Wireless Router for Gaming?

Serendipity

As a casual gamer, I noticed that my wireless router sometimes slows the connection down as more users in the house are connected to it. As a result, I installed 2 access points so that only one computer is connecting to a single access point at a time. This made the connection faster, but it is still slower than directly connecting to the modem.

Attached is a picture of the main setup: The modem is connected to a wired router (not shown) and the access points are plugged into the 1-4 ports on the router. DHCP is turned off on everything but the modem, so I'm basically using the router as a switch.

Would a Netgear WNDR3700-NAS router improve the connection? Thanks!

JimAckley

In a short answer: It certainly wouldn't hurt. If you have everything else on your network set to run on G and run your Xbox and/or gaming comp on N, it will definitely help. That way the N side of things won't be full of traffic at all, not that it should matter, since N can run about 6 times faster than G. Personally, I'm a big Linksys junkie so I have the E3000. I have an Xbox 360S and even though it has N, I plug it in most of the time. It still runs really smooth when I unplug and move a few rooms away. My laptop runs on G, and my netbook and iPhone 4 both run on N, but I never seem to have any problems with network speed with all that connected to the system.

Which router are you using right now?

I hope this helps you out some.

Serendipity

JimAckley wrote: »

In a short answer: It certainly wouldn't hurt. If you have everything else on your network set to run on G and run your Xbox and/or gaming comp on N, it will definitely help. That way the N side of things won't be full of traffic at all, not that it should matter, since N can run about 6 times faster than G. Personally, I'm a big Linksys junkie so I have the E3000. I have an Xbox 360S and even though it has N, I plug it in most of the time. It still runs really smooth when I unplug and move a few rooms away. My laptop runs on G, and my netbook and iPhone 4 both run on N, but I never seem to have any problems with network speed with all that connected to the system.

Which router are you using right now?

I hope this helps you out some.

I actually have multiple routers, but only have ONE of them acting as a router by turning off the DHCP, NAT, and firewall in the downstream routers. So the connection goes from Modem --> Wired Router --> Switches --> Access Points (the WPN824 and WGR614 are actually routers turned into AP's by disabling the DHCP) by following the instructions on Netgear's site: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/965/~/using-wpn824,-wgr614,-or-wgt624-routers-as-an-access-point. Each of the rooms has numerous devices connected to the network, such as a HTPC, Windows 2000 Server, and the HP LaserJet 2300dn which I rely on to print wirelessly:

Serendipity

My last post was confusing. So I attached some pictures to help explain: the first pic is of the Netgear RP614 wired router which is connected to the modem. From the RP614 we have the wired switch to feed the rest of the house, living room, and HTPC, along with the Netgear WPN824 and WGR614 routers used as Access Points to even out the load. The second pic shows the WGR614 wireless router which I am not looking to replace.

I am just looking for better performance from the WPN824 and WGR614 in terms of wireless speed. Connectivity and range are fine and the two access points spread to the opposite sides of the house provide great coverage.