A residential client's D-Link wireless G-series router bit the dust. He read some good things about Netgear so I replaced it with a Netgear wireless G-series router and placed it in the same location as the D-Link. It works great except for the fact that is has a much smaller range than the D-Link. Now he wants a different one but doesn't want a D-Link. Has anyone see any evaluations referring to the effective range of routers by different manufactures?
Thanks.
Most claim about the same range. Usually they are 15dbm output with about a
2dbi antenna. I would look for one with a higher output or external antenna capability. I have a linksys wap54g and get excellent coverage throughout my 1700 sq foot. At about 50 foot from the access point I start to drop from 54 to 48 or 36. Still not bad. Plus you can add higher gain antennas (sold by linksys also). Not sure if the netgear you had has diversity antennas but this certainly helps too for multipath.
There are good reports regarding range coming from users of the new Belkin Pre-N equipment. Both the router and the host's wireless NIC would need replacing. Also, these devices use a specification that is not standardized yet.
Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.
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