QUOTE(Boy96 @ Aug 6 2012, 08:05 PM)
How would wireless N effect coverage? My current router also supports N but got problems with my iPad and PS3
QUOTE(sohlican @ Aug 6 2012, 10:19 PM)
But not all N routers are well optimized. Theoretically N will double the distance and nowadays provide speeds up to 300Mbps but it's still very very limited to the firmware and hardware of the router. In some situations a classic G router might even outperform an N router in speed, coverage and consistency. When TM just launched UniFi, my friend was one of the first to get it... Living in 2 story house the upper floor suffer disconnection with laptop and sometimes undetectable with Iphone n wireless dongle. I used InSSIDer to check and found out the B/G mode's signal is stronger about 5dBi than B/G/N... thus set it to B/G mode 20MHz and the connection was stable for the laptop and apple devices. But that was quite some time ago with the 1st firmware...
Also there was a 40Mhz setting bug which prevented some devices from connecting properly. When a connection is established, the device needs to signal the router whether it is capable of transmitting in 40Mhz mode as part of the handshake. Some high end routers will allow the incapable device to connect to the main 20Mhz, while still broadcasting in 40Mhz. Some will completely drop to 20Mhz. Some might fail to do anything, thus preventing the connection to even be established. This is usually a firmware problem. Also, 40Mhz does not mean more speed or coverage instantly. If the router is in a noisy environment (many AP broadcasting around it) 40Mhz might cause more interference and the router has to drop wireless packets. Also to mention, if the router has a lousy controller, enabling 40Mhz will degrade the SNR of the connection because it induces too much noise.
An analogy would be using cheap speakers, turning up the volume all the way, u get cracking and distortion and the music turns into noise, which makes it harder for you to hear what's being transmitted into your ears.
Anyone else having problem with N connectivity and speeds can try checking their router and make sure WMM is enabled, and security must be WPA2 + AES cipher ONLY. The N spec requires this security mode to operate at full speed. Unless you have really outdated device that cannot utilize WPA2/AES, then use the multiple modes. But this means that if that device is connected, you'll never get full N.
QUOTE
Quite a good software for basic wifi testing:
http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/just sharingÂ
This post has been edited by andrew9292: Aug 7 2012, 02:05 AM