[OSX-Users] Re: Does a Netgear Extender act as a Router?

[Steve Harris]

Each channel (in the 2.4GHz band) is a set of frequency bands. Channels 1, 6, and 11 don't mutually interfere. http://www.metageek.net/support/why-channels-1-6-and-11/

I'm not sure how the different wifi systems work, but I know both my coverage and bandwidth both improved a lot when I had to switch to an N capable router, and I didn't tweak any settings. I rarely bother with cables anymore, and wireless was a bit sucky with B, or whatever I had before. 

I think there's wireless sniffing software that will recommend channels for minimum conflict with your neighbours. 

> On 7 Sep 2014, at 12:58, Hugh Glaser <hg at ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:
> 
> Ah, thanks.
> I should have said that it is all wifi - hardwiring is not really a feasible option.
> 
> I did wonder about messing about with the channels, but thought that probably wouldn’t make a difference.
> Do different channel get their own allocated bandwidth on wifi? I would guess not.
> I also thought of creating an extra network on 5GHz (this is all running on 2.4), but the router doesn’t support it. And the 5GHz signal would degrade more quickly, so I am guessing there wouldn’t be an improvement in S/N.
> Too much guessing :-)
> 
> (And I have at least three gigabit switches and loads of cables in my garage if anyone wants one :-) )
> 
>> On 7 Sep 2014, at 12:42, Leslie Carr <lac at ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:
>> 
>> Is your netgear extender actually halving your available bandwidth (is it sharing the same channel over Wifi, or is it hardwired?)
>> 
>> For the reasons you describe, I made sure to hardwire the AppleTV to the network. This sees good performance with sensible apps like BBC iPlayer, but still poor performance with screen mirroring
>> 
>> Prof Les Carr
>> Web Science Institute
>> University of Southampton
>> 
>> On 7 Sep 2014, at 11:53, Hugh Glaser <hg at ecs.soton.ac.uk<mailto:hg at ecs.soton.ac.uk>> wrote:
>> 
>> Yes - this is mac related, as it involves mirroring :-)
>> 
>> So, mirroring to an AppleTV…
>> 
>> The Modem/router is in a room two walls away from the Apple TV.
>> The Apple TV sort of works OKish in normal Youtube mode, etc., but actually fails when mirroring an external web site video from a mac or IoS device (just freezes, or is very jumpy).
>> iStumbler showed that the connection was poor but useable (not surprisingly).
>> So we installed an extender in the room between, and that has improved things considerably, but it is not quite 100% reliable.
>> 
>> So the question:
>> If I move the router nearer to the Apple TV and mirroring device, will it improve the effective bandwidth?
>> 
>> Reasoning:
>> In order to mirror, the data needs to travel the network 3 times - once to the mirroring device, and then from the device to the router and then to the Apple TV. And of course the Apple TV can’t buffer, because it is mirroring.
>> The first of those involves both the router and extender.
>> The second and third are only between the device and the Apple TV, so don’t *need* to involve the router.
>> A sensible extender will just route the packets without needing the router route, and I assume that Netgear are reasonably sensible?
>> So, I have a feeling that, since the TV can work on its own without the extender, if I make the extender a bit nearer to the TV than the router (unlike the description in the manual) we will get a more optimal use of the network.
>> I’ll still be getting incoming improvement because of the extender, and much more improvement on the second two routes.
>> 
>> Anyone know anything before I start pissing about?
>> 
>> Cheers
>> --
>> Hugh
>> 023 8061 5652
> 
> --
> Hugh
> 023 8061 5652
> 
>