Hardware for many wireless clients

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tbayley
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Joined: 10 Feb 2011
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 19:59    Post subject: Hardware for many wireless clients Reply with quote
My household has maybe a dozen wireless devices that can be connected to the ADSL modem/router, a D-Link 2604B. 3 laptops, a PC, 3 Xboxes, Wii, iPhone, iPods, printer and sometimes a guest or two Smile Not all at the same time, but you get the picture.

Wireless performance is somewhat flakey! Browsers frequently hang, wireless signal is erratic, and usually problems are at their worst when someone comes in and switches on a device. Our ADSL is a bit under 6Mbit downstream and we don't do much file or printer sharing.

So, my plan is to use the D-Link purely as a modem and buy a new router for the wireless part. What hardware features am I looking for to cope with a large number of clients? I would like to put DD-WRT on the new router as I've a feeling that might also improve network stability.

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Sash
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 22:58    Post subject: Reply with quote
a atheros unit
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buddee
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 23:09    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH or WZR-HP-AG300H should handle this nicely.
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yousaf465
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:08    Post subject: Reply with quote
Go for WZR-HP-AG300H if you can wait a bit, or else buy WZR-HP-G300NH from Amazon or newegg.
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tbayley
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 15:53    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the replies.

May I ask why Atheros? Up to now I assumed Broadcom was the way to go - looking at Asus RT-N16 and E3000 for example.

No sign of the AG300 here in the UK, but I can get a D-Link DIR-825 which seems to have similar specs, for twice the price of a N300. Would that do a similar job? (My bad experience with the D-Link 2604B is making me cautious.)
buddee
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 16:19    Post subject: Reply with quote
tbayley wrote:
Thanks for the replies.

May I ask why Atheros? Up to now I assumed Broadcom was the way to go - looking at Asus RT-N16 and E3000 for example.

No sign of the AG300 here in the UK, but I can get a D-Link DIR-825 which seems to have similar specs, for twice the price of a N300. Would that do a similar job? (My bad experience with the D-Link 2604B is making me cautious.)


To me it depends on what you want in your networking, I've only recently began using Atheros units though i have had a couple for over a year now. What i see difference wise, the atheros units seem to have much stronger radio's and CPU ratings as opposed to broadcom units, The fastest broadcom offering is 480Mhz CPU and thats on their top of the line units. I have a mid lvl Atheros unit (wrt400n) that has a 680Mhz CPU in it and i can tell the difference in my network.

The wrt400n is much better unit than my RT-N16 and E3000, even though its considered somewhat of a lower lvl router. And i can't comment on the d-link, i'm like you about that one, d-link didn't meet my expectations so i haven't really messed with their products since, and not to mention, i don't like d-link's version naming scheme, they use letters instead of numbers for version, can be confusing to an average user.

Also curious here, whats the N300?

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tbayley
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 20:49    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sorry, newbie confusion. I did I search for WZR-HP-G300NH and google came up with something described as N300 - it's actually the WHR-HP-G300N. Looks inferior to the WZR.

Thanks for your help.
x3ption
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 23:41    Post subject: Reply with quote
About the WHR-HP-G300N and WZR-HP-G300NH router. Do they have real wireless differences?

Actually, I see differences about WAN and LAN ports (10/100/1000 on the WZR-HP-G300NH) and a USB port to add a USB (on the WZR-HP-G300NH)... but both of them offer "High Power".

WZR-HP-G300NH is twice the price of the WHR-HP-G300N and I dont really care about USB NAS (I prefer use a real NAS unit connected by RJ45) and 10/100/1000 on WAN and LAN. Only about wireless performances.

Which one do you recommand?
yousaf465
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:24    Post subject: Reply with quote
WHR-HP-G300N ? FDI-09101621-0 Atheros AR7240@400 32 4 Atheros b/g/n? - 1 ? 4 LAN 1 WAN 5V 2.3A - External Antenna

WZR-HP-G300NH v1 FDI-09101560-0 Atheros AR9132@400 64 32 Atheros AR9103 b/g/n - 1 1 4 LAN 1 WAN (Gb) 12V 2A 1 USB 2.0, 1000 BaseT (Gb) switch

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Buffalo

Hopefully this helps.

Edit: You may look at these reviews http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/30775-the-one-to-beat-linksys-wrt400n-simultaneous-dual-band-wireless-n-router-reviewed and for Wzr-Hp-G300NH http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/30889-buffalo-nfiniti-wireless-n-high-power-router-a-access-point-reviewed

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debrick Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH


Last edited by yousaf465 on Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:35; edited 1 time in total
x3ption
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:29    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes... I know about "1 USB 2.0, 1000 BaseT (Gb) switch"...

I just whant to know if I will see a REAL difference on my wireless signal and quality between AR7240@400 32 4 and AR9132@400 64 32??

Only need a strong wireless signal
yousaf465
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
x3ption wrote:
Yes... I know about "1 USB 2.0, 1000 BaseT (Gb) switch"...

I just whant to know if I will see a REAL difference on my wireless signal and quality between AR7240@400 32 4 and AR9132@400 64 32??

Only need a strong wireless signal



This will help http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/30889-buffalo-nfiniti-wireless-n-high-power-router-a-access-point-reviewed?showall=&start=1 It explains it clearly.

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debrick Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH
x3ption
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Joined: 05 Feb 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:45    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the link but I've already read this article which only compare the WZR-HP-G300NH to other competitor but not the WZR-HP-G300NH to the WHR-HP-G300N.

They say "Since Buffalo specifically claims that the WZR-HP has higher transmit power"... but they put the same technology ("higher transmit power") on both router (WZR-HP-G300NH and WHR-HP-G300N)...

Actually, I only see
- No 1000 BaseT (Gb) switch (wich I dont care)
- No USB 2.0 (wich I dont care)
- Different chip (AR7240) with less ram (32/4)... Do I have to care about this??
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