Is my NIC good enough?

[peter4076]

nVidia nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps ethernet NIC is this good for dual band router, at the moment I'm running a single band router, before I upgrade to dual band, I want to know that I haven't got to spend anymore money on a NIC, your thoughts as always most appreciated.
ps.
How could I find out myself without asking?, upto yet I don't know where to look!

 

[pbcopter]

A dual band router has both wireless (the wireless is the dual band part) and Ethernet connections (newer ones have 10/100/1000 Mbps connections). The NIC connects to the Ethernet part of the router and the NIC you mentioned is adequate for the most common dual band routers.

 

[peter4076]

Cheers for that pbcopter. My motherboard is an old Asus M2N-Sli, would that support 2.4 & 5gig? at the moment I have single band BT Home Hub 3, which is now 3 years old, also now have various tablets, touch phones, laptops etc, also smart tv with netflix/blinkbox capability, so extra bandwith might suit me.

 

[NoelDP]

A correction is needed here.
Dual-band refers solely to Wireless Networking, and refers to the number of frequencies available - from memory they are 2.4GHz and 5GHz
What Is a Dual Band Router (and Wireless Network)?

(hey, I was right!)

If you're only using Wired (Ethernet) Networking, dual-band is irrelevant, and only need to be looking at the quoted speed of the Ethernet connection. Most modern routers are Gigabit-rated - (1000Mb/s) - your NIC is rated as 10/100/1000, which means that it is compatible with the Gigabit networks.

If you're using wireless networking at all then your router needs to be able to communicate with all your wireless devices - not just the computer (if it's connected wirelessly) Most modern routers will have fall-backs so that they can connect to most devices rated lower than the router.

 

[pbcopter]

A correction is needed here.
Dual-band refers solely to Wireless Networking, and refers to the number of frequencies available - from memory they are 2.4GHz and 5GHz
What Is a Dual Band Router (and Wireless Network)?

(hey, I was right!)

If you're only using Wired (Ethernet) Networking, dual-band is irrelevant, and only need to be looking at the quoted speed of the Ethernet connection. Most modern routers are Gigabit-rated - (1000Mb/s) - your NIC is rated as 10/100/1000, which means that it is compatible with the Gigabit networks.

If you're using wireless networking at all then your router needs to be able to communicate with all your wireless devices - not just the computer (if it's connected wirelessly) Most modern routers will have fall-backs so that they can connect to most devices rated lower than the router.

What correction was needed?

 

[NoelDP]

You gave the impression (at least to me) that you meant that the distinction between single-band and dual-band was that between having or not having wireless.
Perhaps Clarification would have been a better word to use?

 

[matts6887]

I agree with some if not all of the others. Your nic should definitely be good for a dual band router. Most newer nic's i do believe have the capability to support dual band connections; so as long as you do go with dual band; you should be good to go as far as that goes.

 

[pbcopter]

You gave the impression (at least to me) that you meant that the distinction between single-band and dual-band was that between having or not having wireless.
Perhaps Clarification would have been a better word to use?

I don't believe I gave that impression but if that is how you read it, thanks for the clarification.

 

[Kari]

Cheers for that pbcopter. My motherboard is an old Asus M2N-Sli, would that support 2.4 & 5gig? at the moment I have single band BT Home Hub 3, which is now 3 years old, also now have various tablets, touch phones, laptops etc, also smart tv with netflix/blinkbox capability, so extra bandwith might suit me.

You don't get any extra bandwidth, it remains the same regardless if dual band or not. Especially regarding your original question a dual band router has none whatsoever effect in communications between the NIC you mentioned and the router.

 

[dsperber]

Seems to be some confusion here, and I think it's semantics which is the culprit.

Dual-band refers to WIRELESS, and has nothing to do with WIRED.

If you use a wired connection (with an ethernet cable) from your PC's ethernet connector on the wired NIC to the 1-4 LAN ports on your router, this is completely unrelated to the router's wireless capabilities, or the PC's wireless NIC capabilities which may also exist in addition to wired (separate from its wired NIC).

The speed of the wired connection (from PC to router) is a function of (1) the rated speed of the router, (2) the rated speed of the NIC, and (3) the type of ethernet cable you're using. If your router is only rated 10/100 then it doesn't matter what your PC and NIC are capable of, you will only get at most 100Mb/s speed to the router. Similarly, if your router is gigabit capable (i.e. 10/100/1000) as is your NIC, but you're using CAT5 cable which cannot support speeds above 100Mb/s, you'll again only get at most 100Mb/s speed to the router. You need to use CAT5e or CAT6 cable from PC to the router to get faster than 100MB/s wired connection speed.

Wireless is entirely separate. Dual-band refers to 2.4Ghz vs. 5Ghz connectivity, but does not describe the actual "connection speed". Connection speed is more tied to the wireless protocol used over that 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz connection pipeline, namely 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. Each of these unique wireless protocols is capable of progressively faster wireless connection speeds, but you need a wireless router that supports those faster protocols, and over one band or the other or both (i.e. 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz).

In general, the 5Ghz band supports faster wireless connection speeds than 2.4Ghz, but is more vulnerable than 2.4Ghz to "interference" in the house and in general has shorter distances for reliable high-speed connections.

And of course, there is absolutely no guarantee at all that even with all the proper equipment and capability in place, that the physical characteristics of your home will support maximum wireless connection speeds over either wireless band, depending on distance to the wireless router, physical makeup of interfering walls or floors, etc.

Finally, just because you have high speed connection to the router (via wired or wireless), that has nothing to do with the actual DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD speed you get to the Internet itself which must further go through your modem and be handled by your ISP through whatever service tier level you've paid for. This variable is directly tied to your ISP.

Note that within your LAN (managed by your router), inter-PC and inter-device connection speeds are a function of wired vs. wireless, and ethernet cables used, and router capabilities as well as device capabilities. Outside of your LAN (i.e. through the router to the modem and out to your ISP and the Internet) you're now governed by whatever speed you've purchased from your ISP.


Bottom line: if you want MAXIMUM LAN CONNECTION SPEED (for the home PC's and devices within your home LAN network), use wired when possible along with CAT5e/CAT6 cable and a gigabit router (10/100/1000).

If you want maximum wireless speed, your wireless devices need to be relatively near the wireless router (or access points) so that 5Ghz band can be used, and need to be capable of 802.11n/ac speeds (N150 and N300 and N600), which needs a wireless router (or access point) capable of supporting 802.11n/ac protocol.

Anything less will see reduced or compromised wireless and wired speeds.

 

[peter4076]

Much obliged to all the input, food for thought.
I have Home Hub 3, 40 metres down the garden in a computer room, I have armour plated cable running along fence (behind hedgerow) to the living room to a TP-Link TL-WR841ND to have hardwired smart TV, also to my Sky On demand box. This really helped also with the wifi increasing by at least 2 bars, but still quite weak in guest bedroom, so would a dual band router in computer room be of any benefit to the guest room? Cabling is Cat 5e.

 

[NoelDP]

Positioning the access point is critical - I find putting it up near the ceiling on the ground floor (2-storey assumed) near the centre of the house is best, if you can conceal it/don't mind it there.
Burying it beside filing cabinets is fatal

 

[dsperber]

Much obliged to all the input, food for thought.
I have Home Hub 3, 40 metres down the garden in a computer room, I have armour plated cable running along fence (behind hedgerow) to the living room to a TP-Link TL-WR841ND to have hardwired smart TV, also to my Sky On demand box. This really helped also with the wifi increasing by at least 2 bars, but still quite weak in guest bedroom, so would a dual band router in computer room be of any benefit to the guest room? Cabling is Cat 5e.

You haven't mentioned where the guest room is in relation to either (1) the Home Hub 3 modem/router which has both wired and wireless network #1 capability, or (2) the living room where you have the TP-Link TL-WR841ND installed which is also a wired and wireless network #2 router. Are you saying the guest room is far enough away from either the computer room or living room so that it's having wireless connectivity problems to either of your two wireless networks, #1 or #2?

Also, is it not possible to pull another ethernet cable from either the computer room or living room to your guest room, to get wired connectivity there? You specifically want wireless connectivity in the guest room? If you can't pull an ethernet cable to the guest room from either the computer room or living room where you currently have routers, why not go with a pair of "ethernet over powerline adapters" to provide wired ethernet capability to your guest room. You just need a spare wall power socket near either of your two existing routers, and a second free wall power socket in your guest room, and bingo instant wired capability to one of your two routers using the AC power cables in your house. In my experience these work very well, but do depend on the proper electrical copper wiring in the walls and also not using power strips or surge protectors or extension cords but instead plugging directly into wall sockets in order to get directly to the copper wires.

Now, since you've now got wired connectivity in the guest room through these new gizmos, if you also want to provide wireless capability in the guest room you can add a "wireless access point" such as the Netgear WN604. This WN604 WAP unit (which is also a 4-port wired switch as well as a wireless access point) plugs into the wired ethernet connector on the "ethernet over powerline adapter" you just placed in the guest room through one of its four wired ethernet ports. So you now have three remaining available wired ethernet ports on the WN604 for other 10/100 wired connections. But you also now have a third wireless network in your house, centering around that guest room, provided by the WN604.

For higher speed wireless (only) network #3 centered around the guest room, you could consider something like a Netgear WN802. But you'd need to have faster (and thus more expensive) than 10/100 ethernet over powerline adapters to get faster wired connectivity to the guest room, so that the WN802 could take advantage of it in providing 802.11n wireless. Remember, the wired/wireless speed capability originating in the guest room depends on the wired speed you brought to that room through either a true ethernet cable from one of your two routers, or from a pair of ethernet over powerline adapters connecting the guest room to one of your two routers.

I would say you're almost certainly better off "extending" your wired networking capability to the guest room through either running a true ethernet cable there, or using a pair of ethernet over powerline adapters... capable of whatever wired speed you can afford depending on what wired/wireless speed you want to provide in the guest room and adjacent area. Once you have gotten wired connectivity in the guest room, you can now provide wireless network #3 in that area with a WAP of whatever speed capability you want.

I would speculate there's probably no point in initiating some new dual-band wireless network #3 back in your computer room, since I believe 5Ghz wireless actually has less range (but faster speed capability) than the 2.4Ghz wireless currently does. If neither of your existing two wireless networks can reach the guest room, a new dual-band wireless network #3 from the computer room is not going to help.

NOTE: residential wireless access points from vendors such as Netgear, D-Link, etc., have limited range. Wireless speed drops off fairly quickly as a function of distance. Commercial grade WiFi wireless access points use more expensive products from, say, a company like Ubiquiti Networks. They make units that attach to ceilings, etc., and have greater wireless range than home retail products. But even they are still subject to whatever wired speed is in the room with the unit, since they too have to connect wired to the router in order to provide their wireless network.

 

[peter4076]

dsperber:Thank you for the detailed account above, very thorough. I have some ethernet power adapters, but never used them because the computer room and the house are on two different circuits with their own consumer unit, but will try from the TP TL-WR841ND & guest/spare room which is approx 35feet away (20 foot linear & 15 foot vertical) the bedroom would be mainly for tablet/mobile phone use.
If truth be told I started this thread because we have 5 dect phones (1 in computer room & 4 in house, 1 downstairs & 1 in each bedroom) when people rang the house on landline and we took the call in the living room, the caller would comment on how bad the crackling was on our Panasonic phone, but if we walked into the kitchen or hallway, or dining room, crackling ceased (by the by we could not hear any sound other than the caller), so mentioned this to someone down the pub, who pointed out that it was the wifi, and I should invest in a dual band router..........at last my story is told, so just wanted to know if this is the case! as always thank you for your input.