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Wireless - 5GHz & MacBook Pro.

I

IBrown

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 8, 2007
29
0
Hi,

I need to buy a new wireless router. I've got cable internet access so I don't need an ADSL modem, I'm based in the UK.

I bought a TP Link WR1043ND earlier this year but it kept dropping the signal - oh and every time I turned it off it lost the settings for the attached usb drive.

I'm now thinking about buying the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH, but I'm also considering buying something dual-band instead in case the TP Link's problem was interference from other devices.

I've not found anything that tells me whether the airport card inside my mbp - new in March 2010, 17" model - will connect to a 5Ghz signal. There's not much point in me spending the extra cash for a dual band router if the MBP can only connect to 2.4Ghz!

Does anybody know the answer?

Basically, I want something fast, secure and with a USB port so that I can stick a drive on for on-site backup. I'm not really keen on paying the extra for the Airport extreme kit, nice though it looks.

Thanks in advance.
 
IBrown said:
Hi,

I need to buy a new wireless router. I've got cable internet access so I don't need an ADSL modem, I'm based in the UK.

I bought a TP Link WR1043ND earlier this year but it kept dropping the signal - oh and every time I turned it off it lost the settings for the attached usb drive.

I'm now thinking about buying the Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH, but I'm also considering buying something dual-band instead in case the TP Link's problem was interference from other devices.

I've not found anything that tells me whether the airport card inside my mbp - new in March 2010, 17" model - will connect to a 5Ghz signal. There's not much point in me spending the extra cash for a dual band router if the MBP can only connect to 2.4Ghz!

Does anybody know the answer?

Basically, I want something fast, secure and with a USB port so that I can stick a drive on for on-site backup. I'm not really keen on paying the extra for the Airport extreme kit, nice though it looks.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

All modern Macs are dual band (my 2008 iMac uses 5Ghz just fine).
 
Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n ... "a" meaning 54Mbps and 300Mbps on the 5GHz band. b/g/n are on the 2.4GHz band.
 
If your MBP is 2010 model then for sure it supports 2.4 and 5 GHz modes, as all Macs from approx. 2007 do.

Look here:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...book-pro-airport-support-80211a-no-modem.html

and here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1934376

The second link indicates (and I confirm) macbooks do operate in 5GHz mode but if your base station is from US and Mac from Europe/Japan/Some other countries (or vice versa) you may need to set channels manually.
5GHz channel numbers are not equal in all countries, and your router may choose a channel your airport doesn't support. Choose your channel manually and you're good to go.
This article shows what I'm talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5.C2.A0GHz_.28802.11a.2Fh.2Fj.2Fn.29

Gitarzysta
 
Dual-band Linksys E3000. You can put the dd-wrt firmware on it. I have it, use the 2.4Ghz band for all the other peripherals (printers, game consoles, phones) and the 5Ghz band for laptops and the internet connected TV. Rock solid.
 
Thanks

Thanks for your help guys - I'll let you know what I get and how it goes.
 
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