WIFI: Question re: dual channel operation

[veesubotee]

I connect my mini via a Netgear N300 dual channel router. Checking my settings, I am connected to one network. Thinking that if I could connect to both (simultaneously), I would enjoy higher throughput. However, I cannot do this; only being able to select one or the other.

Questions: (1) The router is capable of 2 x 300 Mbps throughput. Since my tier delivers less than what one channel would deliver, is that the limiting factor?
(2) Are the ipads (full size and mini) capable of true MIMO operation?

I have no problem streaming video (recorded, or live TV), just wondering.


Thanks.

V

 

[giradman]

I connect my mini via a Netgear N300 dual channel router. Checking my settings, I am connected to one network. Thinking that if I could connect to both (simultaneously), I would enjoy higher throughput. However, I cannot do this; only being able to select one or the other.

Questions: (1) The router is capable of 2 x 300 Mbps throughput. Since my tier delivers less than what one channel would deliver, is that the limiting factor?
(2) Are the ipads (full size and mini) capable of true MIMO operation?

I have no problem streaming video (recorded, or live TV), just wondering.

Hello - interesting questions! I have an Apple AirPort Extreme router that is dual band (2.4 & 5 GHz) w/ 2 channels each (so I have 4 home networks) usually operating w/ the 802.11 'g' or 'n' IEEE protocol; of course, the iPad can operate also w/ the 802.11n specification, which already is using MIMO (multiple in & multiple out) technology (see chart below w/ blue arrow; from HERE).

As is evident, the standards permit plenty of transmission speed (up to 54 Mbps for 'g' & much more for 'n' - another listing in the chart) - the limitation as you suggest is really the signal speed coming into your modem provided by your ISP - in my den (a room from my router), I usually get about 20 Mbps to my laptop & iPad, not because of my router's specs, but Time-Warner's limited cable signal coming into my house.

Don't know if that helps answer you inquiry? But, at the moment you cannot really combine two different broadcasting channels from your router - Dave
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[zstairlessone]

I think, and may (usually am) be wrong, but to enjoy the benefit of dual channel, you need an AC capable router and device. Right now the only Apple AC capable devices i know of are the new MacBooks. I am hoping the new iPhone and iPads will have it as the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule both are AC routers.

 

[veesubotee]

Thanks for the information, guys. With regard to my router, I'm thinking that dual channel does not equal (true) MIMO. For my information: what does AC stand for?

V

 

[giradman]

Thanks for the information, guys. With regard to my router, I'm thinking that dual channel does not equal (true) MIMO. For my information: what does AC stand for?

The 802.11ac standard is the newest one w/ final approval in early 2014 - take a peek @ the chart again (the one at the bottom); also a short quote from a Wiki article below (from HERE) - but again regardless of whether your router/computer have these newest protocols, i.e. 'n' & 'ac', the 'bottleneck' will still depend on what your ISP is providing to you. Dave

IEEE 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the 802.11 family (which is marketed under the brand name Wi-Fi), developed in the IEEE Standards Association process,[1] providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band.The standard was developed from 2011 through 2013 and approved in January 2014.

 

[zstairlessone]

In short AC takes the n standard and puts it on steroids. By allowing beam forming the signal can be directed at each recipient and directed away from other recipients (see example)





And the data transmission rate is increased fairly dramatically. The signal received by the router is also more reliable, as distortion will affect the signal differently at each of the antennas and is much less likely that all four paths have unusable data. By using channel bonding you can get 2x rate (the guard band can be used also to up that even more)

n can utilize the multiple antennas but only to one client where ac... Well look at the picture above . This means that with multiple users the projected data rate to each user is higher all over the same frequency (think of the difference between a router and a switch)

The new standard uses denser modulation, more channel bonding and more of the multiple input/multiple output (8 streams versus 4 for n) which all helps the throughput to a potential of 2400 Mbits up from a 3 stream maximum of 320 Mbits for n (even the amendment 4 stream maximum of n is 420 Mbits vs the amendment maximum of 4900 Mbits for ac)

Or, the even shorter version - it is much faster to a single device and multiple devices

Edit: sorry for putting everyone to sleep

 

[AQ_OC]

Keep in mind that wireless clients on a network also benefit from faster thru-put when doing transfers between various other devices on the same network behind the router. So, not everything is bound by internet speeds if you are streaming files from a server behind your router.

I now have a dual band ac router and a laptop that supports 802.11ac. All I have to do is replace the old router with the new one to see if this really works.

 

[giradman]

Keep in mind that wireless clients on a network also benefit from faster thru-put when doing transfers between various other devices on the same network behind the router. So, not everything is bound by internet speeds if you are streaming files from a server behind your router......

Excellent point that I should have mentioned; e.g. although my internet speed into my modem at the moment is 20.9 Mbps (using Speedtest Net), the connection between my Apple AirPort Extreme router & my MBPro laptop (i.e. w/i my home network) is 450 Mbps (on 802.11n using the 5 GHz band), so if I had a lot of HD video (such as DVD or BD) on a network storage device, there would be no streaming issues even if multiple users w/i my home were streaming different movies, as an example. Dave