Netherlands
I spend some time testing this out:
I need to host my entire LAN over wifi for the time being. So I researced what was best on getting a proper result.
I decided to buy a Linksys Wifi N ap. And for the main pc's and TV server I got some Asus wifi N cards.
So the setup is now like this:
on the WIFI N AP
1 TV server running WIFI N adapter (300Mbps)
1 gaming pc running WIFI N adapter (300Mbps)
1 Asus EEE box to watch tv in the bedroom with Wifi N (150Mbps)
2 Philips streamium WIFI G client
2 laptops WIFI G clients
The Wifi N ap is connected through wire to my Internet Router (100Mbps
)
And in the router is a 4 port hub and also holds my HTPC (100Mbps) and my ADSL TV tuner.
Now the specs all looked nice, but I ran into a couple of issues seting this up:
- First of all, one Wifi G client reduces the entire WIFI network to G. So the N clients all sink back to slow G speed.
- Vista lags on Wifi every 30-60 seconds with ping spikes up to 2000 ms.
- My MacAfee virus scanner dramaticly kills your network speed!
- I had drastic connection stability issues on the AP
So I setup some sollutions to deal with these issues:
- Installed Vista Anti Lag (small tool you can download on my vista wifi machines to solve the lag spikes (and that actually worked!)
- Disabled access control to solve the speed reduction caused my mcafee. It is still running but not firewall like.
- powered down the G clients for testing
- Upgraded the AP firmware to solve the connection stability issues.
This resulted in comparable speeds and stability like my wired cables did. The tv server performes like the wired cables did. I had issues with TV server over wired before, and those still remain, but they are now exactly teh same. Without the anti lag tool it was horrible, lag all the time, I missed seconds of picture etc.
I still need a good sollution for the G clients, they reduce the speed to much, so I am thinking of adding a second AP running G clients to solve that one.
If I could get rid of the TV server issues I have on my wired connections, I could test the full MP - TV server setup over Wifi, but for now it seems that the WIFI is a workable alternative for the small home lan. But it still does require a huge ammount of debugging before it runs smooth
Any tips are welcome to improve the setup.
One thing I never got a good answer to was:
Does the wired part of the network (the AP - HUB over 100Mbps) have influence on the communication speed BETWEEN WIFI clients. So does the file copy speed between the game pc (WIFI N) and the TV server (WIFI N) get reduced by the fact that the AP is on a 100Mbsp hub? Will buying a 1000Mbps switch do something for my speed and stability?
I need to host my entire LAN over wifi for the time being. So I researced what was best on getting a proper result.
I decided to buy a Linksys Wifi N ap. And for the main pc's and TV server I got some Asus wifi N cards.
So the setup is now like this:
on the WIFI N AP
1 TV server running WIFI N adapter (300Mbps)
1 gaming pc running WIFI N adapter (300Mbps)
1 Asus EEE box to watch tv in the bedroom with Wifi N (150Mbps)
2 Philips streamium WIFI G client
2 laptops WIFI G clients
The Wifi N ap is connected through wire to my Internet Router (100Mbps
)And in the router is a 4 port hub and also holds my HTPC (100Mbps) and my ADSL TV tuner.
Now the specs all looked nice, but I ran into a couple of issues seting this up:
- First of all, one Wifi G client reduces the entire WIFI network to G. So the N clients all sink back to slow G speed.
- Vista lags on Wifi every 30-60 seconds with ping spikes up to 2000 ms.
- My MacAfee virus scanner dramaticly kills your network speed!
- I had drastic connection stability issues on the AP
So I setup some sollutions to deal with these issues:
- Installed Vista Anti Lag (small tool you can download on my vista wifi machines to solve the lag spikes (and that actually worked!)
- Disabled access control to solve the speed reduction caused my mcafee. It is still running but not firewall like.
- powered down the G clients for testing
- Upgraded the AP firmware to solve the connection stability issues.
This resulted in comparable speeds and stability like my wired cables did. The tv server performes like the wired cables did. I had issues with TV server over wired before, and those still remain, but they are now exactly teh same. Without the anti lag tool it was horrible, lag all the time, I missed seconds of picture etc.
I still need a good sollution for the G clients, they reduce the speed to much, so I am thinking of adding a second AP running G clients to solve that one.
If I could get rid of the TV server issues I have on my wired connections, I could test the full MP - TV server setup over Wifi, but for now it seems that the WIFI is a workable alternative for the small home lan. But it still does require a huge ammount of debugging before it runs smooth
Any tips are welcome to improve the setup.
One thing I never got a good answer to was:
Does the wired part of the network (the AP - HUB over 100Mbps) have influence on the communication speed BETWEEN WIFI clients. So does the file copy speed between the game pc (WIFI N) and the TV server (WIFI N) get reduced by the fact that the AP is on a 100Mbsp hub? Will buying a 1000Mbps switch do something for my speed and stability?