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Page 101 / 149 Scroll up to view Page 96 - 100
N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 User Manual
Fine-Tuning Your Network
6-3
v1.0, August 2010
•
Backing up computers over the network has become popular due to the availability of
inexpensive mass storage.
Table 6-1
shows the time to transfer 1 gigabyte (GB) of data using
various networking technologies.
Optimizing Your Network Bandwidth
As your network grows, it might consist of several segments of different networking technologies,
each providing different throughput. In planning your network, you should first consider which
devices will have the heaviest traffic flow between them. Examples are:
•
A media center in one room streaming high-definition video from a server in another room
•
A storage device that is used for backing up your computers
Table 6-1.
Theoretical Transfer Time for 1 Gigabyte
Network Connection
Theoretical Raw Transfer Time
Gigabit wired Ethernet
8 seconds
RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N
26 seconds
Powerline HD
40 seconds
100 Mbps wired Ethernet
80 seconds
802.11n wireless
45 seconds
802.11g wireless
150 seconds
802.11b wireless
700 seconds
10 Mbps wired Ethernet
800 seconds
Cable modem (3 Mbps)
2700 seconds
Analog modem (56 kbps)
144,000 seconds (40 hours)
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Page 102 / 149
N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 User Manual
Fine-Tuning Your Network
6-4
v1.0, August 2010
Next, consider the throughput of your network devices. Where possible, make the heaviest-traffic
connections using higher-speed technologies, with no lower-speed bottlenecks in the path.
Figure 6-1
shows a sample network using multiple networking technologies. In this network, the
two PCs with Gigabit (1000 Mbps) Ethernet adapters have a gigabit connection through the GS605
switch to the storage server. This connection should allow for extremely fast backups or quick
access to large files on the server. The PC connected through a pair of Powerline HD adapters is
limited to the 200 Mbps speed of the Powerline HD connection. Although any of the links in this
example would be sufficient for high-traffic applications such as streaming HD video, the use of
older devices such as 10 Mbps Ethernet or 802.11b wireless would create a significant bottleneck.
Figure 6-1
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Page 103 / 149
N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 User Manual
Fine-Tuning Your Network
6-5
v1.0, August 2010
Optimizing Wireless Performance
The speed and operating distance or range of your wireless connection can vary significantly based
on the physical placement of the wireless router. You should choose a location for your router that
will maximize the network speed.
The following list describes how to optimize wireless router performance.
•
Identify critical wireless links.
If your network has several wireless devices, decide which wireless devices need the highest
data rate, and locate the router near them. Many wireless products have automatic data-rate
fallback, which allows increased distances without loss of connectivity. This also means that
devices that are farther away might be slower. Therefore, the most critical links in your
network are those where the traffic is high and the distances are great. Optimize those first.
•
Choose placement carefully.
For best results, place your router:
–
Near the center of the area in which your computers will operate.
–
In an elevated location such as a high shelf where the wirelessly connected computers
have line-of-sight access (even if through walls).
–
Avoid obstacles to wireless signals.
–
Keep wireless devices at least 2 feet from large metal fixtures such as file cabinets,
refrigerators, pipes, metal ceilings, reinforced concrete, and metal partitions.
–
Keep away from large amounts of water such as fish tanks and water coolers.
•
Reduce interference.
–
Avoid windows unless communicating between buildings.
–
Place wireless devices away from various electromagnetic noise sources, especially those
in the 2400–2500 MHz frequency band. Common noise-creating sources are:
•
Computers and fax machines (no closer than 1 foot)
•
Copying machines, elevators, and cell phones (no closer than 6 feet)
Note:
Failure to follow these guidelines can result in significant performance degradation
or inability to wirelessly connect to the router. For complete range and
performance specifications, click the link to the online document
“Wireless
Networking Basics” in Appendix B
.
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Page 104 / 149
N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 User Manual
Fine-Tuning Your Network
6-6
v1.0, August 2010
•
Microwave ovens (no closer than 10 feet)
•
Choose your settings.
–
Use a scanning utility to determine what other wireless networks are operating nearby, and
choose an unused channel.
–
Turn off SSID broadcast, and change the default SSID. Other nearby devices might
automatically try to connect to your network several times a second, which can cause
significant performance reduction.
•
Set WPA2-PSK (AES) security to achieve the best wireless performance and the best security.
•
Use WMM to improve the performance of voice and video traffic over the wireless link.
Changing the MTU Size
The Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) is the largest data packet a network device transmits.
When one network device communicates across the Internet with another, the data packets travel
through many devices along the way. If any device in the data path has a lower MTU setting than
the other devices, the data packets must be split or “fragmented” to accommodate the one with the
smallest MTU.
The best MTU setting for NETGEAR equipment is often just the default value, and changing the
value might fix one problem but cause another. Leave MTU unchanged unless one of these
situations occurs:
•
You have problems connecting to your ISP or other Internet service, and the technical support
of either the ISP or NETGEAR recommends changing the MTU setting. These might require
an MTU change:
–
A secure website that won’t open, or displays only part of a Web page
–
Yahoo e-mail
–
MSN
–
America Online’s DSL service
•
You use VPN and have severe performance problems.
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N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 User Manual
Fine-Tuning Your Network
6-7
v1.0, August 2010
•
You used a program to optimize MTU for performance reasons, and now you have
connectivity or performance problems.
If you suspect an MTU problem, a common solution is to change the MTU to 1400. If you are
willing to experiment, you can gradually reduce the MTU from the maximum value of 1500 until
the problem goes away.
Table 6-2
describes common MTU sizes and applications.
To change the MTU size:
1.
In the main menu, under Advanced, select WAN Setup.
2.
In the
MTU Size
field, enter a new size between 64 and 1500.
3.
Click
Apply
to save the new configuration.
Quality of Service (QoS)
QoS is an advanced feature that can be used to prioritize some types of traffic ahead of others. The
WNDR3400 router can provide QoS prioritization over the wireless link and on the Internet
connection. To configure QoS, use the QoS Setup screen.
Note:
An incorrect MTU setting can cause Internet communication problems such as the
inability to access certain Web sites, frames within Web sites, secure login pages,
or FTP or POP servers.
Table 6-2.
Common MTU Sizes
MTU
Application
1500
The largest Ethernet packet size and the default value. This is the typical setting for non-
PPPoE, non-VPN connections, and is the default value for NETGEAR routers, adapters,
and switches.
1492
Used in PPPoE environments.
1472
Maximum size to use for pinging. (Larger packets are fragmented.)
1468
Used in some DHCP environments.
1460
Usable by AOL if you don't have large e-mail attachments, for example.
1436
Used in PPTP environments or with VPN.
1400
Maximum size for AOL DSL.
576
Typical value to connect to dial-up ISPs.
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