802.11n and the 5GHz band (stability)

olterman · #1 (**permalink**) 09-28-2009, 04:19 PM

Hi,

Firstly I don't know if this is about HW but currently I live in an area with almost 30 strong wireless 802.11g networks. I've tried Linksys WRT54GL (with with and without dd-wrt software) and also other two different HW from different manufacturers. The problem is that the connection stays for 30 min. to max. 3 hours, after that it's not possible there is a very long delay before the connection starts to work.

When there are around 20 wireless networks present the connection is somewhat stable. However I can't predict it. The connection works better with some channels if I fix it but autochannel doesn't work at all (it tries to hop too much).

Now my question is if you update my gear with 802.11n (expensive process), and to the 5GHz band, will this make the repetitive channel hopping go away with 30 strong networks (if these folks also move their gear to 802.11n in the worst case)? How well the 802.11n is managing multiple networks with 6-10 active users on the same channel? Are there differences with different 802.11n routers / PCMCIA cards with the "stability" with multiple users?

I've seen people say buy 802.11n because it's fast but I have different reasons to try it

Thanks.

wifila · #2 (**permalink**) 10-17-2009, 10:54 PM

currently consumer grade 802.11n is in the same band as your regular access point, 2.4Ghz, so upgrading to n without moving to a new frequency will not really help you. So you have the right idea but 5GHz 802.11n is quite pricey for what you are looking to do.

Options:
1) Buy a 2.4GHz spectrum analyzer, (Metageek 2.4x is a good one) find the channel that has the least interference and fix your AP to that channel.

2) Just buy a consumer grade 802.11a access point. Be sure however that you clients have 802.11a wireless cards.