Wireless vs. Ethernet bridge - Help!

[Matt1990]

Hey guys,

I was looking to upgrade to see if I could get a little bit quicker internet connection for gaming online. I am currently playing on a laptop about 50 feet away from my router (WRT54G). Right now I am using an Ethernet bridge (Netgear XE102) to connect to the internet instead of wireless because it seems to be a bit quicker (Running an Ethernet cable is not an option for me unfortunately). My question is, what would be the most cost efficient way to increase my internet connection speed, replacing my WRT54G router, which to me seems a bit dated, or would getting a different Ethernet bridge be a better option? I am not certain how well either of these perform but I am sure there is much better out there. I would be willing to spend about $150 on any upgrades. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Edit: Forgot to mention the modem and router in the other room is connected to a Mac, I'm not sure if that has any influence on your guys' suggestions.

 

[Emerald]

What type/speed is you internet connection?

What speed/type of network card does your laptop have ? Is it a G or N NIC?

Does the MAC connect via wire or wireless? If it is wireless, is it a G or N NIC?

How many walls or floors are between your PC and the router?

 

[COLGeek]

Since you are already getting a strong signal (I am guessing since you are so close) and not running a bunch of systems through your router, there isn't really much you can do short of fine tuning your settings. You can buy a so-called "gaming router", but you increases will be marginal.

First, what type/speed internet connection do you have? Regardless, your in-home wireless connection is likely many times faster than your internet connection.

Second, look at your Netgear and router settings to make sure your timings match on the devices. Also, do a site survey to see if your neighbors are using ther same wireless channel you are using. If so, change to a channel that only you are on.

Last, make sure you aren't blocking any ports/services on your router that could impact your gaming. Likely you are running at defaults and that is fine.

The bottom line here is that throwing money at this may yield some gains, but likely only marginal.

 

[Matt1990]

What type/speed is you internet connection?

What speed/type of network card does your laptop have ? Is it a G or N NIC?

Does the MAC connect via wire or wireless? If it is wireless, is it a G or N NIC?

How many walls or floors are between your PC and the router?

A) Cable Internet

B) As for my laptop network card in my device manager > network adapters I have (Not sure what is what ) :

> Intel(R)WiFi Link 5300 AGN

> Realtek RTL8168C/8111C Family PCI-E Gigabit NIC (NDIS 6.0)


C) The MAC is wired

D) Its on the same level as the Router. The router is about 50 feet away from my Laptop with an L shaped hallway in between

 

[Emerald]

I would try a linksys E2000

 

[Matt1990]

I would try a linksys E2000

Is that a gaming router or is it just a lot better than I currently have?

 

[Emerald]

It is a N router (300Mb) which has a stronger signal output than you current G router (54Mb).

Also it is great for gaming.

 

[Matt1990]

As far as routers go, how much of a significant increase is that signal output compared to what I have? Does that only increase signal strength / range , or does it increase speed as well ?

 

[Emerald]

The router has tested the fastest in his class.

In theory you could see an increase of up to 300Mb on the network side and max speed on the internet side.

Upgrading my router from a G network to a N network, increased my wireless speed from 8.5 mbps to 18 mbps, which I get when I connect to the router via network cable.

 

[Matt1990]

Hmm thank you for your advice. Also , I was looking on another forum and people were talking about not having a computer that would fully be able to take advantage of the "N" router fully, and I am not sure what they were talking about, what's that about?

 

[Matt1990]

Best answer selected by Matt1990.

 

[COLGeek]

Hmm thank you for your advice. Also , I was looking on another forum and people were talking about not having a computer that would fully be able to take advantage of the "N" router fully, and I am not sure what they were talking about, what's that about?

Keep in mind that the "N" router is only faster on your internal network and will do very little (if anything) to affect your Internet connection speed (your cable modem's connected speed is by far slower than the 802.11n speeds). Good luck!