Wireless N Networking

Jokester · 5 Jul 2009 at 18:17

I'm looking at networking between a router in one room, with a media server in another and a PC in yet another room. I had been originally looking at Powerline technology (200Mbps) which I currently use but only getting about 4-5MB/s. I've not tested the wiring to see if I can get more. I've just realised that 'N' wireless devices are now available and was looking to see if anyone's got any experience with them, particularly with transfer rates and stability.

My previous experience with wireless ('G') wasn't great, mainly link stability and drop out issues.

LizardKing · 5 Jul 2009 at 18:25

I used to have a Belkin N Wireless dongle and a Homehub.
It was atrocious! It very rarely synced at full speed or would constantly fall back to G speeds, this was over a range of ~10 meters through 2 thin walls.
In the end i moved it to wired again, so much more reliable.
To be fair i think there was a lot of interference around. But it put me off high speed wireless, and it was hard to justify the cost of the dongle over a 54g speed dongle in the end.

DRZ · 5 Jul 2009 at 18:47

For media applications, especially with full HD being so bandwidth intensive to stream, there is no way I would consider wireless!

Run some cables, they are very easily hidden in walls, under the edge of carpets or under floors and your experience will be so much better!

Bigdogbmx · 5 Jul 2009 at 23:14

I tried to stream a 720p over wireless N through to a wired PC, didnt work too well. It was pretty choppy and not really watchable. A mate also said he was having issues streaming HD vids over N so I wouldnt trust it to be honest.

clv101 · 6 Jul 2009 at 20:07

I have a pretty solid wireless G system, it's the only connection to my HTPC. But it's only really good for 15-17mbps sustained data rates and won't stream 720p stuff perfectly. I think you'd be lucky to get HD streaming working perfectly over wireless.

Bry · 6 Jul 2009 at 20:20

use Wireless N for streaming HD Media myself and dont have any problems. I guess though it all depends on how far away you are.

MadMatty · 6 Jul 2009 at 23:34

Also important that all devices work at n speeds else the whole wireless network will drop to the speed of the slowest device (when enabled).

LordSplodge · 7 Jul 2009 at 12:10

MadMatty said:
Also important that all devices work at n speeds else the whole wireless network will drop to the speed of the slowest device (when enabled).

That's why I have my network in 802.11n 2.4Ghz only mode and will be moving it to 5Ghz mode once I find a decent PCI adapter.

Or you can use a dual band router that keeps the G separate from the N.