Best Device to Extend WNDR3700 Network?

[Mars Mug]

Originally Posted by RocketJSquirrel

What problems? I find my "i" devices roam better between the 2 APs when using the same channel. iPhones & iPads seem reluctant to roam to the closer AP unless the 2 APs have the same settings.

If I was extending a network wirelessly I would try to use non-overlapping channels to reduce contention, but that of course depends on how many active wireless devices you have and their physical distribution. For home use with few devices it’s not really an issue unless there’s a lot of video streaming or suchlike going on. There should be no technical issue with using the same channel and SSID, the APs are distinguished by their MAC addresses. The only minor issue might be for someone who wants to connect to a specific AP but can’t tell the difference.

[Scubbie]

Originally Posted by RocketJSquirrel

What problems? I find my "i" devices roam better between the 2 APs when using the same channel. iPhones & iPads seem reluctant to roam to the closer AP unless the 2 APs have the same settings.

My info is based more on reports of computers becoming confused. I would like to try is myself, but don't live in a large enough property to really put it through a rigorous test with multiple APs.

As for the electric, sure each device does consume a small amount of electric and their consumption would add up to a large number if all put together. With this in mind, perhaps fitting Solar Panels to the roof or setting up your own wind-turbine would be a positive contribution to get around this?

[rstarr]

Thanks for all the info. I love coming back to a thread and finding so much help. A few things:

- Powerline adapters are out. I live in a very old house with old electrical. I have tried powerline type stuff before and gotten nowhere.

- I can very easily run Cat6 to the back of the house (and I already I have it on order from monoprice). So I don't need to wirelessly extend or use coax.

Simon0, your suggestion on the gigabit switch, is that between the modem and the routers? Then run cat6 from the switch to the 2 different WNDR3700s?

As of now, I'm leaning toward just getting another 3700 and hook it up as shown in the link jmizoguchi provided. That will give me N wifi speeds at the second 3700 router right? No halving of speeds because they are connected via cat6?

This will also give me the benefit of having ethernet ports available on my 2nd 3700 in the back of the house (the only downside of using the WN802T back there). Are there benefits of using the WN802T over the 3700 in the back? Ease of setup? Better handling of device IPs?

Thanks again for the help.

[jmizoguchi]

switch goes behind the router

WN802T are sill N AP but if you have 3700, get another 3700 an setup as AP will be suitable if you are going to use same SSID name

[rstarr]

Cool. That is what I will do. I will report back with success / problems. Thanks for all the help.

[Mars Mug]

If you run two ‘3700s in wireless range of each other then you will not be able to achieve the maximum wireless rate of 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (even if the option is set in the router), both routers will switch to 150 Mbps single channel operation (this is a WiFi requirement), I guess that won’t be an issue.

[rstarr]

Originally Posted by Mars Mug

If you run two ‘3700s in wireless range of each other then you will not be able to achieve the maximum wireless rate of 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (even if the option is set in the router), both routers will switch to 150 Mbps single channel operation (this is a WiFi requirement), I guess that won’t be an issue.

Grrrrrr. Seriously? That is PITA. Even if they are connected via cat6? I get some wifi signal from the main router in the back, but it is inconsistent.

Can this be avoided by using a different device (not another 3700)? Or by using a different SSID? I don't want to cut the speed of my entire wifi network in half.

[Mars Mug]

The routers need to use two channels on the 2.4GHz band to create a 40MHz wide channel, e.g. channels 1 and 6, 6 and 11, 2 and 7 etc. Two routers operating at that rate would therefore overlap on at least one channel in the band (channels 1 to 11). It is a WiFi requirement that in that situation, to avoid excessive contention between neighbouring networks, the routers should switch to single channel use and 20MHz bandwidth. Any device that does not do so is not WiFi compliant, and risks creating the situation that the requirement is designed to avoid.

You could perhaps use the 5GHz band on one router and 2.4GHz on the other, but that assumes you have 5GHz capable devices.

[rstarr]

Originally Posted by Mars Mug

The routers need to use two channels on the 2.4GHz band to create a 40MHz wide channel, e.g. channels 1 and 6, 6 and 11, 2 and 7 etc. Two routers operating at that rate would therefore overlap on at least one channel in the band (channels 1 to 11). It is a WiFi requirement that in that situation, to avoid excessive contention between neighbouring networks, the routers should switch to single channel use and 20MHz bandwidth. Any device that does not do so is not WiFi compliant, and risks creating the situation that the requirement is designed to avoid.

You could perhaps use the 5GHz band on one router and 2.4GHz on the other, but that assumes you have 5GHz capable devices.

Gotcha. That makes sense, but is still frustrating. Can I set one of the routers to single channel use intentionally so that the other can still use two channels? That way I only cut the speed in half for one of the routers?

[Scubbie]

Use a program such as inSSIDer to help you to work out which channels are available to you and which overlap with others.

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

From my perspective my router is configured to use channel #1 on the 2.4GHz range. The router also uses channel 5. The overlap is from -2 (not actually allocated) to channel #7.

If I were to use an additional AP, then I would have to set it to use channel 9 as it would then use #13. However in the USA & Canada #13 is not usable, so anyone there would have to use channel 7 on a 2nd AP.

The 5GHz range is much better, with the channel spaced further apart to reduce interference from neighbouring routers.