Will I benefit from a new wifi router in my situation?
My family owns three laptops with 802.11n, and two old desktops which only have 802.11g. My current wifi antenna is an ancient Apple airport "snow" model, which only supports 802.11 a+b. Our internet is (as far as I know) only 1.5 Mbps, and the highest download rate I’ve ever seen (right next to the antennae, downloading from Steam) is 400kb/s, though most downloads cap around 200. The two older computers are upstairs, pretty much directly above the router, an the laptops move around the house. One room gets poor reception, which I suspect is the result of a large mirror near the entrance. Typical wifi performance on the newest laptop is:
RSSI: -70
Transmit Rate: 11
Will a new wifi antennae that supports the "n" standard improve our connection speed enough to justify the cost? And will "g" performance make a notable difference on our older computers?
One Response
Offensive Techni
28 Jun 2010
1.5 mbps gives you a theoretical download maximum of 192 KB/sec (Based on a T1 which is 1536 kbps instead of 1500).
If you’ve seen anything higher, it was probably cached beforehand (if you take more time figuring out where to save files and name them before clicking "OK to download", then your speeds will be off as the file has already started downloading in the background".
A new router won’t give you any more speed.
And no, a mirror won’t reflect wifi signals any more than a standard wall.