Rant: NETGEAR, Your WIFI routers are giving me a headache!

Well I dont disagree with the frustration you feel what you miss here is that there are wifi performance standards described coupled with various models that operate with those standards. This is not any different then when you look at a PC model that comes in different speeds with different memory. Same model different config. When you look at Apple as an example a MacBook Pro 13 is the model. Then there are several flovors of speed, memory, disk size etc.

But let me try and help you understand this better.

The terms N450, N600, N900 mean this. The wifi standard is N. The TOTAL potential speed of all bands (there are 2 bands. 2.4 ghz and 5ghz) is the number. Now what you arent told the maximum speed of a radio band channel is 150mbs. This is where it can get confusing. If the maximum speed is 150mbs and you have a single band N router (ie 2.4ghz only) the the rating would be N300. 150mbs send +150mbs receive =300mbs. If it is a dual band router (2.4ghz and 5.0ghz) the you would be 150mbs send +150mbs receive =300mbs for the 2.4ghz band and then add 150mbs send +150mbs receive =300mbs for the 5ghz band would equal a total of 600mbs.

Where it gets really confusing is when you go above N600 as new technology has emereged the N standard has allowed additional channels to the 5ghz band which allow multiple radios to operate simultaneous thus allowing performance above 600. These routers do require newer client devices to take advantage of this new technology.

Lastly I will say the terms N300-Nxxx is not a Netgear nomenclature. It is an industry wide approach.

None the less it is confusing but I hope this helps.

Regards,

Bob Silver
Negear AV Consultant

I bought a refurbished Netgear N600 WNDR3700 v2 on Amazon about nine months ago. I haven’t yet got around to using some of its more advanced features, but, so far, it’s been an absolutely perfect product. – Easy set up; good range, and not one single problem in my nine months of use.

I was pretty confident in buying a refurb v2 because I had read that it had initially been released with a firmware flaw that caused a significant problem. Netgear released new firmware that fixed the problem, but lots of the first v2s were returned by the original buyers. (Fwiw, I seem to recall reading something back then that made me want to avoid the v1, but I don’t remember the details now.)

I assume the v3 and v4 are just improved updates that would be just like my v2, but with some improvements.

Bob - I've seen your work here and appreciate it. I can say that it has lead to several Netgear purchases partly because I know I can get help here from you if I really need it

I have an Ipad mini on order. It has the dual 802.11n capability. Two questions: 1st, how can I know how many channels the mini can make use of? 2nd, at what point will it be as fast as a wired 10/100 connection, so no further speed would be seen?

On another issue, what model would make a good replacement for my FiOS provided router, should I want to do that?

I don't need any storage capability as I have a RNDP400U for that.

Thanks, another Bob

Thanks for your kind words.

I have an iPad Mini so I suppose I can give you 1st hand experience with it. I also am using a multi radio N router. I have looked and not found what "magic" Apple did with their wireless on the mini and iPad 4g. I can only assume they went to a multi radio format. (Newer N technology routers like the Netgear WNDR4300 WNDR4500, R6200, R6300 use multiple radios on the 5ghz band which allows for either better coverage or with compatible clients additive speed) but I havent been able to find anything definitive on the ipad. I also have an iPad 2 which I have been living with for the past year or so.

That said the wireless performance of the iPad 2 and the Mini are quite good. The reason is they have both dual bands (dont confuse this with the number of radios). The 2.4ghz and the 5ghz. I always use the 5ghz band for devices that I play media on and the 2.4ghz band for everything else. As a result I have always experienced good speeds. But I have no benchmark to compare the 2. But I also want to pint out that 2.4g has longer range then the 5ghz band. Higher band shorter range. But is it less crowded and therefore has far less interference thus better performance.

I also want to clarify your question about channels. There are many channels in the 5ghz band and 11 in the 2.4ghz band. What this means is that you can have multiple signals coexist in the same area without interference (ideally) This is part of the wireless implementation. So all iPads utilize the appropriate number of channels. And in the 5ghz area I leave mine set to auto. That way I let the router and device figure out the best and clearest channel selection. The 2.4ghz is another matter entirely. There are only 11 channels in the 2.4 range (versus >150 in the 5ghz band). Because of the limited channels in the 2.4 band interference is much more likely. That I set manually. But back to the iPads nothing you need to be concerned with. They work just fine particularly when you connect vis the 5ghz band..

Regarding when wireless will equal wired speeds we are fast approaching that. There is a new emerging standard called AC. It is still in draft form but it will certainly meet the speeds of a wired connection when all is working properly. But for your needs it wont have any benefit as the iPads dont utilize AC. They use the current N standard which candidly is good enough for anything you would do on it.

The router I would suggest you look at is the new Netgear WNDR4300. It is like the multi radio WNDR4500 but with a little less output power and costs about $30 less. It is one of the best selling products from Netgear at this time. It sells for $119 and can be gotten at any reseller who sells Netgear products like Amazon or Best Buy.

I hope I didnt confuse you more but wireless is emerging fast and with it many new products and specs. But as a user what we care about is will it do what I want. I think that with an iPad and a WNDR4300 router you will not have to think about wireless again for a long time to come.

And I really like my iPad Mini. The size is just right. Havent touched my iPad 2 since I got it.

Bob Silver
Netgear AV Consultant

Thanks for the detailed reply!

With 802.11n bonded on 40MHz 5GHz channel you should be able to get Ethernet throughput of 125Mbps.