23
Setting Up: Advanced
Linksys E-Series
Upgrade your wireless clients
If you have network adapters that support only legacy wireless network
standards such as 802°11b, you should consider upgrading them with
Wireless-N (802°11n) network adapters° Wireless-B (802°11b) devices can slow
your entire wireless network° For the best performance, all of your wireless
devices should support Wireless-N° You can then select
Wireless-N Only
as your
Network Mode below°
NOTE
If you select
Wireless-N Only
, you may need to temporarily change
your network settings to Mixed to provide access to guests without
Wireless-N networking°
Split your traffic
The best way to improve your multimedia wireless performance is to split your
wireless traffic between your router’s two bands (ranges of radio frequencies)°
Your router supports the 2°4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band, and handles the
two bands as two separate wireless networks to help manage the traffic°
The most common way to split wireless traffic is to use the 2°4 GHz band for
basic Internet tasks such as web browsing, email, and downloads, and use
the 5°0 GHz band for streaming multimedia° There are several reasons for this
approach:
•
Although the 2°4 GHz band may be more crowded with wireless traffic
from your neighbors, it’s fine for basic Internet traffic that is not time-
sensitive (such as e-mail)°
•
Even though you are connected to your own wireless network, you are
still sharing “air time” with nearby networks°
•
The 5 GHz band is much less crowded than the 2°4 GHz band, so it’s ideal
for streaming multimedia°
•
The 5 GHz band has more available channels, so it is more likely that you
will have your own, interference-free channel for your wireless network°
By default, your dual-band router uses the same network name on both the
2°4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band° If you are connecting to your router with
a computer that has a dual-band wireless network adapter, you might not be
able to determine which band you’re using° The easiest way to segment your
traffic is to rename one of your wireless networks° With a separate, descriptive
name, it will be easy to connect to the right network°
To reconfigure your wireless network:
Wireless > Basic Wireless Settings
1.
Log into the browser-based utility (see “How to open the browser-based
utility” on page 21)°
2.
Click the
Wireless
tab, then click the
Basic Wireless Settings
page°
3.
Click
Manual
° This enables you to make changes to all of the fields below°
a.
Network Mode
—Your choice depends upon the clients that will
connect to your network° If all of your devices are Wireless-N capable,
you can select Wireless-N Only for either or both bands°
On the 5 GHz band, you can select:
•
Mixed
(default), which accepts connections from 802°11a or
802°11n clients
•
Wireless-A Only
(802°11a only)
•
Wireless-N Only
(802°11n only)
•
Disabled
, which disables the 5°0 GHz band on this router
On the 2°4 GHz band, you can select:
•
Mixed
•
Wireless-B/G Only
•
Wireless-B only
•
Wireless-G Only
•
Wireless-N Only
•
Disabled
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