Computer Question Regarding Wired Ethernet vs Wireless Connections

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

It's more than adequate for what most people do. The thing about FIOS is that they use their supplied routers as a quasi modem as well. It's not a simple case of just swapping in the new router and having it act like the old router. The old router will need to remain in place, as it acts as a media converter on the coax installs, and will need to be put into bridge mode (if you want the new router to be a true router).

That's the main reason whey I've been harping on just sticking with G. Going with N may open a can of worms that Schneed just may not want to deal with.

I'm not too familiar with the FIOS router but there's no reason you couldn't leave the routing to the FIOS hw and install an N access point. That way you're not fighting ip addressing conflicts, non-default router configs, etc. Throw a N wireless nic in the basement PC and you should be good, assuming you don't have a lot of interference in the house. Third option is to run some cat5 and install a jack in the basement wall.

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

I'm not too familiar with the FIOS router but there's no reason you couldn't leave the routing to the FIOS hw and install an N access point. That way you're not fighting ip addressing conflicts, non-default router configs, etc. Throw a N wireless nic in the basement PC and you should be good, assuming you don't have a lot of interference in the house. Third option is to run some cat5 and install a jack in the basement wall.

Yep, you could do that. Or you could buy an N router, turn off DHCP, run a cat5 between the Actiontec and a LAN port on the new router. Would do the same thing. If this is the way you go, it would also be advisable to turn off the radio in the Actiontec as well to reduce possible interference. N uses channel bonding, so in order for it to work as intended, you have to have semi clean air.

[BleedBurgundy]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

Yep, you could do that. Or you could buy an N router, turn off DHCP, run a cat5 between the Actiontec and a LAN port on the new router. Would do the same thing. If this is the way you go, it would also be advisable to turn off the radio in the Actiontec as well to reduce possible interference. N uses channel bonding, so in order for it to work as intended, you have to have semi clean air.

Yeah, this is kind of what I intended. Do they actually make N band access points or are they all full routers by default? Any router should have an Access Point mode that you can implement... We are strictly B/G here at work and i haven't upgraded at home yet. (we're wired for multimedia)

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

Yep, you could do that. Or you could buy an N router, turn off DHCP, run a cat5 between the Actiontec and a LAN port on the new router. Would do the same thing. If this is the way you go, it would also be advisable to turn off the radio in the Actiontec as well to reduce possible interference. N uses channel bonding, so in order for it to work as intended, you have to have semi clean air.

Okay now you're on the right path. And it's no problem to bridge a modem/router combo to another router and you'll see much better performance likely. Hell even without bridging it (which most people don't) you won't see an issue likely unless what you do is very dependent on port forwarding properly. Such as I have a local MySQL database that is accessed by some scripts on my site when I do internet radio broadcasts; for that reason, in order for my local machine to see the mysql requests I have to bridge/forward ports.. you might run into that case in gaming or certain other applications, but not likely

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by tryfuhl

Okay now you're on the right path. And it's no problem to bridge a modem/router combo to another router and you'll see much better performance likely. Hell even without bridging it (which most people don't) you won't see an issue likely unless what you do is very dependent on port forwarding properly. Such as I have a local MySQL database that is accessed by some scripts on my site when I do internet radio broadcasts; for that reason, in order for my local machine to see the mysql requests I have to bridge/forward ports.. you might run into that case in gaming or certain other applications, but not likely

I know that it's no problem. My entire point in this thread is that it G will do what Schneed is asking. Yes, he can get an N adapter, set his Actiontec to bridge, and buy an N router to make things fast. But, does he need to go through all of that? Nope. What I've suggested will do what he wants/needs, and will be less headache for him in the end, given his admitted level of computer literacy.