Quote:
Originally Posted by tirwin
With Wi-Fi, the power level affects the capacity and coverage area. Lower power is worse, higher is better.
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I take issue with this generalization. Higher is rarely better. You must find a balance that works best for your particular environment. In general, you want to run at the lowest possible setting that allows the fastest connection. If your antenna’s TX power is set too low, the signal won’t be strong enough for your clients to find throughout your home or office. But if it’s too high, the signal actually overpowers and “blows out” your connection, resulting in lower speeds. This becomes more important if you are using a dual-band router. For that reason, I strongly recommend that you go with a router that allows you to adjust the TX power on both bands.
Also, depending on how many other WiFi networks exist in your area, it may be useful to tinker with manually setting channels and channel widths. If you live in a more “congested” area with lots of WiFi signals, you may want to experiment and find the channels that give you the least interference. The lower the interference, the higher your speeds. Try this free utility
inSSIDer for Home to scan for WiFi signals and help determine the best channel(s) for your area.
I agree with most of the recommendations made here regarding 802.11ac. It is not going to benefit you until you start introducing 802.11ac clients into your environment. The cost of these routers is currently high in the market compared to 802.11n devices.
With all of the above said, I would strongly recommend that the OP take a close look at the
Buffalo - WZR-600DHP . It is good, flexible, supported and relatively inexpensive. It runs a Buffalo-supported version of DD-WRT that allows you to highly customize the setting that will work best for you. You can also move to the community versions of DD-WRT if you choose to take advantage of new options or improvements. Plus, the device comes with a 3-year warranty. You can pick up one of these from Amazon for $77.