Just went to 75/35 internet can I get an N router?
UNCMo96
Enthusiast - Level 1

I just upgraded to the 75/35 internet (I had 35/35). Can I ask for an N router since 75 is beyond the range of g? Also, I currently have 2 fios routers with 1 as a MOCA bridge/access point. Will I not be able to use the the 2nd router as an access point if one is G and one is N?

Thanks

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Re: Just went to 75/35 internet can I get an N router?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

You can ask Verizon to send you a new router. There's no guarantee as to whether or not they will since even the old ActionTec Rev. A units should handle your current speed on the Wired portion. You may be best puchashing a separate access point and simply hanging it off of the ActionTec which is what many folks have done versus buying the newer Wireless N router Verizon offers. Also, you can have mixed technologies used in a Wireless network and using Wireless N and Wireless G in the same location won't cause problems. Just be sure the channel on each access point is non-overlapping with one another. InSSIDer can help wth this visually, but ideally that would be using just the 1, 6, and 11 channels.

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Re: Just went to 75/35 internet can I get an N router?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

You can ask Verizon to send you a new router. There's no guarantee as to whether or not they will since even the old ActionTec Rev. A units should handle your current speed on the Wired portion. You may be best puchashing a separate access point and simply hanging it off of the ActionTec which is what many folks have done versus buying the newer Wireless N router Verizon offers. Also, you can have mixed technologies used in a Wireless network and using Wireless N and Wireless G in the same location won't cause problems. Just be sure the channel on each access point is non-overlapping with one another. InSSIDer can help wth this visually, but ideally that would be using just the 1, 6, and 11 channels.

Re: Just went to 75/35 internet can I get an N router?
UNCMo96
Enthusiast - Level 1

I chatted with fios on line and they are upgrading me to the N gigabit router.  I have a few other questions:

1. If you have mixed technologies on the same network how will the router know which one to connect (g or n)? 

2. I guess a better way to ask is that if I have the actiontec n router as the main router and then an actiontec g router as the MoCA bridge/access point, should I have the g router SSID be different than the n router's SSID so I know if I am connecting to g or n? My main concern is that I do my Time Machine backups over the net so I want to make sure I'm connected on n if doing a time machine back up.

3. What is the speed of the N gigabit router over wireless? It seems like there are different speeds of 802.11n. (I tried to look it up on line and could not find it).

4. Are the USB ports on the router usable for creating a NAS?

5. I currently use a D-Link external antenna to boost the wifi signal: http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-ANT24-0700-Omni-Directional-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B0007XXU3E

Is there any benefit to replacing one of the antenna's on the router with this one?

6. (somewhat off topic), but can anyone recommend a program (ideally free) that will test the internal network speed computer to computer over wireless and wired networks?

Thanks in advance to everyone for answering my questions.

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Re: Just went to 75/35 internet can I get an N router?
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

If you mix technologies the radios will negotiate the best rate supported by both ends. Wireless B devices (only notable devices are older Nintendo DSs, laptop wireless cards that have been in use for 8+ years and the original PSP) will cause problems with throughput on the network, so if you have any of those definitely do not connect them to the Rev. I ActionTec that Verizon is sending you. Your speeds will go from 20s of Megabits down to a sad 6Mbps in a single direction. Connect them to your second access point. You are able to run Wireless G and Wireless N on the same network without an issue, using the same SSID. It's a matter of ensuring your Wireless key is also the same across both with the same encryption. So with that in mind, if you have any Wireless N devices ideally, put them all on the Rev. I. Wireless G devices, and even the N devices can roam without a problem between the two APs If you wish to separate N from G, then yes, use separate SSIDs.

The speeds you're see from the ActionTec is all is paired correctly can hit 70-80Mbps in Performance mode on WPA2 security and a clean channel. I don't know how often people see this due to many radios negotiating a speed of 65Mbps with that ActionTec, which caps you at around 30-35Mbps in a single direction. The only way to determine speeds is to wait and see how it works with your equipment. While you're waiting for it to arrive, feel free to update any drivers on any computers you have using Wireless cards. Sometimes that helps.

I don't recall what sort of connector the ActionTec Rev. I uses, but it does have two external antennas rather than a single one (combined with an Internal antenna). To get 2x2 Wireless N you should ideally have another antenna hooked into it. That D-Link antenna will help with range over the stock antennas though, which from what I hear aren't as good as they could be.

The USB ports on the Verizon firmware are not supported. Everyone's hoping that there will be some support for them in the future. They do give out power at the moment, though!

For speed testing, you can use a program called NetStress. It's pretty handy but it operates between only two computers at a time. Otherwise you can set up an FTP server on one machine and do a speed test across the two by measuring the transfer rate over FTP. Most clients display the speed, and Task Manager/System Monitor/Resource Monitor/etc should be able to help with this.

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