Two wireless networks appear when im connected

[paulsif]

Hi guys,

 

Probably an easy one this. I recently brought a D-Link DIR 825 router which has 'n' speed. I also got the 'n' card for my laptop too. This router broadcasts two wireless networks dlink and dlink_media (default). dlink is 2.4GHz and dlink_media is 5GHz. If I connect to one of these networks i.e. dlink, I then go to the network and sharing center and it says im connected to dlink and dlink 2. Im very new to this dual band wireless networking and im trying to find as much info as possible on this so I can get the most from my new router.

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Paul

[snow]

Hi Paul,

 

 

Following a quick bit of research, I'm pretty sure your router is operating in mixed 802.11g/a and 802.11n mode.

 

Basically, it is broadcasting on two separate frequencies to maximise compatibility. Older 802.11g/a devices (operating at 54Mbps) can only connect via 2.4GHz, but newer 802.11n devices (going up to 600Mbps theoretically!) connect using 5GHz.

 

According to Wikipedia:

 

"To achieve maximum throughput a pure 802.11n 5 GHz network is recommended"

 

I don't know how accurate this is, having never used an 802.11n network myself, but if you aren't using any older devices then I don't suppose there would be much harm in disabling the 2.4GHz network in your router.

 

From what I can tell from the manual, changing the '802.11 Mode' option in the Wireless Settings page to '802.11n Only' should do the trick.

 

 

 

Remember though that after the change anyone who visits and wants to use your wireless will have to have a newer 'n' receiver or it won't work for them.

[paulsif]

Thanks for your reply Snow.

 

At the moment im getting around 300Mbps but that does drop down to around 160Mbps though. I learnt that enabling the frequency to auto 20/40MHz using 40MHz you apparently double the amount of data to be transmitted. This seems to work pretty well.

 

I wonder why it connects to two the network twice, any ideas?

[snow]

Sorry, I should have mentioned that 802.11n isn't a fully established standard yet, so only working Drafts of it are actually built into network devices. 600Mbps is the theoretical limit of the technology.

 

Taking a closer look at the manual for your router, it seems to support Draft 2.0, with a maximum rate of 300Mbps.

 

The actual rate you will get depends on both the signal strength and the signal quality. Wireless access points automatically vary the speed of the connection based on this.

 

 

 

I can't be certain why two networks appear, and the manual is short on details there, but I'd guess it might be to allow different devices on the separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks to communicate with each other.

 

You could try switching to '802.11n Only' mode in the router and see if the other network disappears when you next connect.

[paulsif]

I'll try switching to '802.11n only' mode but I wont be able to leave it as other people use the network don't have 'n' cards.

 

One theory i've heard about the two networks appearing is the one is for inbound traffic and one is for outbound traffic. that way doubled up at 300Mbps would equal 600Mbps. im not sure how accurate this is though?

[snow]

I've done a bit more reading, and it looks like each of the two antennas on your router will generate a separate connection each, in order to create two simultaneous streams of data, and double the throughput.

 

It definitely looks like everything is working as it should, and that you're getting the most from your router. You don't have to bother changing the 802.11 mode if you don't want too.

 

 

Excuse my inexperience with the topic; I'm not sure who's learned more here, you or me! :D

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Looks like some damn good replies from where I'm standing Snow, good work mate.

[snow]

Thanks very much wolfey,

 

 

I do my best to cover all areas, but networking is a pretty big topic.

[paulsif]

Looks like some damn good replies from where I'm standing Snow, good work mate.

 

Wolfey is right thanks for al you help so far :-)

 

I looked at my antennas on my router and your right is says on them 2.4 and 5GHz whats confusing though is that my pc will only make two network connections on the same band i.e. 2.4GHz but not one connection to 2.4GHz and one connection to 5GHz.

 

Now looking at my network and sharing center it says im connected to only one AHHHH lol this is really confusing!

[snow]

No problem ;)

 

A connection from one device on both bands (2.4 and 5) isn’t possible, because ‘n’ only uses 5Ghz, and a/g can only use 2.4GHz.

 

Both of the router’s aerials will support both frequencies as long as you keep the mixed 802.11 mode on.

 

If you had two wireless cards in your computer, one ‘n’ and one ‘a/g’ then I suppose you could connect on both bands, but there wouldn’t be much point, since 'n' is so much faster.

 

I think that under the best case scenario, assuming very good signal strength and quality, you will have two connections on one band. Each areal is independent, and will support a connection on its own. The router will automatically make these two connections if the signal is good enough.

 

If the signal isn’t good enough for whatever reason, it will probably revert to one connection to minimize data loss. Factors such as walls or electrical equipment between your computer and the router will degrade the signal.

 

Hope this clears things up a bit more.

[paulsif]

Yeah I think im getting there with all this! The router is normally about 2 meters from my laptop so I cant see why the signal speed should sometimes be as half as fast when i've still got full signal strength?

 

Sorry to keep throwing these questions about I'm just trying to get the best from this piece of kit.

[snow]

I can't say for certain; wireless can be fussy, and getting a perfect signal can be difficult.

 

 

One thing you can do is to make sure your wireless card and router both have the latest firmware. Firmware for the router will be located on D-link's website:

 

D-Link Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router

 

 

You could also try varying the distance between your computer and the router. It is normally recommended to keep them at least 10 feet (3m) apart.

 

 

Other than that, I don't know if there's much more I can tell you. Getting the best signal will probably be down to experimentation.

[paulsif]

Great thanks for your help and research Snow. Im beginning to understand wireless networks a little bit more now. All my firmware is up to date so all is working well at the moment.

 

What kind of wireless equipment do you have?

[snow]

I just use an old pair of netgear routers I've accumulated over the years. A rangemax to serve the internal LAN, and an older DG834G on a seperate network for guests etc. Both use WPA 2 Encryption, and operate on different channels so they don't interfere with each other.

 

Glad to hear I've helped you out, and that everything is working fine.