Would this router improve my wireless internet speed

Spudzzmurphy · 11-04-2014 12:52pm #1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WDR4900-Wireless-Gigabit-450Mbps/dp/B00ATB28SM/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Was just wondering if this cable router would improve my wireless internet speed,i am on UPC 120Mbps,in fairness I am getting a good service from them,but every now and then I get a limited service prompt,I then just disconnect and the reconnect from my computer and all is well until the next reconnection.
Has anyone used this router ??

Dravokivich · 11-04-2014 12:58pm

What are you using for connecting from your PC? You also need to think about how fare away it is from the router, and how thick any walls are between the PC and the router.

who_me · 11-04-2014 3:03pm

I have a very similar model (N750 so up to 750Mbps total bandwidth, yours has up to 900Mbps), and it's excellent. It does depend a lot on what you're connecting to it. Try and find the technical details of the Wifi on your laptop, phone tablet etc to find out if they support 5GHz, and MIMO, and if they do then this router should help you a lot.

For more details: what's really important is being able to turn on 'wide channels', but you can't do this in the 2.4GHz band as there are so many 2.4GHz networks that it results in too much interference. The 5GHz band is almost unused (in my experience) so there's no problem using wide channels and getting the speed boost. MIMO (using multiple antennae to support multipath signals) can boost Wifi speeds by ~100% too.

Of course, if you have very new devices that support AC Wifi, you should go for an AC router which would be faster again.

Wabbit Ears · 11-04-2014 4:49pm

That's way to much to spend on a wireless N access point!!! Youd be looking at spending 25 quid or so on one of them online.

You want to buy an access point (wireless router) that supports wireless AC/b/g/n and has a gigabit connection.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZyXEL-NBG6503-Simultaneous-Wireless-Router/dp/B00D9EZ4DW/ref=sr_1_16?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1397231531&sr=1-16&keywords=ac+router+wireless#productDetails

who_me · 11-04-2014 7:25pm

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

That's way to much to spend on a wireless N access point!!! Youd be looking at spending 25 quid or so on one of them online.

You want to buy an access point (wireless router) that supports wireless AC/b/g/n and has a gigabit connection.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZyXEL-NBG6503-Simultaneous-Wireless-Router/dp/B00D9EZ4DW/ref=sr_1_16?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1397231531&sr=1-16&keywords=ac+router+wireless#productDetails

Good value, but weirdly that AC router's specs are worse than the N router (max rate of 750Mbps vs. 900Mbps for the N router). Some AC routers offer 1300 + 450 on different bands for a total of 1750Mbps. Not sure why that one is so "slow".

Spudzzmurphy · 12-04-2014 2:54pm

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

That's way to much to spend on a wireless N access point!!! Youd be looking at spending 25 quid or so on one of them online.

You want to buy an access point (wireless router) that supports wireless AC/b/g/n and has a gigabit connection.

Something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZyXEL-NBG6503-Simultaneous-Wireless-Router/dp/B00D9EZ4DW/ref=sr_1_16?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1397231531&sr=1-16&keywords=ac+router+wireless#productDetails

Thanks to you all for your replies.

With the unit in the above link,is it just a matter of plug in and connect,or would it be difficult to set up,I am a bit restricted with 5GHz as my Laptop has a 5GHz capable WiFi card the other two devices cannot only 2.4GHz.
Would you have any idea why I get "limited service" every now and then.

Thanks in advance.

srsly78 · 12-04-2014 2:58pm

Doesn't matter what you buy if you can't set it up. Better off paying someone savvy to sort it out for you. This is pretty easy for anyone technical.

Things you want:
Proper lan infrastructure linking equipment - ideally gigabit ethernet, but many people get good results with AV500 powerline adapters.
TWO wireless access points - one for old devices, another for new. Alternatively some of the more expensive models can run 2 at the same time. Note this does not mean "mixed mode".
QoS configured on router - (quality of service) - this means if someone starts downloading, they won't hog the whole line and degrade service.

Wabbit Ears · 12-04-2014 4:55pm

Spudzzmurphy wrote: »

Thanks to you all for your replies.

With the unit in the above link,is it just a matter of plug in and connect,or would it be difficult to set up,I am a bit restricted with 5GHz as my Laptop has a 5GHz capable WiFi card the other two devices cannot only 2.4GHz.
Would you have any idea why I get "limited service" every now and then.

Thanks in advance.

Basically yes, Although you would have to turn OFF Dhcp on the new router or it would cause peoblems. You may want to have someone do that bit for you but basically yea, That device should let you do exactly what you want without dropouts.

Spudzzmurphy · 12-04-2014 5:48pm

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

Basically yes, Although you would have to turn OFF Dhcp on the new router or it would cause peoblems. You may want to have someone do that bit for you but basically yea, That device should let you do exactly what you want without dropouts.

Thanks mate,thats all I needed to know.

who_me · 14-04-2014 12:55pm

Spudzzmurphy wrote: »

Thanks to you all for your replies.

With the unit in the above link,is it just a matter of plug in and connect,or would it be difficult to set up,I am a bit restricted with 5GHz as my Laptop has a 5GHz capable WiFi card the other two devices cannot only 2.4GHz.
Would you have any idea why I get "limited service" every now and then.

Thanks in advance.

The router in the original post is simultaneous dual band, so it creates two networks (in my case, I included "2.4GHz" and "5GHz" in the network names so I knew which one to connect to).

On your laptop you'll see both networks, so connect to the 5GHz for best speed, or use the 2.4GHz if you're ever a long way from the router and need a better signal. On the older devices, you'll only see the 2.4GHz network.

Spudzzmurphy · 14-04-2014 1:31pm

who_me wrote: »

The router in the original post is simultaneous dual band, so it creates two networks (in my case, I included "2.4GHz" and "5GHz" in the network names so I knew which one to connect to).

On your laptop you'll see both networks, so connect to the 5GHz for best speed, or use the 2.4GHz if you're ever a long way from the router and need a better signal. On the older devices, you'll only see the 2.4GHz network.

Thanks mate,good to know.

Would this router improve my wireless internet speed

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