SOLVED Router Settings

[julio99]

I just got done taking a E900 Linksys router back to the store because one of my Acer laptops could not get the speed right. I re-hooked my old Wrt54g back up which is basically a g router. Someone told me to go and look in device manager-properties advanced and I would be able to tell the basic network card settings. I see that on my 2 year old Acer 8943g it has 802.11b Preamble and 802.11 adhoc n. The 5 year old Acer 5100 has 802.11b Preamble and a Wireless mode of 11g and 11b. I guess I am trying to figure out the best settings for the router I have now which is the wrt54g. Should I set it for mixed; b only; g only? If I do go for a new router what would I be best off buying? With this old laptop I don't think it will ever work well with an n router, so what would I buy? Something like a dual band and set it for mixed so the new laptop works with n and the old one with b or g? This can really be confusing.

 

[TrainableMan]

Please explain what you mean by "could not get the speed right"?

There are different wireless standards: A B G N. Any wireless-N router should negotiate A, B, G, or N. Any wireless-G router should do A, B or G. Any A or B routers should be thrown away, they are too old and too weak and lack security.

There are different frequencies 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Some routers can only do 2.4GHz, some can do both but only one at a time (which is often a problem if you have a newer computer network interface card (NIC) connected at 5GHz and an old computer attempts to connect at 2.4GHz - the old computer will fail until the 5GHz NIC lets go of the router), and the best routers can do both frequencies simultaneously.

There are different encryption methods: WEP, WPA, WPA2 ... listed weakest to strongest. WEP encryption is easily cracked and should be avoided if possible but some older devices may only be able to use this security method.

Your best bet is to buy a Wireless-N router that supports Simultaneous 2.4GHz & 5GHz frequencies and if possible use WPA2 encryption (if all your devices support it).

 

[julio99]

Please explain what you mean by "could not get the speed right"?

There are different wireless standards: A B G N. Any wireless-N router should negotiate A, B, G, or N. Any wireless-G router should do A, B or G. Any A or B routers should be thrown away, they are too old and too weak and lack security.

There are different frequencies 2.4GHz or 5GHz. Some routers can only do 2.4GHz, some can do both but only one at a time (which is often a problem if you have a newer computer network interface card (NIC) connected at 5GHz and an old computer attempts to connect at 2.4GHz - the old computer will fail until the 5GHz NIC lets go of the router), and the best routers can do both frequencies simultaneously.

There are different encryption methods: WEP, WPA, WPA2 ... listed weakest to strongest. WEP encryption is easily cracked and should be avoided if possible but some older devices may only be able to use this security method.

Your best bet is to buy a Wireless-N router that supports Simultaneous 2.4GHz & 5GHz frequencies and if possible use WPA2 encryption (if all your devices support it).

Train,
The router I was using, the new one that I took back, was a Cisco E900N and wasn't dual band. I believe it was only 2.4ghz. What I meant by the "Speed" was my ISP gives me 2.6MBs download speed and with the N router I was only able to attain that maybe 1 out of 4 speed tests. The small laptop I have has wireless mode 11g and 11b. Is that the reason that this laptop doesn't jibe with the N router? I just can't figure out why I couldn't get consistent top speed. I tested for malware and used namebench to get good DNS settings. The only thing I could think of was this older laptop wasn't compliant with aN router if that is possible. With this WRT54g linksys I get top speed on a speed test with both laptops and I have WPA2-AES encryption for security and I have Mixed for my wireless network mode which for this router is B&G. For all intents and purposes this old G router is doing just fine for what I need. The speed from my ISP can only be as high as what they authorize right?

 

[TrainableMan]

I try to help as best I can but I don't consider myself an expert on networking.

Your small laptop can only connect with protocol G or lower but it should negotiate that with the N-router and they should simply use G together so I don't know why it wouldn't get the proper throughput.

Range between the router and the computer can be a factor in the throughput so if the new router isn't as powerful I suppose you may be loosing more packets.

I agree, it wouldn't be OK to have a slower connection with an N than you get on your old G but, except for my thought of lost packets, I don't have enough knowledge to say why this might be happening. I would have done what you did and just taken it back. If you are getting the maximum speed your ISP offers on your old router and you are using the highest level encryption (WPA2-AES) then I don't think a new router will help you any.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help but I do think you did the right thing taking it back. I cannot believe all N-routers would have those same slower results but I cannot see an advantage to upgrading if you are achieving max speed now with your G.

 

[julio99]

You helped me just fine. I swapped a couple of ideas with you and basically you more less told me to stick with what works best and that is what I'm going to do. It was strange that the little laptop wouldn't act right with the Nrouter. It was just the cheapest one they have of that letter "N". I didn't want to spend a lot of money until I knew what was going on and then it comes back to "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Where have we heard that before in the Tech sector? People updating drivers just because.... you get wat I'm saying. Something I really need to work on is leaving my machine alone if there's nothing wrong with it. Thanks again TM:ciao:

 

[TrainableMan]

Well now, I do think up-to-date drivers are especially important for gamers and users who are getting BSODs. But it is important they are the correct drivers; I've helped numerous people where Windows update recommended the wrong driver and because the user had Automatic updates enabled and had treat recommended updates the same as critical updates checked (both the windows default settings), it caused problems where there weren't any before. It is best to get your drivers from the hardware manufacturer.

But in the case of your router, if you are getting the maximum throughput then I don't see where else you could go.

 

[julio99]

I know at times it is important to update drivers. However, if you are not a gamer and just using your machine for everyday stuff you hardly ever have to worry about updating drivers. You can get totally out of control doing that for no other reason than just doing it. I only update a driver now if there is some sign that there are performance changes or I get some kind of heads up from the manafacturer. Acer's drivers for my machine has pretty well stayed status-quo since I've had it.