mac_shinobi Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 Looking to get wireless N working for a charity - currently they have and use BT ( with included BT router ) which is wireless G and tried some things but am going to try the suggested changing the wireless channel from automatic to a set channel and disabling bt openzone as well as possibly resetting the router itself - obviously I dont have the settings to program there router so will most likely have to call BT for the ADSL settings etc The wireless access point I was looking at ( if anyone knows of a better one then let me know ) Netgear WN802T - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/netgear-wn802t-100uks-rangemax-next-wireless-n-access-point-(up-to-300-mbps) Or a replacement router which I was thinking the DGN2200 Scan.co.uk: Netgear DGN2200 Wireless N300Mbps Router with Built in ADSL2+ Modem inc ReadySHARE USB Port - DGN2200-100UKS The DGN2200 has wireless N and everything else and is cheaper - I did find a review stating that the firmware on the DGN2200 is rubbish and had some issues so not sure Duckbill stuff: Netgear DGN2200: Don't buy Which I found through the netgear forum here : Request Opinion About DGN2200 - NETGEAR Forums Obviously with them being a charity am after something cheaper if possible
RabbieBurns Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 i use the dgn2000 with custom dgteam firmware. works fine for me
mac_shinobi Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) seen a lot of reviews with the dgn2200 over heating and with it coming into summer or pretty much summer now - cant be doing with that and the WN802T has a lot of reports of falling over and having to constantly reboot it. Am now of the opinion they might have to go with the Scan.co.uk: Netgear RangeMax DGND3300-100UKS ADSL (BT) Monem Router Edited May 30, 2011 by mac_shinobi
SYNACK Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 Netgear software is junk for APs (seporate issue from my issue with their support incase anyone is keeping track). The Netgear stuff can be very incompatible with some kinds of WiFi cards and drivers. We had a batch of Toshibas that simply would not work with a 'pro' grade Netgear WAP. Don't go with integrated, keep the existing modem and use a seporate WAP with it as it will be more stable. I would look at Draytec or even linksys which are fine and don't overheat as long as you hang them the right way on the wall.
Arthur Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) What happened to the WNDR3700 - heard a lot of good things about this one but not sure as can't find it aside from on eBay The WNDR3700v2 is now called the N600 Wireless Dual-band Gigabit Router. Netgear have four different N600 models which is very confusing! The DGND3700 (a.k.a N600 Wireless Dual-band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router) is the only model which includes an ADSL modem, but you can't buy it yet. obviously I dont have the settings to program their router so will most likely have to call BT for the ADSL settings etc. IIRC, entering bthomehub.home into your web browser will allow you to view/change the settings. Edited May 30, 2011 by Arthur
mac_shinobi Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) Netgear software is junk for APs (seporate issue from my issue with their support incase anyone is keeping track). The Netgear stuff can be very incompatible with some kinds of WiFi cards and drivers. We had a batch of Toshibas that simply would not work with a 'pro' grade Netgear WAP. Don't go with integrated, keep the existing modem and use a seporate WAP with it as it will be more stable. I would look at Draytec or even linksys which are fine and don't overheat as long as you hang them the right way on the wall. Can you suggest a decent WAP model from linksys and draytek, I normally configure the routers using there WEB GUI and never touch any software when using linksys, netgear or the likes Draytek AP 700 looks like the one im after, about £66 from misco or the likes and so far has good reviews Edited May 30, 2011 by mac_shinobi
mac_shinobi Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 The WNDR3700 is now called the N600 Wireless Dual-band Gigabit Router. Netgear have four different N600 models which is very confusing! The DGND3700 (a.k.a N600 Wireless Dual-band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router) is the only model which includes an ADSL modem, but you can't buy it yet. IIRC, entering bthomehub.home into your web browser will allow you to view/change the settings. The 3300 version I presume is the bottom of the range in that line ( DGND 3300 ) as far as the N600 line of routers, the 3300 states it has ADSL2+ modem as well as the other stuff
teejay Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 Personally I would go with the advice above and stick with the existing router and buy a decent wireless access point, it then stops the internet provider blaming everything on your router. I know this will be pretty expensive, but if they want rock solid, dual band wireless then you could look at buying a Ruckus access point as they will operate standalone. It will solve the contention issues quite easilly :-)
SYNACK Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 Can you suggest a decent WAP model from linksys and draytek, I normally configure the routers using there WEB GUI and never touch any software when using linksys, netgear or the likes Draytek AP 700 looks like the one im after, about £66 from misco or the likes and so far has good reviews Yeap the 700 or 800 are quite good, not dual band so no 802.11a but robust gear none the less. The linksys e2000 handles both bans and has gigabit ethernet which is nice. You do need to wall mount them with the ports facing upwards though as otherwise they do overheat. 1
Arthur Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 The DGND3300 is part of the N300 range (of which there are 7 different models). It looks like the marketing department run Netgear these days. Netgear routers in general tend to be a bit hit-or-miss so I would probably look elsewhere. e.g. Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Wireless-N Router (£120 / Review / Web UI). The best thing is that you can flash it with alternative firmware such as DD-WRT and (soon) TomatoUSB. 1
mac_shinobi Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 Am going to go with the AP 700 draytek WAP, decent price and hopefully should work with the PCI Asus G31 wireless card they have. This is only for one desktop btw , not a class full of kids or anything so Ruckus would be too much £££, as above router replacement will get blamed if it does not work and better to use a WAP in addition to the BT Router, that way I can disable the onboard BT wireless inc open zone and use the AP 700 draytek on one of the ethernet ports. Not fussed about gigabit as the BT router ports are 100mbps and they dont do media streaming or anything that requires that much bandwidth, its literally for web browsing and some other bits. Wanted a wireless N access point to make sure it has enough coverage, configuration wise I presume I will have to configure it as upto 145mbps as the wireless card is B/G and will work using wireless G
mac_shinobi Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 Yeap the 700 or 800 are quite good, not dual band so no 802.11a but robust gear none the less. The linksys e2000 handles both bans and has gigabit ethernet which is nice. You do need to wall mount them with the ports facing upwards though as otherwise they do overheat. whats the 802.11a in the context you are talking about ? Looking on wikipedia 802.11 is obviously wireless and A, B, G and N are the different classifications with regards to speed / coverage etc. A and B being similar I presume as they were the first ones brought out , G being the better one as better coverage and better throughput ( I think, not sure ) and N obviously being the better out of all of them as far as coverage and speed and also being backward compatible to a degree. Obviously there are other factors ie MIMO, which wireless chipset ie broadcom, infineon etc etc and also firmware which helps depending on the config etc
RabbieBurns Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 a is different frequency than b and g (5ghz rather than 2.4ghz) and n, which is MIMO technology can operate on both (afaik) 1
Arthur Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 This is only for one desktop btw Would a couple of Powerline adapters been an option?
Guest Guest Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 How about a router in WAP mode? They tend to be far cheaper as there are more sold. My Linksys wrt160nl is performing great - I have got dd-wrt on it mind, but in the limited time I used its factory firmware it seemed fine.
SYNACK Posted May 30, 2011 Posted May 30, 2011 a is different frequency than b and g (5ghz rather than 2.4ghz) and n, which is MIMO technology can operate on both (afaik) Yeap, its to do with the bands, you get more channels on the 5GHz A band and there is usually less wireless gear on it so it can be much faster. N can cover both depending on the gear, there is GN (2.4ghz) and AN (5ghz). A penatrates walls a bit less but it less interupted by water like trees and people. Given that it is only for one client and they only have a G NIC then you are right that there is very little point in going all out. I would recommend replacing the wireless NIC on the PC to an N version as that will up the coverage more than the smaller incremental improvement of MIMO on only one side. Is cable/power line network not feasble because the ceapest cable will beat wireless every day and night of the week for reliability and speed.
mac_shinobi Posted May 31, 2011 Author Posted May 31, 2011 Yeap, its to do with the bands, you get more channels on the 5GHz A band and there is usually less wireless gear on it so it can be much faster. N can cover both depending on the gear, there is GN (2.4ghz) and AN (5ghz). A penatrates walls a bit less but it less interupted by water like trees and people. Given that it is only for one client and they only have a G NIC then you are right that there is very little point in going all out. I would recommend replacing the wireless NIC on the PC to an N version as that will up the coverage more than the smaller incremental improvement of MIMO on only one side. Is cable/power line network not feasble because the ceapest cable will beat wireless every day and night of the week for reliability and speed. Update I had to go with the Asus Wireless G PCI Card due to money and at the time I did not think the home hub would be rubbish at pushing a wireless G signal, It's literally no more then 2.5 to 3 meters away from where the bt home hub is and I have had a few Wireless G routers ( namely linksys and netgear ) and I was able to park my car at least about 15 meters away from the house and got signal with a valid ip addy and could browse no issues. The hub is near a window and it's literally got to go through the window, through the trailer ( which has big window at the back end which is facing the window of the house so its not like anything was lined with lead etc Anyway Disabled auto channel and that helped a little with regards to the computer knowing that its always on the one channel instead of the wireless card having to re establish which channel its on and also disabled bt open zone which helped a lot as the hub was not trying to advertise and use more then one wireless network with multiple ssid's etc Once I had disabled bt open zone and only had the one wireless network running the computer was able to pick up the wifi network in the trailer although not with a brilliant signal , 2 to 3 bars but either way it got an ip addy and was able to browse the internet. We have just left it at that at the min - if it drops out a lot then I will go down the Draytek ap 700 route and go from there @ Arthur ref the power socket to ethernet adaptors - when you mentioned it I forgot about those and never looked into them, might work although am not sure how they are getting power from the house to the trailer and not sure what there circuits are like etc so would have to borrow a pair of them to test, if it did work out ok then maybe go down this route instead of trying wireless N
SYNACK Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 If the trailer is made of all metal then that could be causign some of the issues that MIMO would help with as if the signal was bouncing around in the trailer it could interfear with itself, there could also be a metalic safety film on the windows preventing good signal. At any rate good luck with the tweaks, hopefully they make the required difference. 1
mac_shinobi Posted May 31, 2011 Author Posted May 31, 2011 Hate BT home hubs now - went to the wireless settings, the channel and SSID changed after clicking on submit and entering in the serial number on the home hub but it refused to save the wireless encryption mode ( which I set to WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK ) which after clicking on submit it reverted back to WEP - OPEN and then the encryption disabled itself so was now using an open wireless network, rinse lather repeat on the change back to WPA or WPA2 PSK and it still reverted to an open wireless network. Had to put it back to WEP and default security settings so that it used the WEP key on the side of the hub and works ok using WEP ( obviously weaker but better then an open wifi network )
Arthur Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Does the HomeHub have the latest firmware? It should update automatically, but it might be worth checking since firmware v6.2.6.H fixes several wireless-related issues... http://www.jarviser.co.uk/jarviser/firmwarenotes.html
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