Looking for faster WiFi...

[Cienja]

I am using a Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I have the following using the WiFi:

Nook
Kindle
three laptops
Wii
xBox 360
2 iPhones
iPod Touch
two wired PCs

All my wireless devices show 54mbps right now. Are newer routers faster? If so, which do you suggest?

Thanks!

 

[Emulex]

you can go faster with multiple access points on separate channels spread across your house - as long as you don't live in a crowded area. not sure where you are in utah but it seemed pretty crowded in park city last week even on the resorts.

site-survey (use dd-wrt router or pc tools to locate the neighbors distance(DB) and channel and map that around your house. place your routers(as access points) at ideal locations and buy a freakin router/ap with antennas that you can turn directionally or change.

or just upgrade your existing router to N and watch in a busy area - 65mbps w000t -

 

[Fardringle]

Many of the devices on that list can't do N so your first step is to do the site survey as Emulex said and look for channel(s) that aren't heavily overloaded. If changing the channel doesn't help, then placing additional access points around the house is an option to improve your signal strength and speed. Another thing you can do is buy an N router and use it as an access point (or use it as the main router and keep the WRT54G as an access point) and connect the laptops to the N router on a 5.4ghz channel (assuming the laptops have N wireless cards) and connect the other devices to the Linksys. This won't help the speed for the wireless devices like the Kindle, Nook, Wii, iPods, etc, but it should improve the speed for the laptops.

 

[Ross Ridge]

... and connect the laptops to the N router on a 5.4ghz channel (assuming the laptops have N wireless cards)

A lot of Wireless N laptops only support the 2.4GHZ band. You'd also need to ensure that Wireless N router was dual band, the cheaper ones are only single band.

 

[Cienja]

Cool. Good info. Thanks!