Orcon Genius 802.11n - Worth buying a 300Mbps adaptor?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Orcon Genius 802.11n - Worth buying a 300Mbps adaptor?

greminn

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#115220 18-Mar-2013 13:22

Hi There,

We have just got our shiny new UFB connection sorted and old WIFI adaptor is just a 802.11g, so i was going to get a 802.11n one until we have sorted network cabling.. According to http://www.orcon.net.nz/support/gfaq_page/orcon_genius_tech_specs the genius will do "up to 300Mbps"... my question is: In the real world, is it worth paying a extra $20 or so for a up to 300Mbps wifi adaptor over a 150Mbps one?

PS: computer has direct line of sight to the modem about 30m away.

Many thanks.

Simon

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#783429 18-Mar-2013 13:27

I don't believe any wireless-N system achieves 300Mbps in the real world. But at home on a Genius, I get pretty close to 100Mbps wire speeds transferring files to/from a machine which is attached to an Ethernet port on the router, I'm using 40Mhz mode and usually about 10 feet away from the router.

Using 40Mhz mode (dual channel N) will get you roughly twice the performance at a given signal level compared with single channel. But you are ultimately limited by your internet speed in most cases, or for internal file transfers, the slowest connection in the chain.

edit: are you getting 100/50 or 30/10 service? That matters a whole lot... and 30m? are you sure?

greminn

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#783432 18-Mar-2013 13:29

Cool - thanks... so in terms of wifi adaptor for the orcon genius, its worth getting a dual channel N apadtor then?

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#783433 18-Mar-2013 13:30

I'd say so. I imagine the cost difference is negligible anyway. But if you're only using internet, and you have a 30/10 connection, and your 802.11g connection is faster than that anyway, it's all for nothing :)

greminn

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#783435 18-Mar-2013 13:34

hmmm... maybe 20m :) and we have the 100/50 service. Our office room in the house is right down the other end of the house, whereas our TV, Phone, Modem and NAS are down the other end.

Im getting it cabled, but until that happens i just wanted to make sure we have the best connection we can (to both UFB and the NAS).

Thanks for the help!

Simon

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#783443 18-Mar-2013 13:45

Dual-N is your best bet then. Make sure you scan with something like inSSIDer to scan for free channels, and set the channel manually on the Genius, make sure 20/40Mhz is set, and make sure all devices are 802.11n. FYI the antenna are in the top of the unit, one vertical, one horizontal, it works best if standing up (on it's stand or wall-mounted) and facing your device.

greminn

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#783444 18-Mar-2013 13:46

ubergeeknz: Dual-N is your best bet then. Make sure you scan with something like inSSIDer to scan for free channels, and set the channel manually on the Genius, make sure 20/40Mhz is set, and make sure all devices are 802.11n. FYI the antenna are in the top of the unit, one vertical, one horizontal, it works best if standing up (on it's stand or wall-mounted) and facing your device.

Thanks for that - great info. I had wondered about the antenna positioning.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

greminn

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#786270 24-Mar-2013 13:32

Hi there - just as a reply for anyone who reads this thread in the future, i got a Belkin Dual Band USB Wifi Adapter (DSE link: http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/XH4147/belkin-n600-dual-band-usb-wireless-adapter) and it works really well... i get 270Mbps when connected to the Genius Modem.

PS: I dont work for DSE, they were just the quickest way to get it :)

richms

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#786341 24-Mar-2013 17:49

No, it reports 270 meg, you will usually see stuff all over the thruput of a single stream N device when going to 2 stream ones, but the added antenna diversity really does seem to help out with not finding the device is in a deadspot.

If you have problems, knock the wireless back to a 20MHz channel width, I found that had a signifigant increase in thruput since almost everything around here is on ch 6, so even on 1 or 11, it will overlap with 6 on 40MHz. Shame that inssider etc cant show what APs are using a higher or lower channel for the 40MHz operation.

That adapter is dual band, its a shame that the genius isnt since 5GHz is virtually unused anywhere residential so if you can get signal thru you walls is much much nicer.

Richard rich.ms