Make sure to upgrade your wireless client driver to latest version to avoid 11N compatibility issues.
- For Intel 345ABG (Please upgrade to v11.5.0.32) or latest available
- For Intel 4965AGN (Please upgrade to v11.5.0.32) or latest available
- WNDA3100 (Please upgrade to v1.2) or latest available at http://support.netgear.com/product/WNDA3100v1
How do you connect a dual band adapter to WNDR3300?
The WNDR3300 Dual band router will have 2 SSIDs, “NETGEAR-DualBand-N” (5GHz) and “NETGEAR-2.4-G” (2.4GHz) that you can connect to. If you have a dual band wireless adapter, it will see both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz frequencies but can only connect to one frequency band at a time. It is strongly recommended that you connect to the “NETGEAR-DualBand-N” SSID (5GHz) if you have a dual band client. If you have G-only or 2.4 GHz devices such as an older 802.11g notebooks, or WiFi phones, they will only connect to the “NETGEAR-2.4-G” (2.4GHz) SSID.
My wireless connection intermittently gets dropped when connected to the WNDR3300. What can I do?
Please log in to the router configuration page (ex: 192.168.1.1 or www.routerlogin.net). Go to Advanced Wireless Settings, and make sure to Preamble Mode is set to “Long Preamble”. Apply the settings EVEN IF it is set to Long preamble already. This action will change the preamble setting from “Auto” to “Long” automatically.
How can I improve my signal strength on the WNDR3300?
In a relatively clean environment where you have no other wireless access points in the neighborhood with more than 50% signal strength, 2.4 GHz 802.11n radio may give better range than 5 GHz 802.11n radio when using 11N dual band client. If you are not getting enough range with the current default setting:
- Set router to 20 MHz 2.4 GHz N mode or “Up to 130 Mbps at 2.4 GHz” mode under Wireless Settings menu in the WNDR3300 router configuration page.
- If there are several other networks nearby, the 5GHz 802.11n default setting will avoid interference and give you better connection. The 5GHz band has slightly less coverage than 2.4 GHz band, but 5 GHz frequency works best when there are a lot of other interferences such as cordless phones, microwave oven, or Bluetooth handsets are in operation in your home.
- For EMI limitation, 5N radio high channel (ex. 149) has better range than low channel (ex. 36). Hence, under Wireless Settings on router configuration page, select the highest possible frequency on your router.
- It is recommended you have two SSIDs on the WNDR3300. By default the SSIDs are NETGEAR-DualBand-N and NETGEAR-2.4-G.
- It is strongly recommended to use WPA2 (AES) mode or None security mode. Avoid using WEP and WPA (TKIP) mode as these security options will result in lower performance. When using WPA+WPA2 mixed security mode, select WPA2 (AES) on adapter utility manually.
I have a 2.4GHz 802.11n adapter but why am I only getting 54 Mbps when connected to WNDR3300?
Check the Wireless mode set on your WNDR3300 configuration page. If it is set to “Up to 270 Mbps at 5GHz & 54 Mbps at 2.4GHz”, the maximum rate you can connect is 54 Mbps. Change the mode to “Up to 270 Mbps at 2.4 GHz” on your router to let your wireless adapter connect at higher rates.
N101779.asp Sep 30, 2008