Replace E4200/DDWRT with R6300 for repeated WLAN?

[MuP]

Hey,

I think about getting the R6300 to replace my 2 Linksys E4200. Hope you can help me to make my finale decision:

1. I'm using one of the Linksys E4200 with stock firmware as my main router and 2 level higher another E4200 with DD-WRT as a repeater. I want to replace them because my throughput is only 15mbit and i would really like to have about 40mbit (thats my inet speed). The throughput is not stable and varies a lot and sometimes i have disconnects (probably because of DD-WRT).

The question is now if I can get a stable and faster connection with the R6300?

2. If the wifi gets faster to about 40mbit from my router to the repeater will my N clients (in range of the repeater) benefit from this or only other ac clients?

 

[thiggins]

Draft 802.11ac will not improve your throughput or range with a non AC device.

I would first buy a pair of 200 or 500 Mbps powerline adapters, set your second E4200 to AP mode and see what you get for throughput. Since you won't lose 50% of throughput due to repeating, I suspect you may get better results as well as more flexibility for placing the second E4200.

 

[MuP]

I see what you mean, but i cant use powerline because i have no access to the 1st floor.

I lose throughput from ground floor (linksys stock) to the 2nd floor (dd-wrt). So i need to improve this connection. If i replace both e4200 with 2 r6300 do you think it improves the stability?

 

[thiggins]

If you are using 2.4 GHz, your stability problems are probably due to interference from other networks. I would try other channels and see if that helps.

Draft 11AC has higher throughput only in the 5 GHz band. In 2.4, it functions a a three-stream N router (450 Mbps max link rate).

Looking at the charts, it looks like a pair of R6300's would be reasonable to try for higher throughput. But if you have a crowded 2.4 GHz band, you will still have instability unless you can find a quiet channel

 

[MuP]

Other channels doesnt help. Have about 10 2.4ghz wifis around :-(. I would prefer to switch to 5ghz with AC. I think i give it a try.

Thanks for your help

 

[thiggins]

If your E4200 can't reach on 5 GHz, it is unlikely that the R6300 will either.

Best combination I have found for 5 GHz range is ASUS RT-N66U paired with EA-N66.
ASUS EA-N66 Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter Reviewed

 

[MuP]

I get 5ghz connection but the 4200 dd-wrt doesnt work with 5ghz N.

 

[thiggins]

I get 5ghz connection but the 4200 dd-wrt doesnt work with 5ghz N.

Have at it then. Let us know how you make out.

 

[stevech]

Other channels doesnt help. Have about 10 2.4ghz wifis around :-(. I would prefer to switch to 5ghz with AC. I think i give it a try.

Most likely the problem is not interference. The issue is not how many WiFi (SSIDs) you detect, but if any of them are super-busy/loaded at the same time you always use your WiFi. If so, odds are excellent that you merely change to some other channel among 1, 6 or 11 as a rule.

The problem is likely elsewhere - and if you give us some good symptoms we can help you determine the problem and a cure.

Leaping into 802.11ac is ill-advised.
Going to 802.11n in 5.8GHz is a possible cure but only after we help you determine what the cause is.

Let's assume that your WiFi does not use the factory default SSID and that you have encryption enabled Yes?: