Dumb router question.

Ok I have a dumb router questions, but this community is so helpful, I thought I would post it.


I have been using an several year old linksys wireless router (802.11b) connected to my time warner cable modem. It is slow at times and sometimes needs reset.

I got a brand new computer and the guy threw in a netgear wireless N-300. He said it was older but I am sure it is newer than the one i have. Is that good enough to warrant the time of changing them out and resetting everything up, or is it just going to be the same?

There is apparently more than one version of the N300 router.

Is yours listed as a Gigabit router? If the LAN ports are 10/100/1000 ports then I would definitely make change simply because it would enable faster wired connections. You may need to look through the manual (probably on the disc) or check the version number on your unit on the Netgear site to find out for certain. Of course, if your computer has a Gigablit port (most newer ones do) you could simply connect the power to the router and connect a network cable to the LAN port and see what speed the connection is listed as on the computer to tell if it's a Gigabit port or a 10/100 port.

Also, is the computer you are connecting going to be wired or wireless? If you do use any wireless connections (computers, phones, iPads, etc) they will be much faster with the newer router as 802.11b was limited to 11 Mbps. Of course, those devices would have to have wireless capabilities that support the faster connection standards as well. If everything you have only supports 802.11b then the wireless portion of the router will still be limited to the slower speed.

N300 refers to a Netgear spec on communications speeds over the wireless. The router itself is going to actually be a a WNR2000 or some such like that.

Having said that, any Netgear N300 capable router is going to work on the 802.11g mode, which is faster than the 802.11b, and also does 802.11n, which is faster than both:

b=up to 11M
g=up to 54M
n=up to 150M

These are for the wireless, depending on the equipment and environment. Wired is always 10/100/1000 depending on the equipment at both ends of the cable, and usually is auto-negotiated.

Also, the more items on the wireless, the less each item gets to use when all are talking. It's a 'pie' of wireless, and if 5 things need to use it, then each gets 1/5th of a pie. One gets it all, if the others are silent. This plays into the 'up to' part as well.

Generally, though, from a *local* wireless speed viewpoint, sure, makes sense. And it may for the reset thing too.

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Having said all that backgrounder, though, the internet itself, unless you have a monster connection, is rarely over 10M anyway, and most homes are in the 3-6 range. The overhead for the wireless may or may not be enough to make a significant change in the INTERNET speed between the two boxes. From that standpoint, it's more difficult to say "yep, that'll be better".

And finally, if all your equipment excepting the router is 802.11b, then it will be about zero difference in the first place.

There is also some thought that the lowest item in the list of 802.11b or g will make the entire wireless revert to b only. I am not sure about that one, myself, as I only use G these days, and force the router to not accept b connections anymore. We've not upgraded to N because there's just frankly no need to for us for what we use at the workplaces. Yet. Never know what the future needs.

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You might look into upgrading the firmware of the current router if it's old, and resetting it. But if you're doing that, may as well do the Netgear. They're pretty good stuff, actually.

I hope this helped in some way!