Whats the Best and most Powerful router in 2015?

[coxhaus]

Want 40MHz mode/speeds?
Use the 5GHz band and plan on adding an AP or so if you have only a WiFi router now, and you do not live in 800 sq. ft/1 story. Such is the price of speed!

I've yet to figure out how to get my iPad, Android Tablet and iPhone and Android phone to not flop back to 2.4GHz. I could brute force 5GHz by not telling the client devices the password for the 2.4GHz WiFi. But, well...

What wireless device do you have?

 

[sfx2000]

What wireless device do you have?

I think he stated that, lol

iPad, Android Tablet and iPhone and Android phone
​

sfx

 

[coxhaus]

Sorry I meant wireless router or AP?

 

[sfx2000]

The AP/Router is doing what it's supposed to do - one can set it for Auto 20/40, but the AP has to scan for activity in the adjacent channels, and go back to 20MHz for a period of time... at least they're supposed to...

I've got a neighbor with a Draft-N Belkin AP, and it's old-school where the default is 40MHz only, with no fallback to 20Mhz, and he's camping on channel 9 (-1), which means he's nuking both 11, and 6, drives me nuts, but since 2.4GHz is unlicensed, nothing I can do... lucky for me, it's down in the weeds, so not much impact, but it makes channel 1 a bit busy - he's 3 houses down from me, but my neighbors in the two houses between basically have both hopped on to Ch 1, along with the guys across the street from him.

Now if I could convince the guy across the street from me to upgrade his 11g AP - that would be cool... he's 11g, and running WEP as he has some 11b gear (I can tell 11b, as he's running non-ERP/Barker Preambles), so that channel is pretty noisy on Ch 11... he's running WEP as his kids have Nintendo DS's, and they're 11b/WEP only...

Case in point - see SSID llyodandjuanita... this bangs his immediate neighbors - his primary is 9, and the wide channel is 5...

Be a good neighbor, don't use wide channels...

 

[stevech]

Be a good vendor - don't permit 40MHz mode in urban/suburban

 

[coxhaus]

I assume you mean for 2.4GHz?

If you want speed change to 5GHz 40MHz.

 

[sfx2000]

Ok I have been watching inSSISer on 2.4GHz. Looks like there are active networks on all the channels. The bar graphs are active on all channels. Every so many seconds different graphs pop up to the top on different networks through out the channels above -15dB. With this type of scenario how do you get 40MHz bandwidth to work?

To get 40MHz to work, a number of criteria needs to be met; or perhaps a better way to say it, things that can interfere with 40MHz operation;

1) Existence of adjacent/overlapping BSS AP's that set 40MHz Intolerant bit to True
2) Existence of adjacent/overlapping BSS AP's that are not 11n, e.g. they don't have HT elements
3) Existence of nodes on your BSS/ESS that set the 40MHz Intolerant bit to True - Apple devices in particular used to be fairly strict on that...

If those items above are happening, then 802.11n AP's are supposed to not use 40MHz channels in 2.4GHz - I've seen some that are, for lack of a better word, opportunistic, in that 20/40MHz Auto Modes, they'll do an OBSS scan, pop up to 40MHz for a bit, and then jump back..

There's a fair amount of protection in place for 11n in 2.4GHz - similar to what we see for 11n Only (Greenfield mode) vs. Mixed Mode...

 

[coxhaus]

To get 40MHz to work, a number of criteria needs to be met; or perhaps a better way to say it, things that can interfere with 40MHz operation;

1) Existence of adjacent/overlapping BSS AP's that set 40MHz Intolerant bit to True
2) Existence of adjacent/overlapping BSS AP's that are not 11n, e.g. they don't have HT elements
3) Existence of nodes on your BSS/ESS that set the 40MHz Intolerant bit to True - Apple devices in particular used to be fairly strict on that...

If those items above are happening, then 802.11n AP's are supposed to not use 40MHz channels in 2.4GHz - I've seen some that are, for lack of a better word, opportunistic, in that 20/40MHz Auto Modes, they'll do an OBSS scan, pop up to 40MHz for a bit, and then jump back..

There's a fair amount of protection in place for 11n in 2.4GHz - similar to what we see for 11n Only (Greenfield mode) vs. Mixed Mode...

I agree with you as to why I cannot get 40MHz to work on 2.4GHz around me as there is too much traffic on all channels.

This is why I switched to 5GHz at 4oMHz. Way faster with more bandwidth available. The only thing I had to do was run 1 more wireless AP to have good coverage.

 

[stevech]

Some vendors don't implement the polite 40MHz policy. FCC doesn't require it. IEEE doesn't. WiFi alliance? Who knows.

 

[thiggins]

Some vendors don't implement the polite 40MHz policy. FCC doesn't require it. IEEE doesn't. WiFi alliance? Who knows.

IEEE 802.11-2012, 10.15.3.2 Scanning requirements for a 20/40 MHz BSS clearly defines the requirements for 20/40 MHz operation in both bands.
The bottom line is that APs are supposed to start in 20 MHz mode in 2.4 GHz and only switch to 40 MHz mode if no interfering networks are found.

But the rules are routinely ignored. Manufacturers, NETGEAR notably, even give users a control to disable 20/40 MHz coexistence in some of their routers.

I asked the Wi-Fi Alliance back in 2012 if they allow 20/40 MHz coexistence disable for Certified products and they said they do not. Yet I continue to find it.

 

[sfx2000]

And keep in mind that WiFi Alliance put the 20/40MHz conformant test late in the game - there's quite a few devices out there that were not even tested for this.

In any event, I've seen where most 2014/2015 devices, they generally follow the intent... not all, but many do now, even when the UI switch says 40MHz only... Same goes with 11n protection modes - if left to auto, I've seen AP's switch over unless they seen an OBSS where protection is needed, which is kind of cool, and for the most part, this is transparent to the hostap...

I'm thinking this is actually a side-effect of chipset development for 11ac, and most vendors use the same chip model for both baseband/radios...

sfx

 

[remixedcat]

really I think it's best to just get an enterprise grade wired router and then just upgrade the APs as needed and have at least one per floor in a good spot. None of these "high powered" routers are worth it. If you just use good channel planning and common sense you'll have a better network than one high powered router.

and I hate 40mhz 2.4Ghz. It's nothing but problems and you end up having more errors and such. You don't realize this till you're able to use equipment to actually view the errors.

 

[stevech]

That's what I meant - vendors don't care about 40MHz etiquette, IEEE preferences (IEEE has no enforcement group), and FCC says all this is not in their jurisdiction.

The only power comes from the WiFi alliance and refusing/revoking WiFi compliance certifications for things like 40MHz etiquette in 2.4GHz. WiFi trademarks the WiFi logo and name and CAN sue if a vendor uses the logo without a cert. But who pays the dues to fund the alliance? Vendors!

 

[sfx2000]

I hate 40mhz 2.4Ghz. It's nothing but problems and you end up having more errors and such. You don't realize this till you're able to use equipment to actually view the errors.

yep...

 

[sfx2000]

That's what I meant - vendors don't care about 40MHz etiquette, IEEE preferences (IEEE has no enforcement group), and FCC says all this is not in their jurisdiction.

The only power comes from the WiFi alliance and refusing/revoking WiFi compliance certifications for things like 40MHz etiquette in 2.4GHz. WiFi trademarks the WiFi logo and name and CAN sue if a vendor uses the logo without a cert. But who pays the dues to fund the alliance? Vendors!

It really is a business decision at the OEM level - some care, some don't... best we can do as consumers is not buy their stuff for those who behave badly...

Money, at the end of the day, still talks...