[Leaplist] Another HW Q: Wireless Router? -- WLAN Access Point (AP) instead

[Bryan J. Smith]

I looked further into that 'Ritter you posted.

One honestly has to question this 300Mbps speed when they
put 10/100 ports on the unit.  I'm seeing this more and more
and more.

I've actually found improved performance, range and reliability
with many 2.4GHz "G" 'Ritters when I cap the WLAN at 22Mbps,
instead of their marketed 54Mbps.  The combination of bridging
overhead and all sorts of signal degredation keeps reminding me
why the IEEE extensively designed, spec'd and tested 802.11g
for a certified and guaranteed maximum of 22Mbps.  Addendum
to the 802.11g specification only documents vendor extensions for
interoperability.

The only ratified 802.11 sub-committee standard that I know of that
was designed for 54Mbps is 802.11a, using shorter wavelength,
greater signal speed 5GHz.  Range is relevant, but 5GHz v. 2.4GHz
makes all-the-difference in performance v. range.  And 5GHz has
been a lot "cleaner" since less people use it (although it is not
world-wide).

There have been "MIMO" and other, non-IEEE designed extensions
that attempt to use more channels and mux things.  I've noted the
'Ritters don't have much power to deal with those as well, and
typically never give me more than 3MBps sustained (24Mbps).

The 802.11n draft is a multi-signal standard that takes 5GHz
of 802.11a, plus 2.4GHz of 802.11b/g, and some near-5GHz
of select locales, into a variable rate of performance, depending
on channels and signaling.

Again, microcontroller w/ASIC throughput + SRAM cache memory
-> performance.  If they are cutting corners on the ultra-cheapy
Ethernet PHY and only offering 10/100, don't expect much in
performance between systems.

In fact, I'm finding the really cheap "single attenae" 'Ritter units
cannot sustain more than 1.5MBps (12Mbps), which means they
are a bottleneck in my Internet access of 15Mbps+!

-- 
Bryan J  Smith           Professional, Technical Annoyance 
Linked Profile:         http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
Red Hat:  That 'other' American software company built on
open customer selection of options and value, instead of
controlled distribution channels of forced bundle and lock



----- Original Message ----
From: Bruce Metcalf <bruce.metcalf at figzu.com>

I'm ready to go wireless at home. Already have an IPCOP box with a Blue net, so that half's done. Now I need a way to connect that to the various wireless devices -- securely.
I've read carefully the rants about the difference between routers, "ritters", and access points, to very little constructive result.
Short question: Is this the sort of thing I want?

<http://tinyurl.com/nx8s8c>

'Nother short question: Good price?

Long question: If this isn't what I want, what is?

Need to act by 4pm to grab this price, so quick replies are appreciated.

Thanks,
Bruce


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