[IceFire]

Long story short I'm going over to help a friend out tomorrow with a wireless issue.  Long story short there is a new PS3 in the house and it is far away from the wireless router and drilling holes in the wall to send a cable down there is also not an option (that'd be my first choice).  The signal strength is too low where it is.  They have purchased (but not opened) a Wireless N router (Linksys WRT 160N) in order to solve the issue thinking Wireless N is a better option.

From what I've read I'm a bit confused over if this will solve the issue or not and I'm trying to give an answer to them.  Wireless N does apparently have better range but I'm not sure if N devices benefit only or if it is an overall better signal strength.  I'm doing more reading but experience or knowledge out there would be appreciated.

If a N router doesn't work... are there range extenders or repeaters that don't need a wire ethernet connection to work?

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Well I've only had one experience with N and the older G access point had much better signal strength then the N router with it built in.  Granted the G had external antennas and the N was internal.

You should be able to use one router as a access point for the other.  Check with Linksys on that though as it may differ by model. 

[Locutus of Borg]

N uses a different frequency that is less 'cluttered' by G networks.

IT also allows for a higher bit rate.

I just bought a really long Ethernet cable to connect my console to the internet though.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Then why in the heck was the N router I installed at the bar going nuts because of all the G routers in the area?  If you have one G device it is still interfered with by those other G routers/devices.  Probably fine if you have all N devices but from what I recall if the distance is so far (like 50 feet) it drops down to G anyway.  Which if true would mean that N is only good over short distances and G over long.  I'd have to double check that but it's defiantly something to research.

Did some quick research and couldn't find anything on the speed drop from N to G at range but did find that N vs G range is virtually identical.  N seems to be better for line of site.  If you have walls/floors to go through it's worse then G.  Seems that while N is theoretically has better range the output of multiple signals cuts the power output hurting that range.  That would confirm my experience at the bar where it had to go through 2-3 walls (which isn't much). 

[JGZinv]

Depends heavily on the router itself and antennas... but I prefer G at the end of the day.

Have had ABGN in all flavors at one point or another. My DGL-4300 being the most reliable and it runs B/G.
(Probably the best reviewed router of all time)

N is ok, but as others said it's more LOS and doesn't like walls a lot. Also tends to run hotter in the router housing.

Personally, I'd find ya an older well liked G router, stick an improved antenna kit on it and you should be plenty happy.
I would however check DD-WRT to see if they support that model, because after opening, many places will refuse to return it.
If the firmware stinks, then at least you can DD-WRT it and have some hope.

Also might look into Broadband Over Powerline or BPL adapters, which plug into your wall outlets and transfer data that way.
Most reviews in the past said you had to have clean power and it was still kinda sketchy, but there have been improvements since
I last looked into it.


Bottom line is that there's nothing better than a cable....   so maybe think about moving the TV and not the internet...

[Nuke]

ive never really used n. i kinda wanted to upgrade but after i crunched the numbers and accounted for the cost of having a bunch of new network cards and the router i decided against it. also theres the fact that my laptops and maybe the wii dont seem to have n built in. from what ive read i think n has better range and speed than g. of course this is as advertised which i know is bull****. i kinda find that g networks have issues communicating with devices in av cabinets and on computers with a lot of cable noise tend to get major interference (and thusly have piss poor connectivity). i know my computer was in a very noisy spot so i bought me an 8 inch antenna and magneted it to the top of my case, ever since then i get a really good connection. not sure if the ps3 has a wifi antenna port or if it has an internal antenna, but if it does spend a few bucks on a bigger antenna, if it dont, try moving it away from the noise. also make sure there are no appliances or electronics clusters between it and the router.

[Bobboau]

A) don't go with Linksys, I've had nothing but problems with them, I would recommend netgear, but just about anything is better than Linksys.

B) N will do you little good if both ends of the connection are not N, if you have a G network card then you have a G wireless connection, the only wild card is that an N access point may have a better G band transceiver than your current G AP.

C) if you have a mountain of money and need to find a way to burn through it quickly, you could try to get a 802.11N wireless bridge set up, this would involve buying two 802.11 N access points, but I'd say this has the best chance of succeeding, though personalty if it were me I'd just run a hard line, at the least you should try and get an AP as close as possible.

[Inquisitor]

If the house is causing interference, stronger signal won't help much. My friend just bought a house that seems to have been built by Faraday...

[IceFire]

If the house is causing interference, stronger signal won't help much. My friend just bought a house that seems to have been built by Faraday...

Could be.  I'm going to find out today!

I've looked into some possible range extenders which may be the only solution. Linksys makes one that would probably be compatible with their gear so I'm going to find out a little more. It's not my house and they don't want to run cables so wireless is the only option available.

[JGZinv]

D-Link just to say my 2 bits for/against.

I love the DGL-4300, (B/G) the power adapter cooked itself after 3 years in service and a combo week long server
host + 18 hours of Xbox Live + internet video streaming going on at the same time. Got a new adapter, it's still
working.

Have a USB adapter, a couple PCMCIA cards, and misc equipment that is all D-link but was current G tech at the time.
All of it works fine.

Bought a DIR-450... (B/G) can't even remember how many of those I traded out before CompUSA folded.
Probably around 10, and the one I have still is buggy as all get out.

Got a DIR-825 (N and B/G) recently when the previously mentioned adapter died, it had major issues
with trying to get port forwarding to work. It basically ignored the entire list of rules. It was the router, I did plenty of testing.
Returned it to get...

A Linksys WRT320N (N and B/G) and it seemed to work ok, up until it decides to lock you out of the control panel at random
after about 3 days to a week of use. DD-WRT kinda supports it, but I'm waiting till it gets out of the beta support to flash it.


The best place I know of for help on all things related to broadband and equipment, is the DSL Reports forums. It used to be Broadband Reports, but every major brand usually has official support reps watching their sections. Most of the people are willing to help solve issues and very knowledgeable. If anyone can find a solution it'd be there. Building repeater antennas and boosting cellular signal strength with coffee cans and used sat dishes is regular stuff around those parts.

[jr2]

An antenna can make quite a bit of difference... I know that when I was in MOS school my roommate was trying to access a router two rooms down - standard laptops barely caught the signal - he had a desktop and bought a ~$70 wireless PCI card that had a fancy antenna on it, and got about as much signal as most laptops did sitting in the same room with the router.  Internal antennas (usually) suck.  As do the little antennas most cheap routers / adapter cards come with.  I think it boils down to you (usually) get what you pay for.

[Davros]

you could use a poweline adapter

[Bobboau]

oh, that's a good idea.

[Aardwolf]

If the house is causing interference, stronger signal won't help much. My friend just bought a house that seems to have been built by Faraday...

My house is like that, but for cell-phones. It's because of the metal lining on the insulation.

[Nuke]

that stuffs designed to reflect infrared back into the house, i wouldnt doubt if it reflects everything else too. metal roofs also suck.

another thing you can try is a ethernet to wireless adapter, string a short cable from the ps3 to it, and put it somewhere away from the interference. some also have external antennas so it might boost the power.

[Mongoose]

If the house is causing interference, stronger signal won't help much. My friend just bought a house that seems to have been built by Faraday...

My house is like that, but for cell-phones. It's because of the metal lining on the insulation.

I don't think we have metal lining on our insulation, but we're in the same boat.  No one in the family can manage to have a cell phone conversation lasting longer than a minute or two while sitting in our family room.

[IceFire]

Turns out the PS3 is in a basement and a very long way away from the wireless router which is on the mainfloor.  The signal has to go through a garage and I think the furnace... just too many things in the way.  He was able to get up to 50% signal but not good enough.

Probably a repeater is what is needed.  Or a better antenna.  Or put the thing somewhere else.  I did my bit.  Thanks all for the help!

[chief1983]

You can stack access points with N, so if you're setting up several to cover an area it's a completely different strategy with N than it was with G.  Basically N hardware can utilize multiple access points simultaneously, sort of like shotgunning your access points.  So while having just one AP it might not be easy to tell the difference, if you have even just 2 or 3 for a large area, you might see a big gain in usability.

[Stealth]

IceFire - i'd suggest use his existing linksys, but change the firmware from the existing, to DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index)

I've had no trouble with Linksys.  I'm using the same two Linksys routers at home that i purchased in 2004.  Never had any issue with either of them.  Same thing goes with at the office.  We use Cisco 1242AG access points, and use several dozen Linksys routers, with DD-WRT firmware, running as wireless bridges, and again - no problem.  Once every few months we'll have to restart one of them, but that's usually because there's been a power spike.

Also note that with DD-WRT you'll be able to increase the range significantly.

[jr2]

I use DD-WRT on my Motorola WR850G - since switching, I haven't had to restart it once (ok, maybe once) - I used to have to restart it like 1 - 2 times a day depending on how hot and heavy uTorrent was working on my machine.  Now it's a charm.