Would this network benefit from upgrading to N?

[arfows]

Hello,
I have a WRT54G as my base router and am looking to add a 2nd router to my network to provide access for the occasional times when I need to get online with my xbox360 or my Dish DVR (They are too far away to run ethernet cables).

My house is a 2 story and decent sized, my home computer has a gigabit ethernet card and i have 2 laptops that connect both have wireless N capabilities. My ISP supposedly provides 15 Mbps. I have good signal strength throughout the house currently. i don't do many file transfers between computers.

Since I am making the effort to add a router, I was wondering if there would be a noticeable performance difference if I replaced my WRT54G with an N router and then used the WRT54G as my secondary router/repeater bridge for the 360/DVR ... or would just getting a second G route to act as the bridge result in roughly the same performance? If I would notice a considerable difference with an N router, would a gigabit version be worth the extra cost or would any N router do?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

[hang-the-9]

If you are planning to use a G router hanging off the N router, you will just be connecting at the speed of the G router. If you want faster performance, get a an N-based access point and hang it off an ethernet connection. Or get an N router and a N wifi extender to connect wireless if you can't get a cable near where you want wireless.

 

[arfows]

I can't have an ethernet connection to the main router due to space/layout so that part is out, and my second router will only be powered on the few times I need to have net access for my 360 or DVR.

I guess that refines my question down to this...will having an N router as my primary router give me a noticeable performance difference for surfing the net, a little downloading, or watching streaming video from a laptop? If so, would a gigabit router be noticably better?

Thanks!

 

[hang-the-9]

Gig ports are only good for internal data transfer, if you don't copy files from system to system won't do you any good.

If you plan on using a G access point for wireless, having an N router is useless, need both to be N.

 

[arfows]

So basically, if I have my proposed primary wireless router (the N one) on while I have the G one (secondary) on, performance will be degraded to G...which means anytime I play Xbox the laptops will only receive G signal. However, if I shut the G one off (since i would only have it on when playing XBOX) my laptops will get the benefit of N?

Then I guess what I am trying to ask is this: With the G router off and my laptops getting wireless signal from an N router, is there a significant performance improvement (speed, etc) over staying with my current setup of a wireless G primary router?

 

[hang-the-9]

There is as big speed increase from using N over G, as long as the devices all support N. If you connect the laptops to the N connections, you can leave the G router on all the time, won't affect anything. I though you were saying you wanted to extend the range of your wireless using the G connection, in that case everything connected to that will use that speed. If you keep things on the N wifi, they will run at that speed.

 

[arfows]

Thanks so much. Looks like I'll be going with an N router. Was thinking about this one, is it legit?

TP-LINK TL-WR940N IEEE 802.11b/g/n 300Mbps Wireless N Router
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704050

 

[hang-the-9]

Should be OK, TP-Link stuff seems to have mostly very good reviews.