After nearly two weeks of performance testing, and using about a 12 different products, I seemed to have stumbled on the fastest wireless-n configuration to date:
A NETGEAR WNR3500 in 300Mbps mode at Channel 6,10 and a NETGEAR WNDA 3100.
The windows connection speed on my test PC showed 300 Mbps, and I had to have my test machine in the same room as the WNR3500.
The first test run was fairly fast, about 27 Mbps. The second test run was slower, about 25 Mbps, but during both of those tests I saw throughput spike to the high 30s, so I knew it could go faster if I got a “clean” run.
3rd time was a charm, I got clean test run that measured at 38 Mbps. Hey after a disappointing two weeks of product testing, that’s the fastest non-Ethernet connection I’ve seen.
It’s ironic that I got this result with the NETGEAR WNDA 3100, after it had performed so poorly with another Netgear product, the WNDR 3300. I guess it works better with the WNR3500
One unusual twist: while testing the WNR3500 in 300 Mbps mode at channels 6,10 my home AP which I have set at channel 1 was completely unreachable. When I turned off the WNR3500 I could connect to my home AP again. I guess the WNR3500 is the king of the spectrum when its in 300Mbps mode.
Update 12/13/2008: I re-tested with this combination today, and I discovered that when I try to copy files to the server, the connection drops, and the adapter must be disabled/reenabled for it to connect to the network again. So I cannot recommend the WNDA 3100 anymore. Read my new post today to find the best setup so far.
