Solved Wireless Draft-N vs Wireless-G

goblin1 said:
Hi,

Newbie here.

I was wondering, is there really much benefit to connecting via Wireless-N as opposed to Wireless-G? Will I notice the difference? I'm on a 10mbit connection, with a Draft-N router, but my desktop isn't Draft N-compatible, but.. I'm not sure if I'd see much of a difference if it was.

I'm considering NWD-170N Draft N (1.0) 300Mbps Laptop PC Card 91-005-159001B ZyXEL Overview
.. any thoughts?

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

Hi, there are 3 major improvements that N as over G WiFi:

  1. The speed, I changed routers last year from G to N and I'll never go back, the speed boost wwas realy noticeable and is more consistant than G in my opinion.
  2. The Distance covered, there used to be one corner of my house that couldn't quite scrape a WiFi signal using G but once I changed to N it got a full 2 bars which is still more than enough to carry my 6.4Mb/s internet connection comfortably.
  3. The reliability, I have had big, big, big problems in the past with WiFi reliability, sometime having to restart the router or WiFi card once or twice a day, but now I seldom have connection issues at all.

In terms of noticeability, it depends on your circumstances, how much traffic does your router have to handle etc, whether you move around the house or not etc.
If you're happy with your G connection speed then there's no need to upgrade, the chances are in most circumstances that the difference will be negligible.

The real thing I find that makes a difference is 5GHz WiFi (opposed to standard 2.4GHz WiFi although you do require a 5GHz WiFi card and a router that broadcasts on 5GHz which isn't practical for most people because it means extra money and little backwards compatibility with 2.4GHz only devices (unless you go for a really expensive simultaneous dual band router like Apple's Airport Express).

I hope this is of use to you.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
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    Memory
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    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
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goblin1 said:
Thanks for all the insight :)

I do a reasonable amount of file transferring around the network, so it may be beneficial for that.

I've since been told this - Linksys WMP600N WiFi 802.11 N Dual Band PCI Card (4260039348245) - would be more appropriate, since it's a) made for a desktop PC and b) Linksys-brand, like my router - agreed?
Click to expand...

When it comes to WiFi brand only means quality (or lack of) and not increased compatibility etc.

The fact it's dual brand means it's more versatile and future proof, but to take advantage of the 5GHz band you will need a 5GHz/dual band router router.

Large local network file transfers are one of the major improvements in N over G.

If you think it's worth the money and that you will utilise it by all means go and get it but your current G card won't be redundant any time soon.

Bare in mind that for file transfer speed to change both PCs need to have N WiFi cards.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS) External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
If that is the case and you think it would be worth while then get an 'N' card.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS) External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
No problem, I'm here to help :).

As you are new to the forum I thought you might like to know how to mark threads as solved as well as the uses of some of the other buttons.

To the top right of this post you will see 3 icons. An orange (+), a set of scales and a red and white warning triangle.

The orange (+) or blue (-) denotes whether a user is on or offline (orange = on, blue = off).

The scales are used to give rep points; click this button if someone has helped you significantly or solved your queries (only give this to posts that you think really deserve it).

The red and white warning triangle is used to denote either an abusive post OR to mark a thread as solved (just put solved in the box that comes up and the admins or moderators will mark it solved).

This thread is already marked solved so I wouldn't worry about it too much for this thread :p.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS) External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
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