Router upgrade

[Edgey]

Hi,

I have a pretty unstable wireless network at home and have tried many things to improve stability (using the powers of google) as I currently have to reboot it for something on the network to connect about once a day, so I was wondering if a router upgrade would benefit me, I currently have an ancient netgear router supplied with my Virgin Media broadband installation.

I have been looking about and wondering whether to upgrade to a dual band 2.5Ghz + 5Ghz router, with the 5ghz would I see much of a speed increase? Obviously some 5Ghz network card recievers would need to be purchased. Though I've heard the range of 5ghz can be poor and easily affected by walls and that...

Also what would be faster/more stable? wired to the router or wireless 5ghz when in direct line of site with antenna? My main computer is currently wired and would like fastest possible on that, other than that the house has 2 xbox 360's, 1 laptop, another desktop and a phone, all wirelessly connected. I was just thinking of getting 5ghz for the benefit of other devices on the network.

Thanks for any help provided, I'm not really good at this networking business and prefer to stick with hardware components!

Edge.

[Edgey]

no love?

Google is not my friend on this one :(

[andyn]

Wireless is a bit of a black art tbh, it seems to depend a lot on other wireless networks near you / EM interference / the current phase of the moon etc.

Dual band however should be one thing which should definitely result in a better signal, so if you are going to upgrade that would be the way to go. But the improvements are more likely to be on stability/consistency than transfer speeds, it's really very hard to suggest anything which will definitely get you better speeds.

If you want fast and stable, wired ethernet is definitely the way to go. Anything which isn't mobile should definitely be cabled, imo.

[wuyanxu]

Edd?
(sorry, someone i know goes by the name 3dge)

if you do decide to go for dual band, make sure you buy a simultaneous dual band router. i've got a dual band router that can only do either one of the transmission speed, making this feature completely useless because 2.4GHz is still needed for old gadgets such as iPhone 4 :closet.

wired is always faster + more stable, and you should always try to go for wired connection.

[benzeman]

Wired is nearly always better apart from the fact you might have to drill through your house for some PC's so wireless is better then. Just go with a netgear wireless n one.

[Edgey]

Hmm, so reckon getting a dual band simultaneous router to improve stability for the house devices would work? With my main computer staying wired to the router and not using the wireless at all. Have no problems with my wired computer.

tbh my speeds are ok, I'm just getting sick having to reboot the router every time a device fails to connect, which seems to be increasingly often.

[Ice Tea]

TP-Link 200Mbps Powerline Adapter Twin Pack


http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Networking/Homeplug/TP-Link+200Mbps+Powerline+Adapter+Twin+Pack?productId =41050


http://www.aria.co.uk/dynres/cHJvZHVjdF9pbWFnZS53aWR0aD0yNTA=/bWFpbmltYWdlcy9NODgyLmpwZw==.jpg

[Master3203]

Hey Ice Tea, Even if he uses powerline, he would need a new router to then relay that speed across the internet. His router may only have slow Ethernet and slow wireless.

I would agree to go with powerline however, but invest in a new router too. The one I use now is pretty decent. Supports 200Mbps Ethernet and Wireless B/G.

Netgear DG384v5

Wireless A = 54Mbps with a frequency of 5GHz, so the range is quite crap, but can utilize signal boosters and such to extend the range.
Wireless B= 12Mbps with a frequency of 2.4GHz
Wirless G- 54 Mbps with a frequency of 2.4GHz. Most common wireless standard currently.
Wireless N= 100-300Mbps with a frequency of 5GHz, so the range is quite crap, but can utilize signal boosters and such to extend the range.

But get a more modern router and try to utilize powerline. so that you can run from an Ethernet werever you are in the house. My router that came when I joined TalkTalk, was really :censored:. Echolife HG520s. Really slow, no configurable firewall and slow Ethernet and Wireless Moved to my Netgear and my download speed moved from 2.4Mbps to 6.3-6.8Mbps.Upload still about the same (0.8Mbps). The routers that first come with your new ISP package are always crap and are pre-configured with low-level security such as WEP and no configurable firewall rules.

So it's well worth purchasing your own router and seeing if you can sell the router the ISP gave you,even if you only get like a tenner for it. It's spending money.

[Edgey]

hmm,

I had absolutely no idea what was possible, opened my eyes to the wonders of 'powerline networking' which I may use later, I think firstly I will start off with a router upgrade and see how a simultaneous dual band router goes as far as stability is concerned.

Speed is only important on my main desktop which will be wired to the new router anyway, the rest just need stability.

Thanks all for the advice, I think I'll be using this forum more often :thumb:

[benzeman]

Powerline really depends on your wiring. It can be really great - or a big fail!