[WXC/VFX] Any alternative to a AG310 coupled with a 802.11n router?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] Any alternative to a AG310 coupled with a 802.11n router?

Hatch

797 posts

Ultimate Geek

#58381 10-Mar-2010 14:58

I'm planning to upgrade my vfx and wireless setup, ideally I would have an AG310 connected to a new wireless N router or something along those lines. AG310's are almost impossible come by at a reasonable price.

Does anyone have positive experiences with a 802.11n dual band (supporting simultaneous G & N) wireless router-modem working with a VFX adaptor?

I guess I have two options:

1. ADSL2+modem-VFX adaptor e.g. AG310 >> 802.11n wireless router
2. ADSL2+ modem-802.11n wireless router >> VFX adaptor e.g. SPA2102

Gigabit would be nice too.

coffeebaron

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#305993 10-Mar-2010 16:08

Hold out another month or two. There is some new gear coming out including an N-Spec router for used with VFX.

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Hatch

797 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306007 10-Mar-2010 16:39

coffeebaron: Hold out another month or two. There is some new gear coming out including an N-Spec router for used with VFX.

Not sure if you were referring to the Cisco devices mentioned in this thread:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=65&topicid=57847

Doesn't look to be dual band simultaneous capable, and only has a single aerial. An all in one device would be great but I've never found an all in one which suited my needs - I always tend to want to be able to do too much :(

Again to clarify, dual band simultaneous 802.11n and 802.11g wireless router users with VFX - please show yourself and your kit!

Cheers

Cadriel

134 posts

Master Geek

#306021 10-Mar-2010 17:33

I don't really have the setup you're after - but, it may be relevant.

I currently have the WAG310 - and I'm looking at downgrading that. I've turned off the wireless features - so as far as I'm aware it's essentially running as an AG310.

I looked at the various options for dual-band wireless-N, and ended up going with the Apple Airport Extreme.

It's been extremely reliable - the coverage is great, and it's really easy to setup. You can't set it up as a bridge as far as I'm aware, as it only support PPPOE. However - I run my router serving DHCP, and tack on the Airport for my wireless needs.

I also have a generic 1Gbps switch (3COM) to bind any wired requirements.

In the future, i'll be removing the WAG310, replacing it with a more robust router that'll perhaps run DD-WRT - and sticking in a PAP2T for my VoIP needs.

I'm primarily doing this because the WAG310 doesn't cover off my port forwarding needs - and I find it to be quite buggy with XBOX 360 / Playstation 3 UPnP requirements etc.

Hope that helps.

Niel

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#306052 10-Mar-2010 19:37

At 2.4GHz the wavelength is about 12cm. 1/4 wavelength is about 3cm, so on a router with 1 antenna the difference between maximum signal and minimum signal is moving your device 3cm. However the size of the antenna is such that you normally would not have this issue. When operating at 5GHz the wavelength is even smaller and you should not have problems. Cordless phones do not have an issue with a single antenna. Bluetooth does not have an issue with a single antenna. Cordless mice do not have an issue with a single antenna. No need to specify diversity antennas unless you are in a brick/concrete/steel building where you will get interfering reflections.

You can never have enough Volvos!

Hatch

797 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306090 10-Mar-2010 22:12

Cadriel: I don't really have the setup you're after - but, it may be relevant.

I currently have the WAG310 - and I'm looking at downgrading that. I've turned off the wireless features - so as far as I'm aware it's essentially running as an AG310.

I looked at the various options for dual-band wireless-N, and ended up going with the Apple Airport Extreme.

It's been extremely reliable - the coverage is great, and it's really easy to setup. You can't set it up as a bridge as far as I'm aware, as it only support PPPOE. However - I run my router serving DHCP, and tack on the Airport for my wireless needs.

I also have a generic 1Gbps switch (3COM) to bind any wired requirements.

In the future, i'll be removing the WAG310, replacing it with a more robust router that'll perhaps run DD-WRT - and sticking in a PAP2T for my VoIP needs.

I'm primarily doing this because the WAG310 doesn't cover off my port forwarding needs - and I find it to be quite buggy with XBOX 360 / Playstation 3 UPnP requirements etc.

Hope that helps.

Cadriel, awesome, that was very informative and very relevant, it seems that your experience has been less positive than other users, who seem to sing the WAG310's praises.

I probably don't have as high level requirements as you, I'll be running a number of laptops, squeezebox & NAS/file server - in your experience is the WAG310 is pitched at a basic level user rather than one with more detailed requirements?

Do you currently have a mixture of 802.11n & 802.11g devices running at the same time? I know only newer models of the Airport Extreme offer simultaneous dual channel as I was just looking at a used one recently, but which turned out to be an older model.

Thanks again.

Hatch

797 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306092 10-Mar-2010 22:17

Niel: At 2.4GHz the wavelength is about 12cm. 1/4 wavelength is about 3cm, so on a router with 1 antenna the difference between maximum signal and minimum signal is moving your device 3cm. However the size of the antenna is such that you normally would not have this issue. When operating at 5GHz the wavelength is even smaller and you should not have problems. Cordless phones do not have an issue with a single antenna. Bluetooth does not have an issue with a single antenna. Cordless mice do not have an issue with a single antenna. No need to specify diversity antennas unless you are in a brick/concrete/steel building where you will get interfering reflections.

This technical stuff is way over my head, I take it you're saying many things have single antennas. Got it.

Niel

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#306132 11-Mar-2010 06:18

Yes, most things have single antennas. Furthermore wireless mice, keyboards, and Bluetooth have very cheap antennas which are either a short track on a circuit board or a ceramic "chip" antenna where as wireless routers almost all have a stick antenna which is better. You might also notice some wireless routers have 3 antennas, 2 for 2.4GHz and 1 for 5 GHz. As long as you buy a good quality product a single antenna is fine. Linksys and Cisco (the same company, Cisco is pro) are good.

The technical stuff is there for those that question my statement. I am an electronic engineer and also a part time sound engineer working with wireless microphones etc.

You can never have enough Volvos!

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Cadriel

134 posts

Master Geek

#306159 11-Mar-2010 09:31

Hatch:

Cadriel, awesome, that was very informative and very relevant, it seems that your experience has been less positive than other users, who seem to sing the WAG310's praises.

I probably don't have as high level requirements as you, I'll be running a number of laptops, squeezebox & NAS/file server - in your experience is the WAG310 is pitched at a basic level user rather than one with more detailed requirements?

Do you currently have a mixture of 802.11n & 802.11g devices running at the same time? I know only newer models of the Airport Extreme offer simultaneous dual channel as I was just looking at a used one recently, but which turned out to be an older model.

Thanks again.

The WAG310 is great for most circumstances - but it is a consumer level device, and therefor it's features are a little limited. It also has a couple of downfall's, namely the UPnP doesn't work with the PS3, but it does with the XBOX 360. It also loses (or get's confused - i'm unsure) port forwarding settings when you've got a reasonably complex setup - plus, it limits entries to 15 for single and multi-port forwarding. These are my experiences anyway.

My setup isn't overly complex. I have two consoles, an HTCP, a NAS and 2 laptops. The laptops are both mac's. The HTPC is Win7 - and the NAS is a Linux distribution. We also have a couple of iPhone and other random devices that access the wireless.

My Airport is reasonably new, I stuck it in maybe 6 months ago. It's been a very solid device. I've had to restart it twice now, both times due to a random slowdown with connectivity with it. Apparently it was a known issue with them - but I suspect they've patched this in the most recent firmware update.

So yeah, we use a mix of N and G. It's smart too - if you don't have any G devices, it switches to run dual N - but if it detects G devices, it'll switch one to N - and the other to G. So it tries to be as efficient as it can.

So - in a nutshell, I highly recommend the Airport. It is a little pricey - but it certainly does it's job well.

Hatch

797 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306673 12-Mar-2010 16:04

Niel: Yes, most things have single antennas. Furthermore wireless mice, keyboards, and Bluetooth have very cheap antennas which are either a short track on a circuit board or a ceramic "chip" antenna where as wireless routers almost all have a stick antenna which is better. You might also notice some wireless routers have 3 antennas, 2 for 2.4GHz and 1 for 5 GHz. As long as you buy a good quality product a single antenna is fine. Linksys and Cisco (the same company, Cisco is pro) are good.

The technical stuff is there for those that question my statement. I am an electronic engineer and also a part time sound engineer working with wireless microphones etc.

Ok thanks, another related query since I've got your attention, as far as I understand in terms of dual band wireless devices, you can differentiate between models that support simultaneous G & N, and ones that don't, is this correct? If this is correct, does this mean if you have a mixture of G & N devices, using a non-simultaneous supported model will result in the device defaulting to G to all devices, as the lowest common denominator?

Hatch

797 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306677 12-Mar-2010 16:15

The WAG310 is great for most circumstances - but it is a consumer level device, and therefor it's features are a little limited. It also has a couple of downfall's, namely the UPnP doesn't work with the PS3, but it does with the XBOX 360. It also loses (or get's confused - i'm unsure) port forwarding settings when you've got a reasonably complex setup - plus, it limits entries to 15 for single and multi-port forwarding. These are my experiences anyway.

My setup isn't overly complex. I have two consoles, an HTCP, a NAS and 2 laptops. The laptops are both mac's. The HTPC is Win7 - and the NAS is a Linux distribution. We also have a couple of iPhone and other random devices that access the wireless.

My Airport is reasonably new, I stuck it in maybe 6 months ago. It's been a very solid device. I've had to restart it twice now, both times due to a random slowdown with connectivity with it. Apparently it was a known issue with them - but I suspect they've patched this in the most recent firmware update.

So yeah, we use a mix of N and G. It's smart too - if you don't have any G devices, it switches to run dual N - but if it detects G devices, it'll switch one to N - and the other to G. So it tries to be as efficient as it can.

So - in a nutshell, I highly recommend the Airport. It is a little pricey - but it certainly does it's job well.

Ok, that sounds good, for me using the WAG310 only as a modem and router would be too cost prohibitive as I would have to also buy a separate wireless router such as an Airport Extreme. Obviously, in your case this happened accidentally and is what you had to do just to get things runnning properly.

My best bet now is to:

1. AG310 and Airport Extreme - some people seem to suggest that the AG310 and WAG310 in terms of modem and router functions are pretty similar, now sourcing an AG310 is going to be the hard part.

2. Alternatively, get an awesome ADLS+2 modem/wireless N router with gigabit ethernet (haven't yet found one), and then tap a VOIP adapter on later in the network chain, it will have to be SIP issue-free - does draytech do something like this?

Seeing the AG310 is now discontinued (?), the second option seems to be more attractive and workable.

joshp

205 posts

Master Geek

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WorldxChange

#307705 16-Mar-2010 10:21

Just a quick note on this, we are expecting to see a device made available soon which ticks a few of these boxes and more. It will be an ADSL2+ router with Wireless N, 2x FXS ports and 1x FXO. We expect the pricing to be in the same ball park as the Wag310, and so far it seems to be stacking up quite nicely.

Can't give you definitive dates or pricing so at this point you'll just have to wait and see :)

Cheers

Josh

http://wxc.co.nz