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Home network....B or G to solve my problem?

A

algae

Senior member
My home network has a "G" router (Linksys) but a "B" USB Network Adapter on my pc in the basement. I have intermittent drops and am wondering if I get
a "G" USB Adapter instead, will the reception be better and more reliable? I know that the speed will be better but that's not that important to me.
Thanks for any info.

Gary
 
Well, since you are going to get a G USB adapter, you might be limited by the USB port's max speed. I suggest a G PCI adapter if you can get one for the same price or less.

EDIT: since you say reception is more important, you could try getting a USB extension cable to help raise the USB adapter up a bit from under your desk, or wherever it is now... I know might look funny, but it could help.

Some USB adapters don't get good reception anyway. Could be you have a model that just isn't very good...
 
As long as the device is USB 2.0, bandwidth will not be a problem and I can't imagine a Retailer/Mfg selling a 54 Mbps device on USB 1.1. USB will allow you to position the antenna much easier unless you get a PCI card that ships with a pigtail and antenna that you can position. G won't provide any better coverage as a technology but the lowest cell will be a whole lot faster than the lowest cell of a .11b infratstucture. Not to mention being able to set your AP at G only, assuming you don't have any other .11b clients.
 
Ok dude, before you go out spending any money, try this. The problem with these consumer APs that people are buying, is that they all default to channel 6 (well at least Linksys does). If you are the ONLY person in your area with wifi, then you're ok. The problem comes in when everyone around you starts buying these wifi setups for their homes. With everyone being on the same channel you are going to get collisions like crazy which eventually end up in dropped connections. Change your channel on your AP/router to a non-overlapping channel. Linksys comes default at channel 6 so be on the safe side and change it to channel 11. If you're connection is still dropping, get a 3rd party firmware for your AP that will allow you to increase the power on your AP.

Let me know how it goes.
 
Good point. You might try going out and getting something like netstumber. I believe they support a variety of USB clients these days. That will tell you what your wireless environment is like. If you have rogue AP's in your area and so forth. It's not collisions but interference can definitely cause you problems. Trying some things with your current infrastructure before spending additional money is a good suggestion.
 
Something easier to setup than netstumbler is Linksys's wifi monitor. Download the latest Linksys software for your adapter and it should include wifi monitoring. It will show all the APs in your area broadcasting their SSID and will give you the channel they are all on. 99% of these user's will be broadcasting their SSIDs so it should be easy to see what channel you need to change to.
 
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