Efficiency of Wireless routers.

Question

The only experience I've had with any wireless computer device is a mouse and it really sucked. Its reception was limited to within 30 cm of the adapter which is just ridiculous.

Anyway, how efficient are most moderately priced (100-150 dollars) wireless routers? Do you get as high a net speed as you get from a normal DSL cable? And how far can you usually take the lappy away from the router and still get awesome speed? Lastly, how significant are walls/doors when using such routers?

Answer 1

Well 100-150 you can get a pretty good Router right now i run 802.11n Which is known to be fastest and best quality. Its very nice to have but if you decide to buy it stay away from the 2.4GHz .. please. Try to find one that runs at 5GHz if you can otherwise you get interference with Cordless phones, microwaves, and airport radars (if they are in your area). Speed with the 802.11n are really nice even faster than a standard Cat5 cable that runs at 100Mbps. My adapter can run at about 300Mbps triple as fast as a land line. Distance you should beable to go outside on a porch or something and connect fine with it. Now you talk about walls that's not the concern. The real concern is levels if your upstairs or downstairs the range of yoru wireless is like an oval shape  (_) like that but some are preset to go up and down or side ways, therefore, if your upstairs you would have to switch that so that the signal is being sent out a different way like it is in the little picture. Otherwise it works fantastic if you configure everything correct of course.

Answer 2

asus wl-520g

near access point - speed about 6 MB/sec

10 meters, 2 walls - speed about 2-3 MB/sec

20 meters, 1 wall - speed about 1 MB/sec

which is more faster, then DSL cable speed :)

Answer 3

i have a wireless router downstairs and have used the laptop wifi connection to it up 2 flights of stairs in my bedroom no problem :) .  Just pointed its little Ariel in right direction also  Internal walls are thin here as long as you do not have thick solid walls cannot see a problem.

I think you can buy booster signal things as well .

Answer 4

If your looking at spending 100-150 dollars then you will be able to get a nice router in which you will be able to go outside with your laptop. I have a nice wireless router that ran me about 120 dollars and i can take my laptop across the street and still get a solid connection. Also now  a days walls and doors dont really effect your connection unless you have solid concrete walls in which you will have problems. Also if you do go this route make sure when you set up the router and network to include a wep or wpa encryption password for security. good luck and happy connecting.