Upgrade wifi router from G to N ... 150 or 300 Mbps ??

[Fr3nc3sco]

Hello,
like subject, that's my doubt ... I ask you to shed some light on that!

My network receives a 10 Mbps ADSL connection, I wish to
improve the performance of my intranet, where I have 2 computers (a desktop
and a laptop) that I frequently use for file sharing (movies only
occasionally,
so no need of huge bandwidth) and a tv that I'd like to use for streaming
videos from my computers.
The TV interface supports the standard 802.11 N to 300 Mbps, while the 2
computers now have 802.11 G wifi cards which I'll upgrade to N 300 Mbps
(it's incredible but they cost slightly less than 150
Mbps ones !).

About the router, I'd like to keep the Linksys brand, I noticed the 150 Mbps
costs about 60 euros, instead the 300 Mbps about 120 euros ... what do you
think, is the issue worth it ?

Thank you all!
Franco

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

Hello,
like subject, that's my doubt ... I ask you to shed some light on that!

My network receives a 10 Mbps ADSL connection, I wish to
improve the performance of my intranet, where I have 2 computers (a desktop
and a laptop) that I frequently use for file sharing (movies only
occasionally,
so no need of huge bandwidth) and a tv that I'd like to use for streaming
videos from my computers.
The TV interface supports the standard 802.11 N to 300 Mbps, while the 2
computers now have 802.11 G wifi cards which I'll upgrade to N 300 Mbps
(it's incredible but they cost slightly less than 150
Mbps ones !).

About the router, I'd like to keep the Linksys brand, I noticed the 150 Mbps
costs about 60 euros, instead the 300 Mbps about 120 euros ... what do you
think, is the issue worth it ?

Thank you all!
Franco

If your internal network is going to remain wireless then you should see
an increase in your internal network throughput. You most likely will
not see any increase in your actual internet access unless the
individual PC's were being slowed down by other internal traffic while
accessing the internet.

As for picking a replacement router, Linksys (or Cisco since they own
them) do make some good machines. I would however consider possible
future upgrades in your network or rather the router's firmware. I
would go over to the DD-WRT web site and pick a Linksys/Cisco or other
brand that is being supported by this alternate firmware, even if you
don't want to use their firmware now. Having the ability of the router
using it is a good selling point should you later decide to sell the
router or want access to a feature that DD-WRT has that the original
manufacturer left out.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Cisco

Regardless of what brand/model router you pick, get one that has the
larger amount of RAM and Flash memory as they allow for a broader range
of features should you later decide to upgrade the firmware to actual
DD-WRT.

Just be sure to NOT pick a device that has "WIP" (Work in progress) in
the "min required DD-WRT version" column of the chart. It usually means
someone is trying to get that model working with the software but there
is no telling if or when they will get it actually functional.