Develop Bugs

"N" -vs- "G" wifi on Vibrant/Galaxy

I noticed when I was at a friend's place recently that the Vibrant supports N wifi networks as well as G. However, I did not have the opportunity to do any extended testing.
I have noticed that wifi transfers over the network using various file sharing tools tend to be slow, and buffering with Allshare can be slow at times. What I'm wondering is, has anybody compared actual speed of Wifi on the Vibrant or Galaxy when using an N network versus G? Is the speed of the phone itself more the limiting factor, or would I get much better speeds using an N network?
Reason is, I'm currently using a Buffalo WHR-54GS router. It is a bit old, but using DD-WRT firmware, it has been rock solid. It does not, however, support N networking. I'm wondering if I would see any improvement in speeds transferring files and buffering DLNA connections by upgrading to a Buffalo WHR-HP-GN which supports N networking.
The only reason I'd upgrade would be for the N based Wifi - so if there's no benefit on my phone, then I wouldn't need to upgrade. Any input?

I have not had a chance to do any benchmarking but I have done allshare over both a G and N network and it did seem noticibly faster over the N network. Especially when paired with a gigabit hard wire to whaterver your streaming to/from.
Actually I think the gigabit helped as much as the wireless N, of course those routers tend to be more expensive...

I got a linksys wrt160n with ddwrt. the n doesnt work great with ddwrt but the router is great. i also have another n wireless but i dont notice much diference at all. maybe internal network stuff but not internet stuff.

Can't say I've done side-by-side comparisons, but it does seem to get some boost from the N speeds. For a new router, I'd suggest the ASUS RT-N16. Just about the most powerful consumer router out there (RAM & CPU) and it runs Tomato (plus dd-wrt)

N is better for streaming.
The N network allows a faster streaming and file transfer over the wifi. Now this will not improve your internet speed. The limit on the router might be higher, the modem will still have its limits. If you use allshare alot, I'll recommend you get a N router, otherwise no reason to purchase something you won't use. I have a Netgear dualband router (WNDR 3300). It supports both N and G networks but I rarely use the N since most of my devices do not support N. The ones I have that do like the Vibrant supports at 2.4ghz frequency. The router can be switched to broadcast the N at 2.4ghz, but like I said, If you're not streaming, there's really no need for it. To put this in numbers, the G networks can only transfer data at the maximum of 50mbps while the N can transfer files at Maximum of ~400mbps (if not higher). If your internet service does not offer more than 50mbps speed, then your internet will remain the same whether on G or N. You have been schooled

Helpful, informative post. Up until the last sentence.

Unless you only set your router to n you wont get the full advantage of using n you will only get compatibility. Having g on slows down you n network to a like speed. At least that what happens on my router, I have a dlink, when I did a little Googling it confirmed it.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Only Loki said:
Unless you only set your router to n you wont get the full advantage of using n you will only get compatibility. Having g on slows down you n network to a like speed. At least that what happens on my router, I have a dlink, when I did a little Googling it confirmed it.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May be specific to your Dlink. My Asus does G & N, and the N devices ran significantly faster than the G laptop that I still had connected until recently. The G laptop never slowed anything else down.

tide1988 said:
You have been schooled
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tide1988 said:
To put this in numbers, the G networks can only transfer data at the maximum of 50mbps while the N can transfer files at Maximum of ~400mbps (if not higher).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are going to try to school people, please do it right and quit misleading people.
The Vibrant is not MIMO capable, so we only get a theoretical 150Mbps on 802.11N. Due to security and WiFi error correction, realistic throughput is ~70Mb/s. That is 8.75MB/s, slightly faster than an AData 16G class 6 card, but significantly slower than a SanDisk 8G Class 6 card.
On 802.11G, again due to WiFi error correction and security, a realistic throughput number is around 20Mb/s. That is 2.5MB/s, barely faster than a crappy Class 2 SD card.
Keep in mind that these are all "optimal" numbers. The amount of time that your vibrant will ever see these (more realistic) maximum numbers are probably less than 10% of the time.

Saiboogu said:
May be specific to your Dlink. My Asus does G & N, and the N devices ran significantly faster than the G laptop that I still had connected until recently. The G laptop never slowed anything else down.
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Click to collapse
Try a file transfer on N with the compatibility mode off (N Only) versus in B/G/N mode. You should see a speed increase on N only. However, with everything RF, you might have interfering neighbors that will influence testing.

Some of the wireless routers will slow down. it has to do with the router only having one band. In a dual simultaneous router, one band can be slowed to G speeds, such as my PS3 or my dad's 2nd gen iPod touch. My vibrant, however is automatically positioned on a completely seperate stream from the G devices.

i have a Cisco E3000
and i do see a small difference
about a minute difference in downloading a 600mb file

[Q] WiFi and Netgear Powerline Wireless Adapter-technical question

I have a Cisco E4200 Wireless N Router downstairs, which provides great speed with my Galaxy Nexus. My bedroom is at the other corner of the house, and the signal has poor penetration there. Our house also has poor 3G/4G reception, and in fact, we have to use the Network Extender to get call reliability. So I need to get a better Wireless signal up there.
So, I just bought and installed the Netgear AV200 Powerline Wireless N Extender - the 'base' unit connects to the router downstairs via ethernet, and plugs into a wall socket. The Wireless adapter plugs into a socket in our bedroom, and is able to access the network via powerlines, and generates a strong Wireless N signal.
The problem relates to SSID, signal stength, etc.
Initially, I set up the Netgear adapter to use the same SSID and passphrase as the Cisco Router. Using WiFi analyzer, I can see this signal and it's strong. But my GNexus doesn't connect to it, but remains connected to the 2.4GHz signal coming from downstairs, even though it is much weaker.
I then created a different SSID for the Netgear Wireless Adapter, and a corresponding new WiFi connection on my phone, and it connects fine and gets great signal. But it doesn't seem to want to switch from the weaker downstairs signal, to the stronger upstairs signal, when I go upstairs. I have to manually switch.
So:
Is there any way to configure things to use the same SSID, and have my phone seamlessly switch between the 2 signals, using whichever is the strongest? Why isn't working to begin with?
Or, is there someway to configure the phone so that it readily switches to whichever SSID has the strongest signal?
If this needs to be posted elsewhere, please suggest where.
Thanks.

I cannot speak to the capabilities of Linksys by Cisco gear, but what I can tell is how we combat this issue in a "WiFi dense" area such as stadiums or hospitals. On all of Cisco's enterprise level products, you have the ability to disconnect any client that drops below a certain speed/signal (thus pushing to a closer AP with better signal). So, it a large, WiFi dense area, we would push all clients off an AP that were connecting at say, less than 24Mbit/s in a G environment.
You can try to see if your Linksys product supports that but I doubt it. Maybe a 3rd party firmware is available for your Linksys like DD-WRT that can offer that capability.
The downside to WiFi is, once a client connects, it holds on for dear life.

Thanks for the reply frogskins.
I looked through all the Cisco Router's settings and don't see anything that would enable what you're suggesting.
With a little more observation, it does appear that, with different SSID's at present, my phone will eventually switch to the stronger signal on its own, but it takes a while. As you said, it seems to want to "hold on" but eventually comes to its senses!
Any other thoughts on this, or how to use the same SSID, and have it switch seamlessly? With the same SSID, WiFi Analyzer showed both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands from the Cisco Router, and also the slightly different (2.6 GHz?) band from the Netgear adapter, all with the same SSID, but my phone didn't seem to be using or accessing the Netgear band, even though the signal was dramatically stronger.
Thanks.

G products should all fall within one of the 11 channels allocated within the 2.4GHz range. N products can do either 2.4 and 5Ghz. You should definitely not see anything in the 2.6 range on Wifi Analyzer.
Another thing you could consider is: does the Linksys support external antennas? By using higher gain dipoles or even directional antennas you can boost signal coverage in distant areas of a house or office without using the wireless extender. Lastly, usually products from the same manufacturer work best, ie Linksys AP and Linksys extender. Even though 802.11n is a standard now, interoperability is still an issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Having the same SSID in different devices isnt going to make the phone switch from one to the other. You need to set up one device as an "extender" of the other, if you have already done this, then disregard this post and there is nothing you can easily do to fix your problem as you are running two different networks.
I know for my apple wireless routers, one unit is the base and my second and third units just grab the main signal and extend its reach.

bpowder1966 said:
Having the same SSID in different devices isnt going to make the phone switch from one to the other. You need to set up one device as an "extender" of the other, if you have already done this, then disregard this post and there is nothing you can easily do to fix your problem as you are running two different networks.
I know for my apple wireless routers, one unit is the base and my second and third units just grab the main signal and extend its reach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I configured the Netgear Wireless adapter with the same SSID and passphrase as my Linksys E4200 Router.
Is there some other step, on other device, so that the Netgear device is seen as an "extender"?
Also - someone else suggested that the two devices with the same SSID and passphrase must be on separate channels in order for this to work - is that correct?

DLCPhoto said:
Also - someone else suggested that the two devices with the same SSID and passphrase must be on separate channels in order for this to work - is that correct?
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That is 100% correct. Even though most WiFi AP's allow you to select channels 1-11, the only channels that do not overlap at all are 1,6 and 11. To prevent the signal from one device degrading the signal from another, they should be on separate, non-overlapping channels. This goes for any wifi signals you are possible picking up from neighbors, etc too. Run WiFi Analyzer and see what channels would be best to use.
And my apologies, I mis-read your original post. I thought you said the Netgear was an extender, not just another AP. If it is not an extender, then we have other issues to deal with.

frogskins said:
That is 100% correct. Even though most WiFi AP's allow you to select channels 1-11, the only channels that do not overlap at all are 1,6 and 11. To prevent the signal from one device degrading the signal from another, they should be on separate, non-overlapping channels. This goes for any wifi signals you are possible picking up from neighbors, etc too. Run WiFi Analyzer and see what channels would be best to use.
And my apologies, I mis-read your original post. I thought you said the Netgear was an extender, not just another AP. If it is not an extender, then we have other issues to deal with.
Click to expand...
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Thanks again.
Regarding the frequencies, WiFi Analyzer shows my Linksys Router as using Channel 11 at 2462 MHz. The Netgear Adapter is shown as using Channel 1 at 2412 MHz. I knew I saw a "6" in there somewhere
The Linksys Router is set to use Channel 11, the Netgear Adapter is set to "Auto" but can be changed to a specific channel if desired.
As for whether the Netgear Adapter is an "extender" or "just another AP" I'll have to confess ignorance. Here's a link to Netgear's page on this:
http://www.netgear.com/home/products/powerline-and-coax/work-and-play/XAVNB2001.aspx
So currently, I have different SSID's for each device, and my phone will switch to the stronger signal eventually, but it seems to take at least 2 to 3 or so minutes to do this.
It makes me wonder that even if I can successfully configure both to the same SSID, if it will switch any faster than this.
Basically, I'd just like to configure things so that my phone quickly and seamlessly switches to the strongest available signal. Any thoughts on the best way to do this, or is it just going to take the phone a few minutes to switch to the better signal?

Lumia 900 802.11n 5ghz support?

Like the title says, does anyone know for sure if the 900 supports 802.11n over 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz? been searching and i can't seem to find anything.
Thanks in advance

simbadogg said:
Like the title says, does anyone know for sure if the 900 supports 802.11n over 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz? been searching and i can't seem to find anything.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it does not. Samsung focus s did. The hd7, lumia 710 and 900 do not.

I can confirm. My Focus S saw and connected to my 5Ghz wireless with no problems.
The Lumia 900 doesn''t even 'see' it.

Just out of curiousity, what would you do with an N connection on your phone?
Just curious, not judging or questioning your need.

hx4700 Killer said:
Just out of curiousity, what would you do with an N connection on your phone?
Just curious, not judging or questioning your need.
Click to expand...
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for me , I just want to connect with what's available. But I have the same type of question around camera quality..why do you expect voque quality pics from from a phone camera placed in your pocket.
Your question to the wireless gave tme the perspective for the camera!

hx4700 Killer said:
Just out of curiousity, what would you do with an N connection on your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you're asking why would I need a 5GHz connection and not a 2.4GHz connection: both can be 802.11n.
The reason is simple in my case. From various spots in my apartment, there's upwards of 25 different wireless connections on the 2.4GHz band. There's zero on the 5GHz band. If I'm connected on 2.4GHz, I'm lucky to get a signal 20 feet from my router.

jhoff80 said:
I assume you're asking why would I need a 5GHz connection and not a 2.4GHz connection: both can be 802.11n.
The reason is simple in my case. From various spots in my apartment, there's upwards of 25 different wireless connections on the 2.4GHz band. There's zero on the 5GHz band. If I'm connected on 2.4GHz, I'm lucky to get a signal 20 feet from my router.
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Click to collapse
No, I am asking what the benefit of a potential 300MB(N) connection VS 10MB(B) or 54MB(G) to a cell phone would be considering most home internet is in the 1MB to 10MB range.
So essentially, what does one need a 300MB connection to their cell phone?
However, in your case I assume you only have N on the 2.4G band and no B or G ?

hx4700 Killer said:
No, I am asking what the benefit of a potential 300MB(N) connection VS 10MB(B) or 54MB(G) to a cell phone would be considering most home internet is in the 1MB to 10MB range.
So essentially, what does one need a 300MB connection to their cell phone?
However, in your case I assume you only have N on the 2.4G band and no B or G ?
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Click to collapse
I think it could be useful if you do the "Wireless Sync" option with Zune. 300MB/s internal network speeds would make wireless syncing a lot faster.
But now that I think about it - since wireless syncing usually happens at night, while you're asleep, and your phone is charging... super fast speeds probably aren't need anyway.

[Q] Loss of 802.11a (5ghz) after i747UCLH9 OTA

I am new to the GS3 on AT&T (or will be when it gets here in the mail, yahoo!!).
I have been a Droid X user for 2+ years, on the Verizon network.
Jumped ship over to AT&T for discount reasons, and decided on the GS3. Wife's arrived last yesterday... horrible WiFi connection issues on our network, but the GS3 would identify both the 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz networks from our Netgear router.
After beating my head agains the wall, I ran the UCLH9 OTA update and if fixed the wifi issues, but all we can see is the 2.4 ghz network, and not the 5 ghz anymore.
Any ideas? Thoughts? Discussion?

More of a though than a solution, but maybe they decided to remove the 802.11a functionality from the radio since it is an antiquated standard, not to mention 802.11g for all intensive purposes is exactly the same only on the 2.4Ghz frequency. This could have also been handed down from higher up, from the IEEE or even FCC to make room on the 5Ghz band for new technology. New technology such as 802.11n which runs on both 2.4 and 5Ghz, i'm going out on a limb and guessing your router ins't wireless N capable or you would probably see this. There is also a new wireless standard in development (802.11ac) which will be exclusively on 5Ghz. Spectrum is like land, they* quit making it long ago...the only way to move forward is utilize what is there better and tear down the old stuff in favor of the new.
* I use the term 'they' vaguely, i'm not here to start a theological debate.

I believe our router (Netgear WNDR3700 Dual band) has both. I have a dell laptop that 'sees' both the 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz SSID's. So I'm relatively sure the router has both.
I was unaware that N technology runs on both the 5 ghz and 2.4 ghz simultaneously. I'll have to look into this to see if this is related.
The loss of detecting the 5 ghz still makes me go hmmm?
Thanks for the reply.

The router you listed is an N capable router, why your phone isn't seeing the 5ghz band i'm not sure. As my signature shows im running AOKP and the KT747 kernel which uses different wifi drivers. I currently don't have a wireless N network thanks to some lightning earlier this year to check, but i can say i've never had any problem with connecting to any wifi networks. I would start with the router and check the settings there as to how the network broadcasts, what frequencies its on etc. I have had problems in the past with running on the 20/40z frequencies so you might change that to 20 exclusively and see if that helps you.

[Q] Nexus 7 (2013) wifi speeds / which router do you have

Hi everyone,
I have my Nexus 7 connected to a Linksys WRT160N router with tomatoRAF firmware installed. This router+firmware+configuration setup was the best I could do without constant dropping of connection or not connecting at all, but still at very slow speed of 0,5 - 1,5 MB/s (average is more around 0,6) when copying files on local network (SMB) with ES File Explorer. Which is good enough for web surfing and emails, but not enough for IPTV and youtube (youtube works, but i have to wait for it a lot).
So far i have tried numerous configurations of my router, nothing works. I tried other routers, 9 to be exact, but i have never seen more than 2MB/s.
Now i'm thinking about buying new router, and I want to know what wifi speeds do you get with which router.
thanks

Hi,
what's your net speed? mine is 26 mbit/s and this is what i get. however, IF you stream sound with BT/have any BT service up and running and your wifi runs at 2.4ghz it is highly probable the two (bt and wifi) interfere. This was the problem i had and which i found out after buying soundbar which links with its subwoofer via BT(BT butchered my wifi, i was scoring 1mbit to up to 26). I have switched to dual band modem/router (tp link td-w8980). now, i have two WiFi networks at my place, one which runs at 2.4ghz and the second at 5ghz. the 5ghz is used only by my nexus :]

N7 2013, Buffalo N300 router, Verizon FiOS 75/25. The router is dual channel, but not dual band: 2.4GHz only.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

enlev said:
Hi everyone,
I have my Nexus 7 connected to a Linksys WRT160N router with tomatoRAF firmware installed. This router+firmware+configuration setup was the best I could do without constant dropping of connection or not connecting at all, but still at very slow speed of 0,5 - 1,5 MB/s (average is more around 0,6) when copying files on local network (SMB) with ES File Explorer. Which is good enough for web surfing and emails, but not enough for IPTV and youtube (youtube works, but i have to wait for it a lot).
So far i have tried numerous configurations of my router, nothing works. I tried other routers, 9 to be exact, but i have never seen more than 2MB/s.
Now i'm thinking about buying new router, and I want to know what wifi speeds do you get with which router.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had throughput issues with a Linksys WRT54GL and Tomato, was not a configuration problem. Loved the way Tomato worked, how it looked, it's options... but in the end, all I really cared about was throughput. Are you able to replicate the throughput issue on stock router firmware? You said you tried other routers. All the same model (RMA)?
Tell me more about your connectivity issues.
If you've used different routers from different manufacturers (with their respective stock firmware), then it's probably a problem with your tablet.

Aerowinder said:
I had throughput issues with a Linksys WRT54GL and Tomato, was not a configuration problem. Loved the way Tomato worked, how it looked, it's options... but in the end, all I really cared about was throughput. Are you able to replicate the throughput issue on stock router firmware? You said you tried other routers. All the same model (RMA)?
Tell me more about your connectivity issues.
If you've used different routers from different manufacturers (with their respective stock firmware), then it's probably a problem with your tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this throughput issue from the day I received my nexus 7 (2013), with stock firmware on router. But with stock firmware, the connection would drop randomly (from 5 minutes to 12 hours) and to reconnect i had to restart the router and nexus - this was corrected only with this firmware TomatoRAF (i tried dd-wrt and 2 more tomato firmwares - all kept disconnecting). I never had this throughput issue with any laptop, only this nexus.
The other routers i tried were all different routers, but all at least 3 years old.
Another information: friends nexus 7 (2013) WIFI, flo, also had same speeds on my router.
today i will try to test a few phones and a laptop on my router and will post results as soon as i can

32gb lte model, I use an Asus ac66u and Comcast 105\25 Mbps. 5ghz WiFi gets me 90 Mbps down and 22-30 up, 55 Mbps down and 22-30 up on 2.4 GHz.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

This is what i get (copying files from server with es file explorer):
nexus 7 2013 (kitkat) - 760kB/s
1st xperia ray (kitkat) - 750kB/s
2nd xperia ray (jellybean) - 530kB/s
xperia mini pro (jellybean) - 560kB/s
galaxy s4 mini - 1070kB/s
laptop - 6500kB/s
I used to get 10MB/s+ on my laptop with original linksys firmware, but now i configured router to be more "reliable" and i would be more than happy if nexus had 6,5MB/s connection.
I attached some info about router configuration. If there is an "expert" reading this willing to help, i can post more complete configuration.

DeathmonkeyGTX said:
32gb lte model, I use an Asus ac66u and Comcast 105\25 Mbps. 5ghz WiFi gets me 90 Mbps down and 22-30 up, 55 Mbps down and 22-30 up on 2.4 GHz.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you happy with ac66u? any problems? what about lan to wifi speeds (with laptop/ac adapter)? i am asking as it is a serious contender for my next router

DeathmonkeyGTX said:
32gb lte model, I use an Asus ac66u and Comcast 105\25 Mbps. 5ghz WiFi gets me 90 Mbps down and 22-30 up, 55 Mbps down and 22-30 up on 2.4 GHz.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I hate you! Ok... maybe I'm just a little jealous!
enlev said:
Are you happy with ac66u? any problems? what about lan to wifi speeds (with laptop/ac adapter)? i am asking as it is a serious contender for my next router
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering how inexpensive it was I"m extremely happy with the TP-Link WR1043ND that I use. With aftermarket antennas I bought as an experiment and the current firmware installed signal strength through walls and general performance is great. I thought about installing third-party firmware on it when I first got it a couple years ago but see no need. For the package I have from Comcast they advertise I think 25 Mbps down and 5Mbps up and I usually see 28/6. If you haven't already done so make sure your router is using the best channel for your location. Also, I see a lot of people move off of channels 1, 6 and 11 which can make them see/cause more bleedover from/to adjacent channels. You can see that in my screenshot with networks MercedesBenz and Sandvik. I live in a house but the effect in an apartment or condo would be worse. I also use a repeater because my router is at the opposite end of the house from my backyard patio and this house has insulated steel siding. Wifi Analyzer is a free app and works great to figure out what channel would work best for you.
Also in the N7's wifi advanced settings I use "2.4 GHz only" which seems to make it reconnect faster when waking up the device because I also use "only when plugged in" during sleep.

enlev said:
Are you happy with ac66u? any problems? what about lan to wifi speeds (with laptop/ac adapter)? i am asking as it is a serious contender for my next router
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any problems. All my large lan transfers are done over Ethernet cat 6. If it can pull down 90mbps from wan to wlan on two phones and a tablet, well then there's your sign lol. All these speeds are on n WiFi, I haven't even tried ac because all my machines that need all available bandwidth are hardwired. The router hasn't even required rebooting unless one counts firmware updates and such. Hardline lan to lan is right about 100 MB/s.there's an even faster model out called the ac68u but it's significantly more expensive.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

I have the 32GB LTE version... Using an Asus RT-N66U as my access point...
On 2.4 ghz I get 22.5 mbps down and 7.5 mbps up*
On 5 gzh I get 68.4 mbps down and 11.5 mbps up... which is the max speeds I see from my ISP.
*note: there are about 18 strong 2.4 ghz networks visible at my location (surrounded by apartment buildings). 2.4 ghz performance consistently suffers with this level of interference across all of my connected devices.
As far as the RT-N66U goes... I'm very happy with it's performance and range of signal. I was a long time WRT54G user with tomato. This matches almost perfectly.