Wireless 'N' Compatibility Issues

[Al_G]

Hey!

Just swapped ISPs and O2 accidently sent out a Wireless 'N' router instead of their normal b/g router (oooops).

All my PCs and laptops can see and connect to the network with the exception of my HP desktop which is roughly 5 years old. I changed the router configuration from 802.11b/g/n to 802.11b/g and all of a sudden my desktop could see the network.

I presumed all 'N' routers were compatible with older cards (Accton Wireless PCI 802.11b/g adaptor WN4201B in this case)?

Bit shite really as my works laptop runs an 'N' card so it means I can't take full advantage of the routers capabilities...

Any way around this?

Anyone had any similar issues?

 

[Tom]

You found the way round it.

If its just for internet you wont notice the difference.

 

[Al_G]

You found the way round it.

If its just for internet you wont notice the difference.

So its a bit of a farce then?

 

[Tom]

It is if you dont have 802.11n stuff.

 

[Al_G]

It is if you dont have 802.11n stuff.

Oh yes, no i dont have a n PCI card in my desktop but unfortunately I have one in my works lappy....

ahhhh well, guess its just an excuse to upgrade...

btw does the MBP come with a 'N' card installed. I can't seem to find an definitive answer on the apple site (probably because I'm blind)

 

[Tom]

Yup, its Draft N, but it should still work.

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html

(Communications)

 

[Ste Hughes]

you will hardly be on N anyway

it changes sometimes to give you the best connection

you will only use 'N' when you are a far away from the router

they really are a gimmick in the home environment

 

[Tom]

Its not a gimmick if everything you have is 802.11n enabled.

Someones been watching too many BT ad's

 

[Andy.]

You found the way round it.

If its just for internet you wont notice the difference.

By internet, you don't mean downloading I take it? I have to use N or else I can't make full use of my bandwidth. Just browsing would not make an ounce of difference though, I agree.

 

[Tom]

Sorry i was trying to over simplify

 

[KDF]

By internet, you don't mean downloading I take it? I have to use N or else I can't make full use of my bandwidth. Just browsing would not make an ounce of difference though, I agree.

What speed is your internet connection ? the fastest is 50mbit by virgin just now.. and if you have that then I would agree your downloads would suffer, but if your not even on 20mbit then G will be more than sufficient.

 

[blackpanther]

If your going to use 'N' Then to get best results rather than setting it to b,g,n it needs to be set to 'N' only, that way you will get your 300Mbps connection between the p.c and router. Setting it to b,g,n it devides the signal to 56k for 'G' and 125k for 'N'.
I have 95% of my network on 'N' now and just the odd thing still on 'G' so i have 2 routers, one just set to 'G' and the other set to 'N' so the whole network run's as quick as it can.

 

[blackpanther]

Also, its easy to upgrate to 'N' for your HP, just get a 'N' network card or 'N' usb stick for it.

 

[Andy.]

What speed is your internet connection ? the fastest is 50mbit by virgin just now.. and if you have that then I would agree your downloads would suffer, but if your not even on 20mbit then G will be more than sufficient.

I'm on 50Mb, with 80/120 on the way for Q1 next year.

 

[dk]

that o2 router is s**t btw, i have one and it has crap wireless capability.

I am on 21mb internet, and with a wired connection i get a constant 21mb download, if i switch to wireless, my download is so erratic, goes from 21mb to 2mb, very randomly.

And thats with the router no more than 2m from the pc, it won't even service my 1 bed flat.

I've heard lots of people have wireless problems with this router though, so i might call o2 and get them to swap it first before i invest in my own router.

 

[Al_G]

that o2 router is s**t btw, i have one and it has crap wireless capability.

I am on 21mb internet, and with a wired connection i get a constant 21mb download, if i switch to wireless, my download is so erratic, goes from 21mb to 2mb, very randomly.

And thats with the router no more than 2m from the pc, it won't even service my 1 bed flat.

I've heard lots of people have wireless problems with this router though, so i might call o2 and get them to swap it first before i invest in my own router.

Completely agree that the router is erratic when running wirelessly. Theres a problem with the wiring in my flat meaning that if I use any of the sockets (with the exception of the BT test socket) I only get 2.5mb. When I run the router off the test socket I get around 9mb. Only problem with running the router of the test socket is that I have to run wirelessly as the socket is by the front door (making cabling very difficult/messy).

The O2 router also doesnt just have an "N" option. The highest setting is 802.11b/g/n which is also quite annoying.

 

[Longy]

I've done a lot of testing of late with Wireless N - different routers and NIC's - finding the right solution for customers. If it says you connect at 300Mbs then don't believe it, I tested the throughput on a lot of gear and your lucky to see 30Mbs (running N mode only and 20/40ghz). All I can say is N isn't that great/leap I was hoping for and no it doesn't extend the range.

 

[dk]

which coould be the reason its still in draft mode and hasn't been ratified yet, not reliable enough?

 

[Longy]

It has been given the green light DK

End of October it got published.

 

[dk]

oh right, missed that.

 

[Padso]

Are you sure the WiFi card in the HP laptop just doesnt work with the wireless security settings the router uses?

I see this all the time with old adaptors in older laptops not detecting networks and when they do not connecting to them because of ourdated security firmware.

 

[Al_G]

Are you sure the WiFi card in the HP laptop just doesnt work with the wireless security settings the router uses?

I see this all the time with old adaptors in older laptops not detecting networks and when they do not connecting to them because of ourdated security firmware.

Yup doesnt work even if I turn off the security. Only way I can ge it to work is if I alter the interface type from 802.11b/g/n to 802.11b/g