bridge over 5.0 N and 2.4 N wireless

[bryanchewy]

I have read myself into confusion. I wanted to get 2 of the Netgear WNDR3400 to upgrade my current setup.

staples link

My current setup:

cable modem -- g router(also does my VOIP and NOT DD-WRT compatible) -- bunch of switches that do all my wired stuff

i have a Linksys WRT54G-TM with DD-WRT set up as a client bridge 300 feet away with line of site (2 windows is all it goes thru) that connects to the g router

I then have a netgear g router wired to the linksys to spread wireless signal around that area (didn't want the reduced bandwidth of repeater bridge mode)

New setup:

I wanted to improve the bandwidth and simplify things a bit by getting the 2 new netgear 3400's to bridge in "5.0 N" and then spread wireless around each end of bridge in "2.4 N" on the other radio.

But now i have been reading where people are saying that the netgear doesn't really do 2 radios in "n". that the 5.0 is n, but the 2.4 is "g".

I would keep my g router(VOIP) as a AP to keep my "g" things out of the way of "n"

Can anyone help me out here. Or suggest a better way to do what I am looking for. Staples has some good coupons and I have some ink rewards to use up, so i was going to be getting these 3400's for about $50 total for both. (plus sell my dd-wrt for about 40)

I need to make a decision before the coupon runs out in a day or two. TIA

 

[bryanchewy]

3400 can do both n in 5.0 and 2.4 at same time

i just got 2 of the 3400 and have them running in a bridge 5.0 N and then spreading N out in 2.4 at either end. Still testing to make sure it is going to do the range i need, but so far so good.

Hope this helps someone else.

 

[stevech]

A typo in the above and in Netgear's product docs:
5.0GHz really means the 5.4 and the 5.8GHz bands. The 5.4 band is rarely used due to onerous FCC power limits. The 5.8GHz band has been here for years as 802.11a. Now some products add 802.11n to that band, along with 802.11b/g/n in 2.4GHz.

The product says it does simultaneous dual band. That's useful if you have some client devices on each band, simultaneously. For most people it's an overkill.

The Netgear claim "Dual band — Offers twice the bandwidth with better connection and less interference" is quite misleading. For any one client device (PC), the PC uses only one band so the claim is false for that client. If you have two clients, one on 2.4GHz and one on 5.8GHz, the claim is sort of true if you add together the bandwidth/capacity offered to the sum of the two clients. But I doubt many users get this.

 

[RWUK]

I

But now i have been reading where people are saying that the netgear doesn't really do 2 radios in "n". that the 5.0 is n, but the 2.4 is "g".

So wait a sec, the WNDR3400 doesn't actually broadcast 2.4 n with the 5 n(5.8)? Where are you reading this? If this is true than the 5Ghz band is useless if there's more than 1 connecting computer because doesn't using G and N clients simultaneously cap all devices to G speeds? I assume it MUST allow single 2.5 n broadcast with the 5Ghz turned off...

I have one of these routers but because my room still isn't ready (2 weeks into the semester) it's still unopened in the plastic wrap in my closet. Thankfully with receipt. The manu documentation stating (or at least heavily leading one to believe) that it broadcasts 2.4 n AND 5 n simultaneously is the reason I bought this over a Buffalo or a WNR3500L.

EDIT: Some googling has given me this article which says

"With its dual-band wireless, you can create two different SSIDs, one for your B/G network and one for your wireless-N network. Similarly, different passwords and authentication settings can be assigned for each of the networks."

This is the only thing I can find that even suggests it won't do both n bands simultaneously. The router comes from the factory with 2 default SSIDs, in NETGEAR and NETGEAR-5. Not a strong case but this and this are the most recent info on the 3400 I can find and they are contradictory.

 

[thiggins]

The WNDR3400 has two radios, for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

 

[RWUK]

But do both radios broadcast in n or is it one n and one g as the OP is saying?

 

[tipstir]

On the Trendnet side 802.11a/n for 5G and 802.11b/g/n or 802.11b/g or 802.11n for 2.4G so on the OP it could be a mixed of b/g/n for both?

 

[RWUK]

That must be what the OP is experiencing. Maybe he has the 2.5Ghz radio set to mixed broadcast of only b/g or something?

I hope the OP would post where he got his info from but I'm inclined to conclude that based on everything I've read and the router's manual & documentation that the WNDR3400 DOES do 2.5Ghz and 5 n simultaneously, as advertised.

Of course, I could just open the box and set up the one I've got to verify.

 

[stevech]

... the WNDR3400 DOES do 2.5Ghz and 5 n simultaneously, as advertised.

nit, nit, nit: Above, 2.5GHz should be 2.4GHz. The 2.5GHz band is ex-MMDS and now (partly) WiMax/4G.