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[roodogg]

I have a 2700 square foot house that has 3 floors. My computer is set up in a 900 Suare foot basement. I have my desktop, cable modem and router hardwired to a ps2 and a wii. I have a Xbox 360 on the 3rd floor and a ps3 on the second floor. Would a NETGEAR (WNR3500) RangeMax Wireless-N (2.4GHz) Gigabit Router speed up to 15x and range up to 10x be sufficient to get a strong signal up to the third floor?

 

[VanR__]

I am not all that familiar with 802.11n draft.
Yes, some signal will pass through to the 3rd floor in a standard wood and sheet rock house, but will the signal be strong enough? I have no clue.

You have to determine what wireless protocols your end devices use. I'm guessing it's B or G for the game consoles. B and G gets absorbed into everything and I'm not sure how much attenuation (signal loss) you're going to experience. WiFi is shared media so the devices have to 'see' each other's signal to know when it's their turn to 'talk.'
I guess you will have to try and see...

If those devices utilize N, then make sure your router broadcasts and receives legacy B and G if any other devices require them. Many routers can use B and G together or N alone because N hogs both multiplexers that B and G would use.

 

[roodogg]

OK! Thank you for that information. I went ahead and made the purchase. I read some poor reviews about signal reliability, but I went ahead and bought it anyway because of the fact that driver, firmware updates can fix these types of problems. I bought the recommended WN311T wireless PCI Adapter that was shown on the back of my router's box.

I called customer service because the software setup wizard could not communicate with my desktops original PCI card. I installed the wireless card and got the netrwork up and running manually. I noticed that my network speed is 54.0 mbps. Is this an industry standard for a Wireless N Gigabit router?

The box says that the router is capable up to 300 mbps and right now mine is setup for up to 145mbps. Netgear informed me that they do not have a driver available to handle faster speeds that the literature advertises. What's up with that? They also told me that the wirelss PCI adapter is not the most compatable option for this router. They suggested a USB adapter that I can not use because my desktop does not support USB 2.0. What type of speeds is this router realistically capable of producing given the appropriate software updates? He told me that I would have to wait for Netscape to develop a driver.

I tested my signal via my Sony PSP having the router set up in my basement. The signal in my 3rd floor master bedroom is 87% but only 25% in my boys room which is opposite end of the hall above the garage. I know that I can move the router and modem to the 1st or main floor and then I will have better signal distribution.

 

[Kaiser]

Wish I would have seen this in time. It would have been better to go with a model that with upgradable firmware so that you could get the benefits of DD-WRT firmware. This firmware makes it so that the box is more functional and has a MUCH better range, let alone alowwing for full use of allocated memory. This firmware basically turns something like a Linksys WRT54G into a $5000 or more Cisco router.

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

http://www.dd-wrt.com

 

[roodogg]

Kaiser! Will the model that I purchased have aftermarket firmware available someday? Do I have the potential with this setup to increase my speed and range with upgraded firmware? According to Netgear they will update the firmware sometime this year. I am getting a strong signal upstairs to my psp. It is a stronger signal than the signal that I was borrowing from my neighbor. I have not tried to play any games online. Will I encounter a problem with lag?

 

[Kaiser]

Kaiser! Will the model that I purchased have aftermarket firmware available someday? Do I have the potential with this setup to increase my speed and range with upgraded firmware? According to Netgear they will update the firmware sometime this year. I am getting a strong signal upstairs to my psp. It is a stronger signal than the signal that I was borrowing from my neighbor. I have not tried to play any games online. Will I encounter a problem with lag?

That all depends upon Sebastian, the owner of DD-WRT. He is an outstanding programmer so just keep checking back at his site to see if he has an upgrade. If he does, jump on it, because it will wake up the sleeping giant in your router. He is nothing short of awesome. Just keep checkin the compatibility link, and PLEASE, if you do use his firmware, send him at least $10 via his donate Paypal address.

 

[roodogg]

Will do!

 

[VanR__]

I thought that you already owned that router before posting.

 

[roodogg]

I bought the router on impulse then came home researched and posted here before I actually opened the box. I usually do a bunch of research before I buy anything but this time I could not resist the impulse. BTW I have not had a signal drop with this router yet that others have experienced