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Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,108
696
I just recently bought a NETGEAR WNR3500L 300Mbps + gigabit ethernet port.

I keep hearing that my airport card should handle 300 Mbps just fine. But when I enable it on my netgear router settings my going to "UP TO 300Mbps" from default "Up to 150Mbps" i get horrible bandwidth...like 8Mbps. If i choose 150Mbps, everything opens up.

Im going to figure out why 300Mbps mode isn't working. Has anyone been successful?
 

deedas

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2003
139
0
Baltimore, Maryland
Just read the spec sheets, it doesn't support it. And technically it's not "the fastest," it's just the least used of the two bands. You probably have a ton of other devices running at 2.4ghz. Try changing channels.
 

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,108
696
Just read the spec sheets, it doesn't support it. And technically it's not "the fastest," it's just the least used of the two bands. You probably have a ton of other devices running at 2.4ghz. Try changing channels.

I was doing some research as well. In order to reach 300, you have to use a 40MHZ frequency spectrum. Curious how you enable that frequency on your mac OS X.
 

deedas

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2003
139
0
Baltimore, Maryland
Try changing channels and see how that works. If it's still slow try setting it further away from cordless phones and other RF machines. If that's not possible or doesn't work, you might wanna look into returning it. It's obviously not meeting your needs.

PS. How many walls are in between the router and your computer?
 

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,108
696
Try changing channels and see how that works. If it's still slow try setting it further away from cordless phones and other RF machines. If that's not possible or doesn't work, you might wanna look into returning it. It's obviously not meeting your needs.

PS. How many walls are in between the router and your computer?

Yeah it seems like there no option. The channels only go from 1 - 11. so that makes it a bit hard. I paid about 75 for this gigabit router. It makes me wonder if its worth returning it and getting the 150Mbps + 10/100 lan version: I'm not getting into the dual mode.

I have 30 days to return. Although, this router is working alot better that my G router so I can stream movies over my network with plex.
 

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,108
696
yeah I saw that at the store as well. I had some bad memories with linksys which for me, i try to stay away but at the same time, having dual band would be nice.
 

deedas

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2003
139
0
Baltimore, Maryland
That's not dual band. It operates at either or, not both. Dual band is the next step up and it's about 150 bucks. At that price you might as well get an airport base station. Also linksys is now really Cisco isn't? Have you tried them lately?
 

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,108
696
That's not dual band. It operates at either or, not both. Dual band is the next step up and it's about 150 bucks. At that price you might as well get an airport base station. Also linksys is now really Cisco isn't? Have you tried them lately?

i haven't tried them since the linksys became cisco. Also, I ran in to a weird situation where I can stream 1080p avatar on my plex from my mac mini to my MBA if i don't have any external monitors hooked up. If i connect my MBA to a 24 inch screen, i get problems with the stream
 

timeslip

macrumors member
May 20, 2007
86
4
I bought the WNDR3700 which is dual 5ghz and 2.4ghz at 300MB/sec with gigabit ports.

I haven't measured the exact speed (although it does show connecting at 300Mb), but it is definitely a lot faster than my previous 802.11n.
 

Dammit Cubs

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
2,108
696
yeah dual signals is very nice. It's just its expensive. i would love to have that but I just can justify paying 150. I'm trying to see if the gigabit is really needed.
 

aristobrat

macrumors G5
Oct 14, 2005
12,292
1,403
I keep hearing that my airport card should handle 300 Mbps just fine. But when I enable it on my netgear router settings my going to "UP TO 300Mbps" from default "Up to 150Mbps" i get horrible bandwidth...like 8Mbps. If i choose 150Mbps, everything opens up.

Im going to figure out why 300Mbps mode isn't working. Has anyone been successful?
I'm using the prior gen Time Capsule, and if I hold down option and click on the Airport icon in the menu bar, I've see my Air have a transmit rate of 300Mbps before.

I didn't do any actual throughput benchmarks, but the Time Capsule and the Air were both showing the same transmit rates for the Air.

Nothing special done to the Air to get it to connect at 300Mbps. 13" here.
 

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Cerano

macrumors 6502
Oct 28, 2010
268
1
im using the Linksys E2000 and gawd its fast. benchmarks show its faster than any router outer there ive seen
 
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