Laptop connection problems - please help

pwimpenny said:

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. Ive been running the insidder network monitoring application and there is a 300n hogging the airwaves. Im not sure whether they began transmitting about the time I got the new laptop but I certainly can't get the signal in my garage anymore. Maybe I will have to match him and go supersonic. Can you recommend a good router to use with sky broadband? Will your Netgear WNDR37AV work with sky?

All Routers work with all ISP's as far as I know. It's when you are thinking about replacing a Modem supplied by an ISP that it gets iffy (for instance, Verizon FiOS's VOD feature on TV uses the internet to work and therefore THEIR Modem combo WLAN Router MUST be used or this feature wouldn't work). The difference between a MODEM and a ROUTER is that a Modem has a Cable input, whereas a Router DOES NOT. Therefore, a Router MUST be working in tandem with a Modem in order to function through the ISP's DNS mumbo jumbo. Just FYI.

However, I would not recommend the WNDR37AV if USB NAS, Entertainment Networking ("AV") and/or cutting-edge Online Gaming don't interest you. This Router was $169.99 at BestBuy (atrocious! But we got ours for $130 because of rewards points). So, if none of that interests you a simple and significantly cheaper WLAN 802.11n Router without all of the extra bells and whistles will suffice.

And on that same note, let's make sure you even need to go this route in the first place. I'd hate for you to do this and discover it wouldn't help for whatever reason (just a good idea to rule out all other possibilities first).

Lastly, you wouldn't notice much performance increase if your Notebook doesn't support 802.11n @ 300Mbps either, despite if a Router was also transmitting 802.11n in tandem with 802.11g because your Notebook wouldn't be able to communicate with the stronger, broader and faster 802.11n signals... find out what NIC your Notebook has and check which frequencies and all of that good stuff it boasts. If it does support 802.11n, then it's a good idea to upgrade anyway because I can personally attest to the sheer, raw power of it - it's otherworldly!

Lunarpancake said:

Your "wirelessN theory" sounds correct but just so you are aware not all wireless adapters are made equally. Also, just because it is newer doesn't mean it is designed better. Your new laptop may have its antenna positioned in a poor location inside of the laptop. This could affect the signal.

I started off with wanting to mention that, but decided against it. I think everyone knows that hardware (especially over-inflated PC hardware) is becoming increasingly cheaper, flimsier and all around worse than their older counterparts. It's happening with everything now... but yet costs so much more.

This wireless N hogging all the bandwidth theory is incorrect. Sorry it simply does not work that way. Wireless N uses the same channels as wireless G, it doesn't overlap other channels in the process.

Now channel bonding on the other hand does use two channels at once to increase bandwidth which tends to hog two entire channels.

Normally channel bonding is used with the 5Ghz frequency because it's easier to find two clear channels in different frequency ranges when using the 5Ghz frequency. It does work with the 2.4Ghz frequency but it's harder to find two clear channels for it with the limited channels of the 2.4Ghz frequency.


Wireless N broadcasts on single channels do no ruin local wireless G connections in the least bit although with channel bonding it can make it more difficult to find a clear channel.

You can read up on channel bonding in the link below.
http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/sb/cs-025343.htm