- Mar 11, 2000
- 23,994
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I'd been having problems with reliability with my Trendnet access points (TEW-432BRP and TEW-452BRP) mating with my iOS devices, particularly the iPad 2. Periodically, esp. after sleep, I'd lose connectivity between the iPad and the net. To get it back I'd have to either cycle off/on WiFi, or else try to renew the DHCP lease. I tried all sorts of security combinations and various settings on the APs to no avail. Checking the WiFi settings on the iPad, it looked like it was sometimes losing the DHCP IP lease, but even if it had the lease sometimes I couldn't get onto the net. Setting a fixed IP address reduced the issues but didn't eliminate them. I also noticed this from time to time on the iPhone 4.
Finally, I saw a couple of mentions online to reduce the Beacon Interval on the access points to 50 (from the default of 100). So far this seems to have greatly reduced the problem. We'll see if the problem is completely gone or not with time, but the situation has certainly improved.
However, what I've also noticed is that with these 802.11g access points, my MacBook Pro speeds WiFi have gone from 16ish Mbps (but with lots of fluctuation) to 22-23 Mbps (usually solid above 20 Mbps in the same room). My understanding is that this is close to the real-world max of standard 802.11g, but nonetheless it's a 40% increase to what I was getting before.
Can it really be that easy, just by reducing the Beacon Interval?
I was going to upgrade to 802.11n (Buffalo WZR-HP-G300N with the Buffalo DD-WRT firmware), but at these speeds I think I may just stick with 802.11g for the time being, esp. if everything is working well now.
Finally, I saw a couple of mentions online to reduce the Beacon Interval on the access points to 50 (from the default of 100). So far this seems to have greatly reduced the problem. We'll see if the problem is completely gone or not with time, but the situation has certainly improved.
However, what I've also noticed is that with these 802.11g access points, my MacBook Pro speeds WiFi have gone from 16ish Mbps (but with lots of fluctuation) to 22-23 Mbps (usually solid above 20 Mbps in the same room). My understanding is that this is close to the real-world max of standard 802.11g, but nonetheless it's a 40% increase to what I was getting before.
Can it really be that easy, just by reducing the Beacon Interval?
I was going to upgrade to 802.11n (Buffalo WZR-HP-G300N with the Buffalo DD-WRT firmware), but at these speeds I think I may just stick with 802.11g for the time being, esp. if everything is working well now.