Wifi N?

BabyBlues · October 18th, 2011, 09:49 AM

I've learned quite a bit from the wonderful people here at AF and am now in need of a little more info.

What is Wifi N? And how would it affect a kernel?

Sorry if this is a really noob question but it's never come to my attention before.

SUroot · October 18th, 2011, 10:01 AM

There are the following:

802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n

I've never had or seen an 802.11a to be honest.

When I started using wifi routers, b was the standard (11mb/s data transfer speed). when g came in it 54mb/s. n is the current standard which is double g (at least 108 mb/s) but I believe you can much greater than that.

I still haven't got to n yet, still on g. To put it into perspctive, I have a reasonably fast broadband at 30mb/s and my wifi is 54mb/s.

To be able to transfer at the optimum rates for b, g or n, both the router and the wirreless card (be that in a phone, PC, whatever) must both have the ability to connect as that standard.

If by Kernel, you are refering to the Android kernel, the kernel may need to have capabilities of connecting your phone to your wireless router in Wireless N mode (even if your phone only has a wireless g card) so you dont have to change your n router to g just so your phone can connect

BabyBlues · October 18th, 2011, 10:07 AM

Thanks! It does make more sense now that it is in front of me. (When I tried to google it there were no comprehensive explanations like that).

And I asked because I use tiny's kernels and his latest update has 2 versions - one of them with the wifi n disabled. I'm going to go with the straight version first and if I run into any issues I'll try the other.

SUroot · October 18th, 2011, 10:08 AM

Sorry, to expand slightly, because a router can only broadcast in either n mode or g mode, not both at the same time. So if your router is n and your pc is n, your phone is g, you use a custom kernel to allow ot to connect in n mode (even though you wont get n speeds)

andruoid · October 18th, 2011, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUroot

Sorry, to expand slightly, because a router can only broadcast in either n mode or g mode, not both at the same time. So if your router is n and your pc is n, your phone is g, you use a custom kernel to allow ot to connect in n mode (even though you wont get n speeds)

Actually, any router I have used has the ability to have G and N connections at the same time. Currently I have a mixed G/N network.

Martimus · October 18th, 2011, 11:02 AM

To make the WiFi discussion easier lets break it down slightly differently.

WiFi is set to operate on two different frequencies, 2.4ghz and 5ghz. The first WiFi standard was 802.11a. It operated in the 5ghz band and could support up to about 20mb of throughput in ideal conditions.

Next came 802.11b. It operated in the 2.4ghz band and could support up to about 11mb of throughput. 2.4ghz is a rather crowded frequency since it also supports baby monitors, microwave ovens, and cordless phones. The range of Wireless-B is rather limited.

Next came 802.11g. It also operated in the 2.4ghz band but could support up to about 20mb of throughput. This band was backwards compatible with 802.11b so the same radio could be used for either.

Most recently came 802.11n. 802.11n can actually operate in either the 2.4 of 5ghz bandwidth. It can support much more bandwidth than the other protocols but only in the last few years became an official standard. There's still a lot of pre-N hardware out on the market so you sometimes have to be careful about buying Wireless-N equipment, especially used gear.

NightAngel79 · October 19th, 2011, 10:11 PM

where were you ***** when i was studying for the network+ exam

NYCHitman1 · October 20th, 2011, 09:44 AM

<3 GB ports on N-routers lol