[UK] Is an "N" router worth it? If so, what do you recommend?


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I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong, but i've had 3 people on 2 forums saying it wont work. LoL.

Funny how you always get a difference of opinion. It either works or it doesn't, so some folk are voicing their opinion as fact. Again, i'm not saying who is right or wrong, so don't take offence. Just pointing out the joys of the tinterweb.

As for connecting an AP to the current router, that would surely be a nightmare. Having a cable trail all the way through the kitchen to the living room where i've got to find a suitable point for the AP to "live" hoping that it doesn't get in the way. And then if the AP needs plugging into the mains then that's another nightmare as all the sockets are taken up.

There's no way it wouldn't work unless you need a combination modem/router. Pretty much any router you look at will be like that asus, meaning it doesn't have a phone jack.

If your current router is a combination modem/router then you can disable its wireless/dhcp, and hook any wireless router to it via an ethernet cable and have the modem function as just a modem, and the router function as wireless. You could even set the old modem/router to bridged mode and use the router to authenticate with the pppoe if you wanted to.

If only the wireless is whats been dropping on your current modem/router (and not the dsl connection itself) then you would have no problems just hooking a separate router to it for the wireless.

But would mean i'd need 2 machines. I'd need somewhere to put the DG834PN and somewhere to put the Asus - which would mean another wire trailing all around a room. Even if it didn't require a wire being trailled around, it's still requiring room for 2 routers.

On another forum someone recommended the Netgear DGN2200. Netgear themselves recommended this to me.

I spotted for a few extra ?, the Netgear DGND3300 - which you can stand on its end & take up less "floor-space" which is ideally what i'd like.

The only thing is, it says this:

"IEEE 802.11n (draft 2.0)" whereas the Asus doesn't say draft. I don't fully understand this, but to me draft = unfinished = not as good.

Any views on the 2 mentioned Netgear products?

You may be over-thinking things here. I don't see why you'd need another wire 'all around the room' lol, you just use the very short ethernet cable that comes with the router and put the new router right next to the modem...

Of course buying another modem/router is an option if you want to do that, but selection is a bit more limited. Personally I'm not a fan of them.

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If i could then i would, but it's not an option where the modem is currently located & it's also not really an option to locate it elsewhere. There's no room for anything additional at all.

So i'll take a look at the DGN3500 instead. I've a bad feeling about its cost though.

Out of curiosity, is there any advantage over having a seperate modem and router -vs- a combined one?

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Get an a/b/g/n router...

That will ensure you get a dual band router that doesn't use the 2.4GHz frequency which is crowded as sh**.

We have about 10 WiFi networks in my area that are in reach.

None of them is a 5GHz network.

ALL channels WIDE open (plus 5GHz has more channels, too!)

Make sure your devices are compatible.

Glassed Silver:mac

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Out of curiosity, is there any advantage over having a seperate modem and router -vs- a combined one?

Just price and a bigger selection really. Nothing wrong with a combined one in itself.

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Not sure if its been mentioned, but the only REAL advantage to 802.11n is coverage area. -n has a larger "umbrella" than the previous gen wireless.

Speed ? Not so much - In all actuality you will probably peek @ 12 MB/sec (only 100mb) - Just dont pay attention to the stupid speed ratings on the box - it is theoretical only - designed to suck people in who know nothing more than "wow thats a bigger #, so it must be better !"

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Using Asus RT-N56U and it's been stable since 3 months without restarts. But the N range is disappointing. The walls here are made of concrete and that makes the range even worse.

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Not sure if its been mentioned, but the only REAL advantage to 802.11n is coverage area. -n has a larger "umbrella" than the previous gen wireless.

Speed ? Not so much - In all actuality you will probably peek @ 12 MB/sec (only 100mb) - Just dont pay attention to the stupid speed ratings on the box - it is theoretical only - designed to suck people in who know nothing more than "wow thats a bigger #, so it must be better !"

It highly depends on the client. Most clients only support 150Mbps. My router goes up to 300Mbps and my WiFi card (Intel Ultimate-N) goes up to 450, and I actually reach 200Mbps internal transfer speeds when I'm close to my router. (2.4Ghz)

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The difference with N vs B&G is amazing seriously once you go N you cannot go back!

And anything by Belkin I have experienced are amazing! (just remember to turn off their annoying firewall as some routers have it turned on by default and it limits your speed) other than that they are perfect!

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I have a Dlink DGL-4500 and i love it. Fast, reliable, just checked its uptime and its over a year now lol.

Ive heard good things about Asus routers as well, supposedly they are the fastest for WLAN - LAN transfers and are quite reliable.

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Using Asus RT-N56U and it's been stable since 3 months without restarts. But the N range is disappointing. The walls here are made of concrete and that makes the range even worse.

I get range outside my front garden, with the router being in the house on the opposite side. When I pull up in my car on the street outside I can "see" the network but not use it very well.

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designed to suck people in who know nothing more than "wow thats a bigger #, so it must be better !"

Haha, that's me then!! lol.

As for the Belkin comment - i've had 1 experience with Belkin, and it was terrible. Failed totally within 12 months.

As for the concrete walls comment - that may be a problem for us then. Our house is a good few 100 years old so the walls are super thick. Not concrete, just really thick stone.

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As for the concrete walls comment - that may be a problem for us then. Our house is a good few 100 years old so the walls are super thick. Not concrete, just really thick stone.

802.11n does nothing to increase overall coverage, just you will experience faster speeds in low signal areas. If you are buying an N router to get coverage somewhere you currently aren't it isn't going to improve by that much. This fact is frequently mentioned on SmallNetBuilder: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics/31083-smallnetbuilders-wireless-faq-the-essentials

Have you considered homeplugs (otherwise known as LAN over power)?

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802.11n does nothing to increase overall coverage, just you will experience faster speeds in low signal areas. If you are buying an N router to get coverage somewhere you currently aren't it isn't going to improve by that much. This fact is frequently mentioned on SmallNetBuilder: http://www.smallnetb...-the-essentials

Have you considered homeplugs (otherwise known as LAN over power)?

I know this is entirely anecdotal but it did for me. Probably nothing to do with it being N more to do with MIMO. Used to have blackspots and signal dropouts round the house with my old G one.

The link also talks about range. Which isn't the same as coverage. One part of the house which was closer to the router was worse (Due to it being through more walls) than a further part with less walls.

Also another top tip if you are having coverage problems in the house it to change your channel. 95% of people in my street are on the bog standard one (6 I think in the UK) and picking one away from that helped as well.

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I use and recommend the Linksys E4200. I had the Netgear WNDR3700 and 4000 before as well and they worked great for me. Just rathered the profile look of the E4200 (silly i know :p)

Moved to Internet, Network & Security

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If you're looking for a potential quick fix, maybe a Homemade signal booster would be worth a try before you spend ?50 on an access point. It might not work in the slightest, but for the cost of a cereal box and some tin foil, it can't hurt to try. I'm going to give this a try next week, since I suffer the same issue (thick walls plus crappy wifi router == bad times).

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It is worth it to get 802.11n, especially since you can actually get internet service in UK that surpasses 802.11g's speed of 54 Mbps. We have had an 802.11n router (also has gigabit ports), and it is excellent for streaming HD around the house.

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I can get a fairly consistent 405mbps (hitting 450 at times) on the 5ghz 'n' band. That's through 2 fairly thick walls.

I honestly can't recommend the Airport Extreme enough. Used with both ADSL and Cable. It's spot on.

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If you want THE absolute best, then go for Linksys E4200 v2 or ASUS RT-N66U. Both are N900 (450Mbps on N and 450Mbps on G). They are fairly new so availability may be a slight problem.

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My telephone line only supports 8000KBps, so anything beyond that is a waste of time to me.

I'm looking for the areas in the house that get a 1 bar to get a maximum bar (or as close to). I'm not imagining that i'll be able to get my signal 5 mile down the road :)

As for the channel - we live in a very remote area. There's a few other houses around, but they're 0.5 mile down the road.

just wait until 802.11ac routers are out, those will be much faster, broadcom has already announced their chips.

Are we going to have the same situation as the Asus N56U though? As in, will these be a modem-router combo, or not? I'm needing a modem-router combo, which i should've actually specified in the thread title as i think it's mislead some people.

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Some times we'll be using a laptop in the living room which struggles for a connection from the router (Netgear DG834PN) in the kitchen which is only next door. The wii has also disconnected a time or two & the bars flicker between 1 & 2.

I'm wondering if an N router would be worth it.

I've always stuck by Netgear tbh. I guess they may not be the best, but they look the best (poor excuse i know). Similar with my printers - i've always stuck by HP.

I'm obviously not interested in any router that is only available in the US/Japan/other parts of Europe etc.

Budget would be let's say ?100 tops. Unless there's a super amazing one at ?105, then in that case i'd stretch ?5. Just because i say the budget is ?100 doesn't mean the full amount HAS to be spent either. If there's going to be zero reality difference between one at ?99.99 & one at ?59.99 then it makes sense to go ?59.99.

One that stands on its edge (like the DG 834PN) would be preferable due to where it will be located, although it's not the be-all-&-end-all.

Thanks.

N isn't the be all end all of routers, but if you get the 5.8Ghz that makes ALL the difference. The N protocol by itself is not the difference maker, it's the spectrum, dual band (which are more expensive) are better. G routers (2.4Ghz) give you the same quality as N, N doesn't really increase range or quality.. UNLESS you get the higher spectrum...

I have older G router and N router, and I have to say I really don't see ANY difference. It's SUPPOSED to be better, but it my experience it's not, you have to spend more money to get higher ended routers.

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I know this is entirely anecdotal but it did for me. Probably nothing to do with it being N more to do with MIMO. Used to have blackspots and signal dropouts round the house with my old G one.

The link also talks about range. Which isn't the same as coverage. One part of the house which was closer to the router was worse (Due to it being through more walls) than a further part with less walls.

Also another top tip if you are having coverage problems in the house it to change your channel. 95% of people in my street are on the bog standard one (6 I think in the UK) and picking one away from that helped as well.

Ok this is a good comment, but what I find remarkable that people (as in this case) tend to forget, that with NEWER technology (G to N) comes advancements in quality and software. I bet you would experience the SAME thing had you bought a newer G router as well.

I was really hyping N when it first came out, until I realized that the technology didn't JUST change protocols.. everything changed, speed of processors, better software (firmware) etc.. just like computers, so you can't really attribute the better quality to just ONE component.. everything gets a "refresh" mostly.

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N router all the way, and go dual-band, and convert as many of your wireless adapters to 5Ghz as you can -- there's less interference on that channel than on the typical 2.4Ghz b/g/n channel (bluetooth, microwaves, cordless phones, and other wifi from neighbors all contribute to interference which can kill your connection).

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