[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On 03/11/2018 10:04, Richard Brown wrote: > Hi All > > Wifi then! I have a Netgear DGN 2200: > https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-DGN2200-100UKS-Wi-Fi-Modem-Router/dp/B003FS40KU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541239381&sr=8-1&keywords=dgn2200+netgear > > It is not a brilliant router as it still relies on 100mbs Ethernet. > Should I look to upgrade this item first? Well that is a spectacularly unimpressive bit of kit to be honest but you know what, it probably does the job for you just fine I'd imagine? If you're using the 4 switch ports heavily to shunt data between multiple wired clients constantly then yeah,the 100Mbps limitation is truly terrible. If you're not doing that then it's not an issue for you. That 300Mbps wifi limitation is also tragic but again: if it's not a bottleneck for you and you're not slinging large amounts of data around between different wireless clients in your house then well, that's not an issue for you either. For once I'll try and be reasonable which is why I said you want to have a look at your usage model and do a cost/benefit analysis. If that router is holding you back and being frustrating, change it out (that offer of a free(?) Draytek was nice). Otherwise you're arguably just chucking away money on stuff that doesn't need replacing. On the internal side of your network there are potentially more cost effective piecemeal ways of upgrading the individual parts that you _might_ want to sort out. A cheap 4 or 8 port dumb gigabit switch to handle wired traffic for example. You could heavily upgrade the wifi part by adding a modern AP - both of those could be done whilst leaving the router where it is. How fast is your internet connection though? I doubt it's faster than the router can handle but in these days of relatively cheap fibre to the premises connections it could even be the case that your DGN2200 is actually bottlenecking your pipe to the outside world. Only you know all the pieces of the puzzle that go into making these purchasing decisions chief. It maybe that within reason you just like spending reasonable amounts on computer gadgets even if you technically speaking don't _need_ them - many of my friends fit into that category. At the other end of the scale there are people on the list running 10G ethernet or have 72" racks in the garage. Back to your original issue of upgrading your wifi adapter though so as to avoid going straight down the rabbit hole. I also must confess that I was perhaps a bit too cavalier in my approach to modern USB wifi support on Linux as it is a bit of a minefield especially if you're not cool with digging through endless forums and experimenting with compiling semi-random drivers from github (I am of course, and forget that many people just don't want to deal with that crap). You can do a lot worse than start here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=linux+usb+wifi+ac Read the comments and reviews with a specific eye for other buyers reports on getting it running on the same distro as you - there are usually a surprising amount of Ubuntu/Mint/whatever users who've bought the units, done the hard work for you and explained how they did it. Those comments are gold and can often really help you narrow down your search. Just keep in mind that as things stand for you currently your DGN2200 tops out at 802.11n and doesn't do 5GHz: it's maximum is 802.11n @ 300Mbps in the 2.4Ghz spectrum. That's ok(-ish) but it's your hard limit no matter what fancy 5GHz MIMO ac adapter you buy. Make sense? Cheers -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG https://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq