Wireless N vs. Wireless G...will I notice a difference?

[jfelbab]

Re: Wireless N vs. Wireless G...will I notice a difference?

With Wireless N you won't notice a speed difference, just a range difference.

Just go with Wireless G, it's cheaper and all devices support it, unlike N.

Your ISP will control your speeds, not your Router

Speed is based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network, and several other factors.

There are two areas which effect performance and either can be a bottleneck. Your ISP is likely on a shared pipe and their bandwidth is available in multiple speeds. Yet my ISP's speed is always higher than they specify and has never been the source of a bottleneck.

My most common speed issues would arise when the wireless card was distant from the access point or there were interfering signals, both common in home network environments.

My measured internet speed tripled when I switched to an N router. The wireless signal strength was much stronger and I now happen to operate in the 5 Ghz range which has fewer products that can interfere with the signal strength, products like microwave ovens, wireless phones, baby monitors, and a whole horde of other devices that typically call the 2.4 Ghz spectrum home.

I own a dual band router that operates in both the 2.4 and the 5 Ghz frequencies simultaneously.

The opinion that an N router will not improve your speed is simply not true in many, many cases.

The opinion that the speed is only controlled by your ISP is also false. As you can see there are a lot of variables that come into play.

Best advice is to try an N router and see if it improves your speed.

[Mikejl]

Re: Wireless N vs. Wireless G...will I notice a difference?

The Draft N function is not limited by other networking modes within a network, unless you are referencing the extremely primitive draft N routers. Wireless-N routers that are sold in stores nowadays usually operate in the 2.4ghz range, with the exception of the dual band routers. And most routers will allow full draft-N capabilities, while also providing backwards support for wireless G and B signals.

By the way, I am a distributor of Sierra Wireless products.

Invisible,

Please see IEEE 802.11n-2009

This paragraph in particular is what I have been talking about:

"Deployment Strategies

To achieve maximum throughput a pure 802.11n 5 GHz network is recommended. The 5 GHz band has substantial capacity due to many non-overlapping radio channels and less radio interference as compared to the 2.4 GHz band.[7] An 802.11n-only network may be impractical for many users because the existing computer stock is predominantly 802.11b/g only. Replacement of incompatible WiFi cards or of entire laptop stock is necessary for older computers to operate on the network. Consequently, it may be more practical in the short term to operate a mixed 802.11b/g/n network until 802.11n hardware becomes more prevalent. In a mixed-mode system, it’s generally best to use a dual-radio access point and place the 802.11b/g traffic on the 2.4 GHz radio and the 802.11n traffic on the 5 GHz radio.[8]"

I believe this is exactly what I have been saying throughout this thread, although not quite as eloquently?

Mike