Same SSID for 2 AP's of Different Speeds

I have g-speed router now as the main. One room with thick brick walls is getting very poor signal. I am going to run a Cat5 to the room and hook up a new n speed router (with DHCP turn off) there as an AP. My understanding is that for roaming purpose, the n-speed AP should have the same SSID as the AP in g-speed router.

My question are:

1) Will the speed stay at n-speed when I am connected to the n-speed AP in the n-speed covered area and the speed be downgraded to g-speed when I roam to the g-speed covered area and is connected to it? Or will the n-speed AP downgrade to g-speed always?


2) What if I forgo the roaming capability and set the n-speed AP with a different SSID? What will this do to the speed in situation I ask about in 1)?

Hope I have explain my question clearly enough.

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My understanding is that for roaming purpose, the n-speed AP should have the same SSID as the AP in g-speed router.

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Yes, both routers should have the same SSID, but use different channels.

I don't see why you would have the "g" router as the main. You want the fastest router as the primary. Otherwise, it could bottleneck your speeds.

1) If you mean will "n" clients connected on the "n" router stay at "n" speeds with each other, then yes.
So if computer A and B are both connected to the "n" router, they could transfer files between them at "n" speeds.

Like I said, putting the "g" router as your main limits you to whatever speed it gives you. So if the "g" Ethernet ports are 100Mbps, that's the max you'll get on the "n" router. The lowest "n" link rate is 150Mbps, so you're already down 50Mbps.

2) using a different SSID won't change performance

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Originally Posted by Midknyte

I don't see why you would have the "g" router as the main.

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That is only b/c the g-router isn't mine. It belongs to the housemate/landlord and he isn't going to upgrade it to a newer router (he's cheap).

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Originally Posted by Midknyte

1) If you mean will "n" clients connected on the "n" router stay at "n" speeds with each other, then yes.
So if computer A and B are both connected to the "n" router, they could transfer files between them at "n" speeds.

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Sorry, I wasn't clear, my bad. I meant internet connection speed, like streaming movie. How about that aspect in this situation?

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That is only b/c the g-router isn't mine.

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Ok, that's unfortunate. Not much choice there then. If that's the case, then I'd use a different SSID.

You didn't say the make/model of your "n" router, so I can't be more detailed than that. Specs help.

Again, you will be limited by the primary router. You didn't say the make/model of the "g" router, but I'm it would probably have Fast Ethernet (100Mbps) ports at best. You didn't say which ISP or data plan you use, but 100Mbps would be the theoretical max.

If your landlord just has a 50Mbps plan for example, that would be less than 100, so it wouldn't be bottlenecked.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough.

Here is the situation. I just moved and sublet this room from the guy. The place has FIOS but he has the older Actiontec MI424WR Rev. E router which is only g-speed. My room gets very low coverage (signal) and I can't stream movies. Now my previous place also had FIOS and a similar situation. But my old place had the newer Actiontec Rev. I which is n-speed. So I just hooked up my own n-speed router as a AP in my room. No problem.

Here at the new place, the housemate/landlord doesn't wanna spend any additional money and I am stuck with the g-speed. That's kinda OK when I am in the common area where the Actiontec is. He subscribes to (I believe) 50/50 internet and we usually get around 25/15 speed, so it's just barely enough for full HD streaming when the both of us are streaming at the same time. In my room I just get too low a signal to stream full HD.

So, let me rephrase my question:

With my n-speed laptop (and my laptop only), when I am in my room and connected to my n-speed AP, then:

1) I know I am limited to the 50/50 ISP provisioned speed, but normally with a n-router I can expect to get a lot closer to the 50/50 top speed than the 25/15 when connected to the g-speed Actiontec. But will the presence of the g-speed Actiontec in the same network degrade the n-AP's internet traffic speed? Will I only get about 25/15 even if I am in my room and connected to my n-AP?

2) Is the above situation affected one way or another by having the same or different SSID as the Actiontec's SSID?

3) I lost my n-router when I moved. Haven't bought a new one yet. Any good suggestion for a brand and/or model (just a basic one, nothing fancy needed)?

You asked multiple questions on #1. I'll call it 1A and 1B.
1A) The "g" router will affect performance if it is using the same channel as the "n" router. That's why you want to use a different channel. Ex. if "g" is using ch1, use ch11 on "n".
Assuming the "g" LAN ports are working properly, it should be enough to provide 50Mbps (Fast Ethernet = 100Mbps).

1B) I'm guessing you mean you get 25/15 on the WIRELESS "g" connection. As I said before, your "n" router will be limited by the WIRED connection. I don't use Actiontec hardware, so I can't say how good the wired ports are. Hopefully it's good enough to provide 50Mbps.

2) NO. SSID doesn't affect performance. You'd only want them to be the same for roaming. I would think you'd want a different SSID so that you know for sure that you are connecting to YOUR router.

3) I wouldn't bother with an "n" router anymore. I'd go with an 802.11ac at least. You didn't say what your budget is.
I personally wouldn't go lower than an AC1750 router.

Either the TP-LINK Archer C8 AC1750 or Netgear R6400 are around $100 right now.

Thank you for the explanation. $100 is a little too much for me right now. I will look into TP-Link brand, I've heard that they make good stuffs.

You could also look for the TP-Link C7, if they're still around. It's a bit cheaper than the C8.

Again, I don't think it's worth getting 802.11n anymore. AC1200 is the absolute lowest I would go.

You can look at reviews here:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools...rs/router/view

Not sure I should start a new thread or not b/c it's a continuous saga.

Anyway, it turns out that a friend of mine have a pretty new Linksys E1200 he can give me, so I try to hook it up as an AP instead of buying a new one (poor student here.) Thinking it should be a breeze and I have done it many times before.

The default IP for te E1200 is 192.168.1.1. So I change it to 192.168.1.248 (I have the main route's DHCP to end at 192.168.1.242, so I will have 12 IP reserve for static.) Then I turn off the DHCP in the E1200. Setup the WiFi stuffs and I think I am done. But no.

First, I can't log back in with the new IP (.248). I clear the cache in my browser, restart the computer but still no joy. So I reset the E1200 to factory default, get back in and start over. Same thing, can't log back in with the new IP. The manual says I can also use myrouter.local to get in but that doesn't work either.

Anyway, I check and my computer see the E1200 and is able to connect to it, BUT, no internet. That's strange. Reset the E1200, start over a few times, still the same.

Now, looking at the manual, it says to use it as an AP, I should select the "Bridge Mode" setting. Ok, select that. In that setting I have the choices of letting DHCP from the main router assigns the IP to the E1200 or I can set my own statistic one. So I set it to the 192.168.1.248 I used before. Still doesn't work.

What finally works is for me to just select the Bridge Mode and do nothing else — i.e., didn't change the LAN IP and didn't even look at the DHCP setting.

OK, but there is still the problem that I can't log back into the router. Obviously, the E1200's IP is now assigned by the main router's DHCP, but what is it?

So I log into the main router and look at the list of connection, thinking that I can find the E1200's IP with its MAC address. But the strange thing is that the E1200 isn't listed there.

So what is going on there and how can I log in?

Silly me. Figured it out. When I do IPCONFIG, I forgot that I need to unhook it from the network and attached it directly to the PC to get the device's IP. My bad.

You should have set a STATIC IP on your PC's network card first. Otherwise, you are relying on DHCP. Then configure the AP router BEFORE connecting it to the MAIN router.

1. Set a static IP on the AP router that is outside the DHCP scope of the MAIN router
2. disable DHCP on the AP router
3. connect a wired cable from the MAIN router to a LAN port on the AP router (do NOT use the WAN port!)