup to obtain my goals?

 

[thiggins]

I thought that if you have 2.4 "n" and even a single g client connects to that, that it drops the whole thing to 54Mbps. Am I wrong on that? That's why i was going to connect an old G router (set to AP only) to each 3700 by wire. Wrong plan?

Throughput will be reduced for both N and G clients only when both are transmitting at the same time. That's because the N clients have to slow down for the G clients. If G clients are not active, there is no effect on N clients.

So your saying that at 300 feet on the 5.0 band that I will be lucky if they even connect over the bridge(even though its only 2 windows and air in between) and even if they do, the throughput will be bad?

Correct.Throughput drops with signal level. And a 300 foot shot even for 2.4 GHz won't provide stellar throughput.

And is the 20MHz stronger or something on 5.0? Why not allow the channel banding(not sure if that's proper term) to get the full 300Mbps?

Channel bonding (40 MHz mode) is allowed in the the 5 GHz band because there are more non-overlapping channels. But channel bonding in either band only provides benefit under strong to medium signal conditions. For low signal levels you will get a more reliable signal using 20 MHz mode.

 

[bryanchewy]

Throughput will be reduced for both N and G clients only when both are transmitting at the same time. That's because the N clients have to slow down for the G clients. If G clients are not active, there is no effect on N clients.

Correct.Throughput drops with signal level. And a 300 foot shot even for 2.4 GHz won't provide stellar throughput.

Channel bonding (40 MHz mode) is allowed in the the 5 GHz band because there are more non-overlapping channels. But channel bonding in either band only provides benefit under strong to medium signal conditions. For low signal levels you will get a more reliable signal using 20 MHz mode.

Thanks for all that info. A couple clarifications:

when you say transmitting for the g client, does that mean actually sending/receiving data, or just connected. Another words if i have a "g" laptop turned on(and the wireless card shows connected) but not being used will it still be considered active, thus causing "n" slowdown?

Can 2.4 "n" do the channel bonding as well, correct? That's the 300Mbps mode, correct?

You suggest going to the 2.4 radio for the 300 feet bridge then, but what happens to the throughput speed if i connect a wireless "n" laptop to the 2.4 band as well?

Will that even work correctly?

so it would be:

3700 bridged on 2.4 radio to another 3700 and both of the 3700's would have 1 laptop each(2 laptops total) connected to the 2.4 "n" radio as well on each end.

Thanks for clearing this up for me. Appreciate it.