bobpeers -> blog

A friend bought a new laptop on my recommendation but now needs it setting up with a wireless connection. She lives in a small flat, has very basic computing needs and only has the one computer currently connected to her cable modem.

I advised her just to get a cheap 802.11g router since these days even a cheap basic model is more than adequate for her needs and they can be picked up for 200-300 DKK (about $40-$60) . Her laptop has the Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG module built in like many laptops these days.

When I came to visit and set up the network I saw she had a Wireless G+ MIMO Modem Router and after talking to her a few thoughts sprang to mind:

1. This router has a built in ADSL modem but she has internet through a cable modem so can’t even replace the cable modem with this box, instead she will have to use both. Then why sell her a router with useless ADSL modem built in?
2. Part of the sales pitch was of course speed, how this is G+ and runs at 108 Mbps compared to the standard 54 Mbps. Two problems here, looking at the product page it’s clear that to achive this she’ll have to use a compatible card for her laptop. Since she doesn’t want to buy more hardware this speed is just not true.
   The other problem is that since she doesn’t have an internal network but just connects directly to the internet it doesn’t really matter how fast the wireless works just as long as it’s faster than her internet connection!
   So many people don’t get this, but it even if the wireless works at a quadrillion Mbps it will only be that fast from her laptop to the router, after that it will run at 2 Mbps, the speed of her internet connection.
3. Another selling point was range, the idea that MIMO suffers less from interference and has a greater range that standard 802.11g products. Bearing in mind that she will usually be sitting less that 10 metres from her router this seems a bit pointless.

At the end of the day it’s easy to upsell computer equipment to the general public since the whole field is full of cryptic codes and changes every 10 minutes it seems.
But that’s why you need people you can trust to sell you the right thing rather than just think about the companies bottom line while, unfortunalty this service is all to rare these days.