Will a wireless N router make any different to range/speed on wireless G hardware?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Will a wireless N router make any different to range/speed on wireless G hardware?

simon14

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#67141 29-Aug-2010 09:02

Obviously to get N speeds, both the wireless access point and the hardware connected to the wireless access point need to have the N standard.

But will a wireless N access point improve speeds/range at all on wireless G hardware?

Before I was running a DSE 4 port adsl2+ wireless router and my PS3 had signal strength of 45%. I just replaced this with a new Vodafone BB Complete wireless adsl2+ router and am now getting 75% signal strength. The ps3 is only b/g.... not N.

Just wondering if the increase in signal strength is because the new router has the new N wireless standard or if it's just because some G routers have better signal strength than others? Both routers are in exactly the same place.

freitasm

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#374107 29-Aug-2010 09:29

No, it won't.

simon14

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#374111 29-Aug-2010 09:39

Well in that case, the VF BB Complete wireless router has much better wireless G range than my old DSE router.

Sony should have built N into the ps3 since it can be used for streaming HD content from a PC.... G just doesn't handle the bandwidth.

richms

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#374172 29-Aug-2010 13:01

an 802.11n base seems to work more conistantly on G gear IME, less dead spots etc.

Also the power of accesspoints varies heaps, some are lucky to be 20mW, some are 200mW - antennas will be different between them, most G accesspoints only have a single or 2 vertical dipoles, which is often not the best polarity for all devices, n ones usually have a mix of polarities to get more multipath action happening to get the multiple channels working more independent, so it can choose the best one for a G device.

Richard rich.ms

paulspain

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#374186 29-Aug-2010 13:48

A lot of 802.11n routers use MIMO technology (i.e. multiple aerials) - this will sometimes deliver a better signal even for older devices.

Paul Spain
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simon14

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#374214 29-Aug-2010 16:09

The router i'm using has no external antenna and is twice as good on G as the DSE router which had 1 antenna.

raytaylor

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#375904 2-Sep-2010 17:52

Its a combination of things
The N technology will have no effect - it wont use 3 antennas on the AP if it is talking to a G station, usually picks the best one and uses that as the G station will only have 1 antenna.

The transmitter inside the AP may be better than a G one by comparison - sometimes not.

The recieve sensitivity - that is the quality of the chip in the AP to tell the difference between background noise and the signal from the G station can also vary between manufacturers.

I find its often just unscrewing the antenna and buying a bigger one from trademe works well. Go and get a 5 or a 7dbi and you will notice a huge improvment - that is if your existing G AP's antenna is detachable.

Ray Taylor

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