Team-BHP - On Wi-Fi & Routers

My friend who is more noob than me on this topic need some help.

He is taking a BSNL broadband connection and wants connections to his PC, laptop and tablets through WiFi. He does not want (/difficult) to have a wired connection from the modem(/router?) to the PC. BSNL is out of stock of modems so he have to buy from outside. What is he to buy? A wireless router with modem, right? Which is a good one? And what does he have to buy to connect the PC to WiFi? USB WiFi adapter?

Quote:

Originally Posted by thoma (Post 3341756)

Yes he has to buy a wireless modem router. The most VFM choice is Belkin N150 . comes with 3 years warranty . I am using it for past 2 years. Totally happy with it.

He does not need to do any modifications . The splitter is also provided in the box. Just ensure that he buys a modem plus router version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by unknown (Post 3341862)

What kind of router I need wifi router or wifi modem router ? I want to connect my ethernet cable connection.
I need to surf wireless internet on my laptop/smart tv & smart phone, wants to connect a hd to it to view on tv dlna, & wants to connect wireless printer to it, which router shpuld i buy ?
Is apple airport express any better ?

You will need a modem router if you have a ADSL line,ie , a telephone line like BSNL.

You need just a router if you have a Ethernet cable directly attached to your modem from your ISP

Quote:

Originally Posted by itwasntme (Post 3342207)

Guys, am running a TP Link TD8968 with my Airtel 8 mbps connection with 3 mobiles, an iPad, 2 laptops, a Chromecast and 2 IP cameras.

Want to buy a repeater for my drawing room. Which one should I go for? Am not very technical-minded so need plug and play options! Suggestions?

Repeaters are costly in India. Instead if would be cheaper if you can connect another WiFi router to existing one to get more coverage. Google for detailed instructions

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 3342224)

You will need a modem router if you have a ADSL line,ie , a telephone line like BSNL.

You need just a router if you have a Ethernet cable directly attached to your modem from your ISP

Repeaters are costly in India. Instead if would be cheaper if you can connect another WiFi router to existing one to get more coverage. Google for detailed instructions

Get a router which supports WDS (Wireless Distribution System). It is used for range extension.
Get more info here : http://www.tp-link.in/article/?faqid=227

Quote:

Originally Posted by itwasntme (Post 3342207)

Hi, bought this repeater from flipkart a month ago. Works great, just had to press a button to set it up.

Netgear WN3000RP Universal Wi-Fi Range Extender

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fillmore (Post 3341666)

Anyone here owning an Asus RT-N66U wifi router ?

Have you measured what wifi transfer speeds you are getting for local network access ?

Asus claims upto 900mbps transfer rates.

However I am getting 6mbps transfer speed on the local n/w. i.e. have a USB HDD hooked to the router, and the transfer is from this disk to my laptop via wifi.

I have a friend who has the same model, he too reports same speeds.

Contacted Asus support, and tried all their instructions/ upgrading firmware etc..
Nothing helped.

Signal strength is excellent , No barriers in-between, security set to WPA-2

Thanks @binand for your post above.
I tried on the 5GHz mode also, still same speeds.

-Fillmore.

Hi Fillmore - I am sailing in the same boat. Although since my usage is less, I have not tried exploring why this is the case. I am running the custom firmware from smallnetbuilder.com. But the speed is not that great. I am not sure whether I have a lemon on my hands but it's doing the job as of now when it comes to streaming music/movies. I also need to explore why it stutters when playing large mkvs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalpeshc (Post 3342817)

Hi Fillmore - I am sailing in the same boat...speed is not that great. I am not sure whether I have a lemon on my hands but it's doing the job as of now when it comes to streaming music/movies. I also need to explore why it stutters when playing large mkvs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbp (Post 3060385)

Just one advice, please buy Asus RT66U,
I have a tablet, laptop and my plasma connected to it, the router simultaneously downloads torrents and also streams 720p and 1080p movies from a 500 GB hard disk connected to it. ..

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaush666 (Post 2944651)

Got the ASUS RT-N66 a week ago and boy am I loving the signal! It is FREAKING awesome! ..

Cheers,
Kaushik

@rbp & @Kaushik , Can you please confirm what transfer speeds are you getting for local intranet transfers ? i.e. files from your HDD connected to the router ?

If you are getting > 6mbps we would be interested in checking out your settings. :thumbs up

Quote:

Originally Posted by rk_sans (Post 3344038)

Anybody has used this router with Airtel 4G Dongle. Please give your feedback. There are mixed reviews in the website where for some it worked and some it has not.

Given that most (all?) Android phones have tethering available, I'm not sure of the need for such a device. Just convert the mobile phone into a Wifi hotspot and share 3G/4G connection?

Plus, I have heard that Airtel 4G in Bangalore at least is speed-restricted to 10 Mbps, which makes the premium over 3G exorbitant for very little benefit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fillmore (Post 3343192)

Your laptop/desktop wifi adapter might not be compatible with the ac standard. It might be only 300mbps n or even worse. As a result, you'll never see ac throughput. Even with 3 channel ac on 5GHz, expect a max transfer rate of 20 megabytes a second, no more than that.

Forgot to mention, the above is true only for the rt-ac66u. For the wireless n router, rt-n66u you'll never get more than 6-8mbps on a single connection. 900mbps is the theoretical max when servicing 3 clients. Each client can have a max theoretical transfer rate of 300mbps and since its wifi, there are various margins, collision etc. After accounting for all those, the absolute max speeds on 300mbps wifi-n routers I've seen is 10 megabytes a second when there are absolutely no other wifi networks in the area.

Also for asus routers, it is best to install dd-wrt or openwrt. Their default firmware is absolute rubbish. I've been using an rt-n16u for a very long while now. Its a decent router, nothing spectacular. With dd-wrt, it is very very stable with no drops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos (Post 3344127)

Yes I got that, I was not comparing to 802.11ac but just checking the max I would get on 802.11n. I guess 6mbps is the max I can expect.

Initially I got carried away with the hype in the reviews where people talk of 300 mbps etc.. which is total BS. Who cares about Theoretical parallel speeds. :Frustrati

I did some more checks. Via Ethernet connection also the speed is around 6mbps transfer. So its not the Wifi, but the router throughput speed itself with is the issue.
However even with 6mbps speed, I am able to stream upto 2gb files over the wifi with no stuttering.

Maybe I need to check with dd-wrt or openwrt as you say, if I get 15mbps speed also should be good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binand (Post 3344103)

I think you got me wrong here.
I want to use the 4g dongle as wifi, so that i can connect multiple laptops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rk_sans (Post 3344297)

I think you got me wrong here.
I want to use the 4g dongle as wifi, so that i can connect multiple laptops.

That is what I meant by tethering. It is the technology available in the phone using which you can turn the phone into a mobile hotshot where multiple laptops can connect and share the mobile data connection.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethering