New Router - Dual Band - Home User

Mr Keek

Hi Forum, I'm looking for your Opinions/Thoughts.

I'm with Eircom, 8GB "uncongested" broadband.

Currently using their supplier router, but wondering if an upgrade is needed.

1) I'm having problems with Bluetooth speakers, and my Wifi breaking up, from my own research, this is because both Wifi & Bluetooth are working off the same 2.4 Ghz frequency. Dual band would be both 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz.

Am I correct in assuming if buying a new dual band router, this would solve the problem? Would this automatically fix itself, or would I have to configure my laptop and Tablets to connect to the internet in a certain way?

2) We are paying for 8GB broadband, but we actually get 6GB, I assume this is more of a phone line issue and a new router more than likely wouldn't help. But could getting a new router have any positive effect on our broadband speed?

3) I'm hoping to get a router that has a USB port, with the intention of permenantly connecting a regular USB hard drive so I could have storage on our own private network. Is this possible? Is it a big job, could I simply 'plug & play'?

At the moment, I'm looking at THIS ROUTER. What do ye think? Is this good or bad? Is it overkill for my needs?

And finally, what's the difference between the above router and, THIS ONE
That's a lot of questions, and I really appreciate it, free good Karma for anyone that can help!

dub45

Your last question first:The first one you link to has an inbuild adsl modem so it would totally replace your current eircom model. The second one is only a router so needs to be used with a modem (your Eircom model could be put in bridged mode to deal with this)

It is important that you establish the wifi capabilities of your current equipment - what is the wifi card in your laptop capable of for example? Not all "n" standard cards can use the dual band features.

Also bluetooth does not use wifi.

If you want to establish once and for all what your line is capable of speed wise then you need to get your line stats.

Also have you tried any other wifi channels to see if things improve?

Mr Keek

Thanks for your input dub45, I was aware of the WiFi/Bluetooth thing, I was really reffering that the WiFi Signal and blue tooth signal were using the same radio frequency, and thus interfering with each other, I was Hoping WiFi on the 5Ghz would removed that radio frequency interference. Similar to people's baby monitors interfering to their wifi.

I know both my tablets have the option to operate on either 2.4ghz, 5ghz or auto. Not to pushed about the laptop, it's rarely used for media consumption.

Where do I get my line stats from? My service provider? Is of that something I can get/check online?

With regards other WiFi channels, I've no clue what that's about, I'll do a bit of research about that and educated myself, thanks for the tip:-)

dub45

You should be able to get your line stats from your modem/router

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/linestats.htm

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/

JamBur

I have the TP-Link modem router. Its a great stable piece of kit with a suprisingly good feature set. The setup is a doddle as well. Mine will be looking for a new home soon though, I'm upgrading to a VDSL connection, so unfortunately my TP will need a new home. I use the USB functionality on this, it works well...... however a dedicated NAS would always have better performance.

Mr Keek wrote: »

Hi Forum, I'm looking for your Opinions/Thoughts.

I'm with Eircom, 8GB "uncongested" broadband.

Currently using their supplier router, but wondering if an upgrade is needed.

1) I'm having problems with Bluetooth speakers, and my Wifi breaking up, from my own research, this is because both Wifi & Bluetooth are working off the same 2.4 Ghz frequency. Dual band would be both 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz.

Am I correct in assuming if buying a new dual band router, this would solve the problem? Would this automatically fix itself, or would I have to configure my laptop and Tablets to connect to the internet in a certain way?

2) We are paying for 8GB broadband, but we actually get 6GB, I assume this is more of a phone line issue and a new router more than likely wouldn't help. But could getting a new router have any positive effect on our broadband speed?

3) I'm hoping to get a router that has a USB port, with the intention of permenantly connecting a regular USB hard drive so I could have storage on our own private network. Is this possible? Is it a big job, could I simply 'plug & play'?

At the moment, I'm looking at THIS ROUTER. What do ye think? Is this good or bad? Is it overkill for my needs?

And finally, what's the difference between the above router and, THIS ONE
That's a lot of questions, and I really appreciate it, free good Karma for anyone that can help!

bridster007

Mr Keek wrote: »

Thanks for your input dub45, I was aware of the WiFi/Bluetooth thing, I was really reffering that the WiFi Signal and blue tooth signal were using the same radio frequency, and thus interfering with each other, I was Hoping WiFi on the 5Ghz would removed that radio frequency interference. Similar to people's baby monitors interfering to their wifi.

I know both my tablets have the option to operate on either 2.4ghz, 5ghz or auto. Not to pushed about the laptop, it's rarely used for media consumption.

Where do I get my line stats from? My service provider? Is of that something I can get/check online?

With regards other WiFi channels, I've no clue what that's about, I'll do a bit of research about that and educated myself, thanks for the tip:-)

Assuming that interference is the root of the problem then separate bands would sort it. I use 5ghz band for my kitchen as microwave always plays havoc on 2.4 band. There is no special setup - you can normally disable one of the bands on the router so your device doesn't see it.

But, be aware that the WIFI signal on the 5 ghz band is not as strong as the 2.4 band, especially going through walls. So if you are far from the router you may end up with a worse signal.