Want to upgrade to a Wireless-N Router

[Hells_Fury]

Hi,
I currently have a Linksys WTR54G2 router which is a Wireless-G model (54 Mbps). I need to upgrade to a Wireless-N (300 Mbps) router. The following devices will connect to the router via Wi-Fi:

1. Desktop PC via Wi-Fi (Always On)
2. Xtreamer (1080p media streaming)
3. PS3
4. 2 Cell phones
5. An additional laptop occasionally

I do not need a modem, just a wireless router. Also, I will not be installing any custom firmware on the router. My house is approximately 1000 square feet. The following are my requirements:

1. Range (Primary requirement)
2. 1080p media streaming
3. MAC Filter
4. Port Forwarding

Based on all of the above, as per my understanding I need a 300 Mbps router. Dual-Band is not a requirement for me, single band will do. External antennae will be preferable since I believe that range will be better with these. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

I went through various sites but ended up getting totally confused as to which router will meet my needs. I had zeroed in on this one but need opinions:
TP-LINK TL-WR941ND - TP-LINK TL-WR941ND 300Mbps Wireless N Router - TP-LINK: Flipkart.com

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

PS: I have gone through the recent threads on TE but am still not convinced.

 

[blr_p]

Lets start with your movies and how much bandwidth they require to play.

Bit rate viewer

Get that app and run some of your 1080p movies with it. Tell us the avg rate and peak rates.

Do a few to get some idea, especially action movies.

Try with 720p as well.

 

[rads]

No budget ?

 

[Nishant122]

- TP-LINK TL-WR941ND 300Mbps Wireless N Router i buy from ratetorate.in and got it for Rs 1700 only...

 

[Hells_Fury]

Lets start with your movies and how much bandwidth they require to play.

Bit rate viewer

Get that app and run some of your 1080p movies with it. Tell us the avg rate and peak rates.

Do a few to get some idea, especially action movies.

Try with 720p as well.

Will try out today and post back.

No budget ?

Budget is flexible. I am ready to spend if I really need to but I do not want to spend unnecessarily for overkill.

- TP-LINK TL-WR941ND 300Mbps Wireless N Router i buy from ratetorate.in and got it for Rs 1700 only...

Thanks, are they reliable?

 

[mitraark]

- TP-LINK TL-WR941ND 300Mbps Wireless N Router i buy from ratetorate.in and got it for Rs 1700 only...

How ? I realy cant figure out the site, it says http://ratetorate.in/products/TP-Link-Advanced-Wireless-300Mbps-N-Router , Rs 2700

How'd you get it at Rs 1700 only ?

 

[Hells_Fury]

I was suggested an Asus RT-N66U by someone at another forum. Would this be overkill for my needs?

PS: I am not getting the time to test the bit rate of my HD movies. Will try to post back in a day or two.[DOUBLEPOST=1363325448][/DOUBLEPOST]

@blr_p Here are the bit rates:

Movie 1:
Avg - 12199
Peak - 55108

Movie 2:
Avg - 12996
Peak - 32431

Movie 3:
Avg - 10000
Peak - 35798

All of them are 1080p action movies. Tried a 720p movie as well and the avg bit rate was 7xxx but I forgot to note down the max bit rate.

 

[blr_p]

@blr_p Here are the bit rates:

Movie 1:
Avg - 12199
Peak - 55108

Movie 2:
Avg - 12996
Peak - 32431

Movie 3:
Avg - 10000
Peak - 35798

All of them are 1080p action movies. Tried a 720p movie as well and the avg bit rate was 7xxx but I forgot to note down the max bit rate.

ok, so I trust these are the most bandwidth demanding movies you intend to stream and will use them as an upper limit. Since the xstreamer is the most data demanding client you have.

1) what model# is your xstreamer and what is its wifi ability ? Is it single band, dual band, N150 or N300 ?

2) Does the xstreamer allow you to display the link speed of the wifi connection.

3) Does the xstreamer have a user configurable buffer. Will it buffer data and allow to play back little later like youtube does or not.

4) How is the xstreamer accessing movies ? is it using a windows share from your desktop HDD or via DLNA/UPnP, if so which software DLNA/UpnP server are you using.

5) How are the movies attached to the router. Does your router allow you to attach a HDD to it via USB or not. Otherwise I presume your present setup as is follows as you mentioned the PC is on wifi.

HDD<--PC---(((( )))-----WRT54G----((( ))))----Xstreamer<---TV

Is that correct ?

6) What movies can you presently stream without interruptions. Can you post the bitrates (avg, peak & file size) of those movies. You want to find ones with the highest avg/peak rate that just work here.

This let us know what the max data your present router (WRT54G) is capable of streaming.

 

[Hells_Fury]

1) what model# is your xstreamer and what is its wifi ability ? Is it single band, dual band, N150 or N300 ?

Its the initial model, the one that was first released. Its peak speed is 150 Mbps. Don't know whether it is single or dual band.
http://www.xtreamer.in/wifi.asp

2) Does the xstreamer allow you to display the link speed of the wifi connection.

No

3) Does the xstreamer have a user configurable buffer. Will it buffer data and allow to play back little later like youtube does or not.

No

4) How is the xstreamer accessing movies ? is it using a windows share from your desktop HDD or via DLNA/UPnP, if so which software DLNA/UpnP server are you using.

Windows Network Share

5) How are the movies attached to the router. Does your router allow you to attach a HDD to it via USB or not. Otherwise I presume your present setup as is follows as you mentioned the PC is on wifi.

HDD<--PC---(((( )))-----WRT54G----((( ))))----Xstreamer<---TV

Is that correct ?

Yes this is correct. My router does not have a USB port so my HDD is connected to my PC.

6) What movies can you presently stream without interruptions. Can you post the bitrates (avg, peak & file size) of those movies. You want to find ones with the highest avg/peak rate that just work here.

I tried a couple of low quality movies(700 MB) and even those did not play without a bit of stutter. Did not try anything beyond that since even the low quality ones did not play fine to my satisfaction. Smaller TV series episodes do play continuously though. Will check the bit rate and post back.

 

[dinjo]

Asus RT N66U is expensive and is high end router which you dont really need.

Would rather advise to go for Asus RT N13U flashed with dd wrt provides way better range than most router in same price range.

 

[blr_p]

Its the initial model, the one that was first released. Its peak speed is 150 Mbps. Don't know whether it is single or dual band.
http://www.xtreamer.in/wifi.asp

You have linked to a wifi USB adapter there. Is this dongle what you have connected to the TV via USB ? In this case the playback is handled by your TV.

If not can you link to the product page of your model.

When you said xstreamer i thought you had a set top box by xstreamer which would do the playback and the tv would just be hooked up to it.

 

[Hells_Fury]

You have linked to a wifi USB adapter there. Is this dongle what you have connected to the TV via USB ? In this case the playback is handled by your TV.

If not can you link to the product page of your model.

When you said xstreamer i thought you had a set top box by xstreamer which would do the playback and the tv would just be hooked up to it.

The initial model of the Xtreamer did not have in-built Wi-Fi connectivity. Connectivity was handled via the linked Wi-Fi adapter that plugs in to the USB port of the Xtreamer. My Xtreamer model has been discontinued but this one is similar - http://www.xtreamer.in/extremer-spec.asp

 

[blr_p]

The initial model of the Xtreamer did not have in-built Wi-Fi connectivity. Connectivity was handled via the linked Wi-Fi adapter that plugs in to the USB port of the Xtreamer. My Xtreamer model has been discontinued but this one is similar - http://www.xtreamer.in/extremer-spec.asp

Can you confirm whether it has an ethernet port and can support UPnP AV or DLNA ?

The first thing i notice with your setup is that it isn't optimal.

HDD<--PC---(((( )))-----WRT54G----((( ))))----Xstreamer<---TV

Means your bandwidth to stream anything is effectively halved.

1) HDD<--PC---wired-----WRT54G----((( ))))----Xstreamer<---TV is better

2) HDD<--PC---wired-----WRT54G----wired----Xstreamer<---TV is the best

You double your present wifi bandwidth to stream anything with 1)

With 2) you don't care how big your movies are, it all works and is also the cheapest solution here. Just get the required length of ethernet cable and hold onto your present router.

Which of the two options is feasible for you ?

 

[Hells_Fury]

^^Option 1 is feasible. Option two would mean exposed ethernet cabling which is a defite no.

 

[blr_p]

ok, then go with option 1 and let us know what size files you manage to stream with. You should now be able to stream bigger files than previously.

Can you confirm whether your xstreamer can support UPnP AV or DLNA ? This is necessary to push performance further than with windows network shares.

 

[Hells_Fury]

Can you confirm whether your xstreamer can support UPnP AV or DLNA ? This is necessary to push performance further than with windows network shares.

Specifications say that the Xtreamer supports UPnP SSDP and UPnP AV. No mention of DLNA.

I think I can set up a UPnP server on the Xtreamer to access the files from my PC but not vice-versa.

 

[blr_p]

Specifications say that the Xtreamer supports UPnP SSDP and UPnP AV. No mention of DLNA.

ok

I think I can set up a UPnP server on the Xtreamer to access the files from my PC but not vice-versa.

No, the upnp server is to be setup on your pc and the xtreamer will act as a UPnP client. That is to say i'm hoping the xtreamer can access a DLNA server on your PC.

Don't worry about this for now, just wire up the router to the pc and let us know what difference it makes.

How are you streaming to your xtreamer presently ? is it through folder sharing ?

 

[Hells_Fury]

ok


No, the upnp server is to be setup on your pc and the xtreamer will act as a UPnP client. That is to say i'm hoping it can access a UpnP server on your PC.

Don't worry about this for now, just wire up the router to the pc and let us know what difference it makes.

How are you streaming to your xtreamer presently ? is it through folder sharing ?

The Xtreamse has a UPnP server software. I dont think it can connect to a UPnP server on the network. Yes, right now its via Windows folder share.

 

[blr_p]

The Xtreamse has a UPnP server software. I dont think it can connect to a UPnP server on the network.

Why do you say that ? Can you check this point on the xtreamer forums. It requires a upnp client to be present on the xtreamer.

Otherwise you are forced to attach a HDD to the xtreamer and rely on your TV to act as a DLNA client which kinda defeats the purpose of wifi in the first place.

Very odd forums, all are protected no guest view possible unless you sign up (!)

Yes, right now its via Windows folder share.

Right and this is inefficient.[DOUBLEPOST=1363785002][/DOUBLEPOST]ok so i looked at the manual and xtreamer only has a server, its supposed to serve out the content.

What clients are you using to view the media content btw ?

 

[Hells_Fury]

ok so i looked at the manual and xtreamer only has a server, its supposed to serve out the content.

What clients are you using to view the media content btw ?

I just got home and checked the Xtreamer. It does have the ability to connect to a UPnP Server. What client should I use on my PC? I tried with PS3 Media Server. Played a 1080p movie from the list above but it was stuttering. And this PC is connected to the router via cable not Wi-Fi.