03-23-2012, 07:01 PM

I have an Early 2009 24" iMac.
Will a dual band router make any difference? My current router, an Ancient Linksys wired unit is pretty much a goner.
Will a wireless router be faster or make my internet connection appear faster? Right now, I pay for 3meg but bandwidth test shows 2.4meg, which isn't bad considering the roughly 15% overhead...OR does the 2.4 I measure include overhead?

03-30-2012, 05:04 PM

Any of the wired or wireless router alternatives are A LOT faster than your Internet connection, so you're not likely to notice any difference. Wired is the fastest. If you routinely pass large files around your home network, then you'll appreciate the speed difference. Dual band might help if you have trouble with interference from cordless phones etc. on the 2.4 GHz band, but once again won't impact Internet access speed.

04-01-2012, 06:17 AM

I agree. The problem isn't your router, it's the slow internet connection. 3Mbit is nothing these days, I'd upgrade to 10mbit or higher if you can do so affordably.

The advantage of dual-band routers is that they in effect set up two networks: one at 5GHz frequency (802.11n) and one at 2.4GHz (802.11n/g/b). This is so that slower devices that don't have "N" capability (in my house that would include my old iPhone 2G) can get on their own "slower lane" so that pure-N devices (my new iPhone, iPad, and notebook) can use the 5GHz to get the best N speed without being dragged down to the lower speeds.

None of this would matter much to someone with a slow internet connection like that one, however. 802.11g is MORE than fast enough to handle what you are presently paying for.

04-01-2012, 08:21 AM

My broadband speed increased from 6.5 MBps to approximately 12 MBps when I installed a new dual-band router.

04-01-2012, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by pendlewitch

My broadband speed increased from 6.5 MBps to approximately 12 MBps when I installed a new dual-band router.

Correction..it went from 8.5 to 12. Absolutely everything remained the same apart from me swapping out the old G single band router.

These are the tests I posted at the time ..before and after.