UPC Support doesn't know the difference between wireless B, G and N!

bluferbl

Got our UPC modem replaced this morning because the phone wasn't working with the old one. Old modem was a Thompson, new one is a Cisco EPC 3925. I asked the UPC guy if the new modem was wireless N, he said it was. Once the UPC guy left I logged into the modem to set my SSID and wireless key. The modem only had B & G options, no sign of N. Called UPC who said that they would look into it and call back. By early this evening no one from UPC had called so I called them again. The person I spoke to said that this was a wireless N modem and to do a factory reset. Fair enough, so I did a factory reset but no wireless N settings appeared. I found the manual for the modem online and there was a reference to wireless N not being available with TKIP. So I changed that to AES but still no wireless N. According to the manual I should have a B/G/N Mixed option but all I have is B/G Mixed. I tried a whole load of permutations of settings to try to get B/G/N Mixed to appear. Back on the phone to UPC support...explain the story again. The guy I spoke to this time didn't know the difference between a B, a G or an N connection and didn't understand the problem...and this was the guy on the 'If you need to ask a technical question' phone line. His suggestion was to ring a premium rate support line. I told him that was not acceptable and asked if he would be happy if Porsche were to be replaced with a Ford when he left it in for a service. Needed to vent...now I need to post this far and wide. Oh yeah and the UPC technician that arrived early this morning...he had been booked in by UPC to be here between 1 and 6 pm!

Gadgetman496

You probably have it set to 2.4Ghz instead of 5Ghz ???

Also, enable "Wide – 40Mhz channel", if your adapters allow for this. If not? leave on "Standard 20Mhz"

Cork24

why would he use 5Ghz ? N works on 2.4

OP if you want a lower Range on your wifi set it to 5Ghz other wise leave it @ 2.4

2.5 is only based on 80MHz wide

where as 5Ghz/2.4Ghz works on either 20 or 40 but i would use 20MHz wide for faster speed.. Why would he use a bigger Wave Length that covers a bigger Area ?

5Ghz has being around since a wifi..

2.5 works a/b/g/n

now in Dec 2012 we should be getting 802.12 ab which will have
2.4, 5 and 60 GHz bands, will deliver data transfer rates up to 7 Gbit/s,

daffy_duc

Cork24 wrote: »

why would he use 5Ghz ? N works on 2.4

OP if you want a lower Range on your wifi set it to 5Ghz other wise leave it @ 2.4

2.5 is only based on 80MHz wide

where as 5Ghz/2.4Ghz works on either 20 or 40 but i would use 20MHz wide for faster speed.. Why would he use a bigger Wave Length that covers a bigger Area ?

5Ghz has being around since a wifi..

2.5 works a/b/g/n

now in Dec 2012 we should be getting 802.12 ab which will have
2.4, 5 and 60 GHz bands, will deliver data transfer rates up to 7 Gbit/s,

I generally try not to get involved with these discussions, but the misinformation here is just so bad.

The wider the channel (20MHz vs 40MHz), the more RF bandwidth is available, therefore increasing the maximum theoretical data throughput.
Unfortunately, it also increases sensitivity to noise, since your "target" is bigger (40MHz is bigger than 20MHz).
Also keep in mind that not all devices can operate on a 40MHz wide channel.

2.4GHz is by default 20MHz wide, with 5MHz channel spacing.
5GHz is by default 20MHz wide.

Also note, that N mode isn't supported if you're using TKIP authentication, so switch to AES. This might be your problem.

Cork24

daffy_duc wrote: »

I generally try not to get involved with these discussions, but the misinformation here is just so bad.

The wider the channel (20MHz vs 40MHz), the more RF bandwidth is available, therefore increasing the maximum theoretical data throughput.
Unfortunately, it also increases sensitivity to noise, since your "target" is bigger (40MHz is bigger than 20MHz).
Also keep in mind that not all devices can operate on a 40MHz wide channel.

2.4GHz is by default 20MHz wide, with 5MHz channel spacing.
5GHz is by default 20MHz wide.

Also note, that N mode isn't supported if you're using TKIP authentication, so switch to AES. This might be your problem.

we knw 2.4 is 20 by degault i was tell that 2.5 is based on 80MHz. 2.4 yes is over crowed with traffic and 5 has little traffic, and has more speed to it but at a shorter range, i was merely telling OP to stick at 2.4 which can use WiFi 802.11n. it be all the one as in 2013 we will have 802.11ac which will handle speeds 4 times faster then 802.11n which i was told and can range around 160mhz

DingDong

bluferbl wrote: »

Got our UPC modem replaced this morning because the phone wasn't working with the old one. Old modem was a Thompson, new one is a Cisco EPC 3925. I asked the UPC guy if the new modem was wireless N, he said it was. Once the UPC guy left I logged into the modem to set my SSID and wireless key. The modem only had B & G options, no sign of N. Called UPC who said that they would look into it and call back. By early this evening no one from UPC had called so I called them again. The person I spoke to said that this was a wireless N modem and to do a factory reset. Fair enough, so I did a factory reset but no wireless N settings appeared. I found the manual for the modem online and there was a reference to wireless N not being available with TKIP. So I changed that to AES but still no wireless N. According to the manual I should have a B/G/N Mixed option but all I have is B/G Mixed. I tried a whole load of permutations of settings to try to get B/G/N Mixed to appear. Back on the phone to UPC support...explain the story again. The guy I spoke to this time didn't know the difference between a B, a G or an N connection and didn't understand the problem...and this was the guy on the 'If you need to ask a technical question' phone line. His suggestion was to ring a premium rate support line. I told him that was not acceptable and asked if he would be happy if Porsche were to be replaced with a Ford when he left it in for a service. Needed to vent...now I need to post this far and wide. Oh yeah and the UPC technician that arrived early this morning...he had been booked in by UPC to be here between 1 and 6 pm!

The 3925 is a wireless N router/modem, it doesn't show it in the option but it is in N mode from default. Below is a speedtest using a 3925 over wireless. Only thing making sure the security is WPA2 AES and channel width is 40Mhz. Not much point in a technician calling out.