Advice on choosing a 300N router for 76Mbps VDSL

[snadge]

Hello all

Iam helping a friend find a suitable router for a FTTC VDSL connection running at 76Mbps over wi-fi, he has a 300N class wi-fi card in his laptop and would like to get the best wi-fi router possible to sync with the VDSL modem to give him the 76Mbps speeds throughout his home..

Iam under the impression that most 300N class routers in 150N (20Mhz mode) are good for a MAX of 60Mbps and average 40Mbps so I thought that therefore with the router and laptop running in 300N (40Mhz) mode these figures (in theory) should double to 120Mbps max and 80Mbps average, which means a 300N setup should be good for 76Mbps throughput in an average sized home...in theory!! - but then looking at some of the test results I see on here it seems switching from 20Mhz to 40Mhz does almost nothing??

does he have to upgrade his laptop card (again) to dual-band 450/600/750/900 class spec?

so...does anyone know of a 300N class router that is reknown for its signal strength and throughput-per-distance that could support 76Mbps throughout a regular 2up2down home? if 300N on its own is not enough, can anyone advise of a dual-band router and one that has a Mini-PCI-E card available for laptops too...

thanks

[stevech]

You may find that throughput/speed is also, or mostly, constrained not by the WiFi router, but by the client device.

[snadge]

Originally Posted by stevech

You may find that throughput/speed is also, or mostly, constrained not by the WiFi router, but by the client device.

Thanks for your reply....

hence the need to match the devices, my friend has a 300Mbps card and has had it running at 270Mbps with his 270Mbps Netgear DG834N - so if he gets a 300N router he will/should get 300Mbps speeds

My main concern now is why these tests on this website show very little increase when switching from 20Mhz to 40Mhz - examples woudl be 60Mbps on 20Mhz mode then 65Mbps on 40Mhz mode? shouldnt it near enough DOUBLE?

thanks

[sfx2000]

3 stream routers will give you up to 216Mbps in skinny mode for 2.4GHz... something to consider if you have three stream clients...

2 stream routers will give you 150Mbps in skinny mode...

I've always considered N150 to be a single stream connection in fat mode...

Friends don't let friends use 40MHz (fat mode) channels in 2.4Ghz... 20MHz channels (skinny mode) is downright neighbourly...

[stevech]

Originally Posted by sfx2000

Friends don't let friends use 40MHz (fat mode) channels in 2.4Ghz... 20MHz channels (skinny mode) is downright neighbourly...

On that topic... I recall, perhaps incorrectly, that the WiFi alliance set a formal policy that WiFi compliance means auto-fall-back to 20MHz if any 11b/g/n-20MHz SSIDs exist that would conflict. Don't know how that could be implemented... it would require scanning 2/3 of the channels periodically to detect then comply. Or doing it once at setup-time compliant with WiFi? Or did this policy never exist- as a condition for WiFi compliance and thus, use of WiFi's logo? (This is not an FCC or IEEE issue).

Parallel: DFS compliance in that portion of the 5.4-5.8GHz band requires periodic rescanning - from FCC, not WiFi.

[snadge]

@ sfx2000 - thats theoretical link speed though, Iam on about actual bandwidth because he may be getting 76Mbps throughput and would like that available over wifi, as 150N links are say 40-60Mbps it would require FAT mode or dual-band... but the test results on here show that FAT mode makes little too no difference? this is what Iam trying to verify...and how?

most 40Mhz routers have AUTO (20/40) or 270/300 (40)
or
20 - 20/40 - 40 modes

20 = skinny
20/40 = FAT unless other networks are detected within your 40Mhz range then it drops too 20 (skinny)
40 = FAT (40Mhz) regardless...forced

using inSSIDer you can sometimes see neighbours networks saying 1+5 then 1 back and forth... thats 20/40 mode in operation, a bit pointless because it means routers resources are spent monitoring channels for other networks.

my friend does not see any neighbouring networks anywhere around his home using N class card, so he could use 40Mhz mode without affecting others...

his card in laptop is a 2 stream (2x2) card, I dont think it has a port for a third antenna? would like to know more about that

so can anyone explain why test results on this website show barely any difference between 20Mhz (skinny) and 40Mhz (fat) modes..?

thanks