Does a simultaneous dual channel router make sense for me?

[philxx]

Hi there,

I am thinking about replacing my old 54 Mbit router by a wireless-n product.
Let me say that I am not really into networking so excuse my ignorance.

Okay, now I learned that there are routers around which are able to use both 2,4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands.
The newest routers for home use appear to feature simultaneous dual-channel communication (Netgear wndr 3700 and others).
My networking card in my laptop is an Intel 4965 AGN, supporting draft-n and both bands, not sure though whether simultaneously...

Q: Does it make sense for me to pay more for a "real" simultaneous dual channel router?
I have one Computer and will use just this one. Does my networking card support simultaneous dual channel communications?
Would I be able to increase throughput when accessing my NAS (WD my book world edition) that way? Currently I'm getting 2,5 MB/s throughput via WLAN which is not what I expected.

Or would this be a waste of money?

Thanks everybody. Philxx

 

[thiggins]

Q: Does it make sense for me to pay more for a "real" simultaneous dual channel router?

No.

I have one Computer and will use just this one. Does my networking card support simultaneous dual channel communications?

No.

Would I be able to increase throughput when accessing my NAS (WD my book world edition) that way? Currently I'm getting 2,5 MB/s throughput via WLAN which is not what I expected.

Perhaps. But you still won't get the full performance from a wireless connection

Or would this be a waste of money?

Yes.
How To Buy a Wireless Router: The Short Version

 

[philxx]

Thanks for your advice.
I forgot to mention that I operate a WII also using the wifi network.
According to Nintendo the Wii doesn't support the N standard.

Therefore I see two options to keep the Wii working and increase NAS throughput via WLAN for my N-Laptop:
1) Keep my g-router and add a single band n-router according to the suggestion from the "Add, don't replace when upgrading to to 802.11n" article.
2) Replace my g-router with ... what? Single band n? Dual band single radio n?

What would you suggest?
Thanks once more!

 

[thiggins]

You will get slowdown only if you are using the draft 11n and 11g clients at the same time.

If you want to try to increase speed between the N notebook and Ethernet-connected NAS, you can try an inexpensive single-band draft 11n router like the Linksys WRT160N, D-Link DIR-615 / 625 or NETGEAR WNR2000 The Wii will work fine, as long as you leave the router in mixed mode.

You already have the 11g router, which you can add back in if you find that you are frequently using the Wii and notebook at the same time and experiencing slow performance.

 

[philxx]

Okay, did as you suggested.
I replaced my old router with a WNR2000. Installation worked just fine.
Here's my performance (download from NAS to Notebook).

Throughput wired: 11.5 Mbyte/s
Throughput w-less Netgear wgr614v9: 2.5 Mbyte/s
Throughput w-less Netgear WNR2000: 3.5 Mbyte/s
- I was in a hurry, so no changes to any of the initial parameters done.

I then checked back with your tutorial on how to speed up wireless-n networks.
--> Disabled channel bonding (now 20 Mhz only).
Throughput w-less Netgear WNR2000: ~ 6.5 Mbyte/s to 9 Mbyte/s.
The wireless properties show a connection speed switching back and forth between 117 Mbit/s and 130 Mbit/s.

Now that puzzles me. I don't live in a highly congested area.
At the max 4 other networks in my vicinity, all not very strong at my place.
Anyway. Good enough for my purposes I guess.
Thanks Tim.

 

[thiggins]

You're getting 60 - 70 Mbps, which is pretty good.

Don't worry about the connection speed changing. It's typical of what I see, even with a strong signal.