@BONYC wrote:
I am seeking longer range. How is larger spectrum going to help? What is my best option to extend range? I am surprised that in average size apartment, range is a problem.
For range, you need to use 2.4Ghz, and perhaps try using different antennas along with positioning equipment in a certain way. If you're in an apartment, either a one or two story apartment, any wireless radio should be able to cover your home entirely. Cheap routers, in a Single Family Home should also have no problem making it a few houses down the street with a usable signal. If noise is a problem however, you'll find your range will be less. In dense apartments since Wireless networks tend to be abundant, and most do not turn down their Wireless transmit power, it's suggested to use 5Ghz. Site surveying programs such as InSSIDer or Vistumber, or Wi-Fi Finder can help you find and understand what you're up against.
5Ghz won't penetrate as far (a few walls, or barely through an aluminum-insulated wall or metal) so range is significantly less (usually around half to less than half) but there is less noise. You may need a second AP to cover another part of your home, but overall you get more wireless throughput and it tends to be a bit more reliable due to the lack of noise.
Another thing to note with Wireless N, is if you are using 40Mhz wide channels (aka "300Mbps/450Mbps" mode), your range will suffer with the higher speeds. Falling back to use just a single 20Mhz channel can help aleviate range issues caused by additional noise that the radio must deal with, to obtain the higher speeds. This is mainly a concern with 2.4Ghz, where you shouldn't be using 40Mhz channels anyways if there are other networks that can be seen using channels you're using. 5Ghz, you should have little to worry about.
