Connecting to router with ~2yr old Netopia USB adapter - bottleneck?

Thirith on 27/5/2010 at 13:51

I've got a Broadband connection at home which I connect to via a 2 year old Netopia Reach adapter, which came with my initial wifi set. Since I know very little about wifi, I was wondering: am I likely to get the best out of my connection with the USB adapter, or would I get a more stable and possibly even faster connection with a more up-to-date adapter? I know that the basic connection speed is down to the router, but for all I know the Netopia Reach is a clumsy low-price specimen and I could get more out of a more up-to-date adapter, even without changing the router.

Any help from someone less wifi-ignorant than me would be much appreciated. :-)

Matthew on 27/5/2010 at 14:24

I think that adaptor works on the 'b' and 'g' bands of wi-fi, if it's (http://netopia.com/equipment/products/accessories/wifi_adapters.html) this one.

There is a newer specification known as 'n'-band, which will give you a faster connection and longer range (and possibly a stronger connection as a result), but higher speed will be subject to how fast your broadband connection pumps out data too.

Still, 'n'-band is also useful if you are connecting a few devices together to stream video from one to the other, as the faster transfer speed gives smoother performance.

Thirith on 27/5/2010 at 14:43

Thanks for the answer! It's the Motorola adapter indeed - although it's branded as Netopia in Switzerland.