What are the benefits of Wireless ‘N’ technology over Wireless ‘G’?
- Improved coverage – for those ‘black spots’ around the home
- Better range – so you can connect your computer even further away from your router
- Faster – unlike other wireless routers, this router and adaptor use the very latest Wireless ‘N’ technology to make sure you get the best possible wireless broadband experience
Using wireless ‘N’ on my PC
How do I setup the wireless ‘N’ router for use with my PC?
Step 1: Install your wireless ‘N’ router using the installation CD, which you’ll find inside the router box. Just pop it into your CD drive (the Installation Wizard should run automatically) and follow the step by step on screen instructions to set up your router and configure your wireless network.
Step 2: Once your router’s set up, you should reboot your cable modem.
Step 3: If it’s not already installed, you should install your wireless ‘N’ USB adaptor1 using the installation CD which you’ll find inside the adaptor box. As before, follow the step by step on screen instructions to set up and configure your wireless adaptor to connect to your wireless network.
Step 4: You can now configure any other wireless computers/devices2 you may have to connect to your wireless network, using the configuration software supplied with that device.
1 Your wireless adaptor must be connected to a USB 2.0 port for optimal performance. If it’s not, your wireless network performance could be a lot lower than it should be. If you‘re not sure how to check this, refer to your computer’s user guide. For guidance, most computers manufactured within the last 3 years are likely to have USB 2.0 ports.
2 If any adaptors/devices on your network use older wireless technologies (such as wireless ‘G’), the performance of these devices will be substantially lower than devices using wireless ‘N’ technology.
Using wireless ‘N’ with my MAC
How do I setup a wireless ‘N’ router and adaptor for use with my MAC?
Step 1: Install your wireless ‘N’ router using the instructions on the installation CD, which you’ll find inside the router box. If you are using the Virgin Media wireless ‘N’ router just pop the installation CD into your CD drive, open the folder called Manual and double-click the file named DIR-615_D1_Manual_4.00(E).pdf. Using the easy to follow instructions, set up your router and configure your wireless network.
Step 2: Once your router’s set up, you should reboot your cable modem.
Step 3: The Virgin Media wireless ‘N’ USB adaptor isn’t compatible with the MAC; however your MAC should already have a built in wireless adaptor3. It’s easy to configure this to connect to your wireless network; please refer to your MAC’s user guide.
Step 4: You can now configure any other wireless computers/devices3 you may have, to connect to your wireless network using the configuration software supplied with that device.
3 If any adaptors/devices on your network use older wireless technologies (such as wireless ‘G’), the performance of these devices will be substantially lower than devices using wireless ‘N’ technology.
Will going wireless affect my broadband speed?...
Because of the way wireless technology works, you might see a slight reduction in your broadband speed (or ‘throughput’) compared to if you had your computer connected directly to your modem/router with an Ethernet cable. However, any reduction in broadband throughput is minimised when using wireless ‘N’ technology.
Remember, if any adaptors/devices on your network use older wireless technology (such as wireless ‘G’), the performance of these devices will be substantially lower than adaptors/devices using wireless ‘N’ technology.
To experience the full benefit of our high speed broadband services (like 50Mb), we recommend connecting your computer/device directly to your modem/router with an Ethernet cable.
Getting the most from wireless ‘N’ technology…
Important things to remember to get the most from Wireless ‘N’ technology:
- Full wireless ‘N’ performance can only be achieved on computers/devices that use the latest WPA2 wireless security encryption (such as our wireless ‘N’ USB adaptor). If your computer/device is only capable of using WEP or WPA wireless security encryption, the performance of these devices will be impacted
- When setting up your wireless router, we recommend you select the ‘Enable WPA/WPA2 Wireless Security (enhanced)’ security encryption option (this is sometimes referred to as ‘Dual-Mode’ or ‘Mixed-Mode’) This will ensure maximum performance with WPA2 devices, whilst providing compatibility with older WPA only wireless devices
- If you are using Windows XP you must have installed Service Pack 2 (or above) as it facilitates the use of WPA2 wireless security encryption
- Where a wireless USB adaptor is used, it must be 802.11n (wireless ‘N’) compliant and must be connected to a USB 2.0 port
- It should be noted that the maximum ‘wireless’ broadband speed achievable is dictated by your maximum broadband service speed.
- Whilst Wireless ‘N’ technology offers speed performance improvements over Wireless ‘G’ you will never receive the same broadband speeds wirelessly that are possible by connecting directly via an Ethernet cable. This is a constraint of ‘Wireless’ as a technology, not the product.
I’m experiencing wireless performance issues…
The range/performance of your wireless router will be very much dependant on the environment in which you use it. Factors such as the thickness of internal and external walls, foil lining in dry lined walls, the presence of interference from other types of electrical equipment, other wireless networks in the surrounding area and the actual positioning of the wireless router can all affect performance.
The most common causes of electrical interference are from cordless phones, radio transmitting devices (such as baby monitors) and even microwaves. Also, if several neighbouring houses have wireless networks this can also cause performance issues as the wireless channel frequencies become saturated (our router allows you to switch wireless channels to help prevent this issue). Unfortunately these issues are a direct consequence of ‘Wireless’ as a technology, not the products themselves.
Happily, wireless ‘N’ technology mitigates performance effecting issues far better than older wireless technologies (such as wireless ‘G’), however some customers can still be affected. In these instances, and where maximum performance is required, we recommend connecting your compute/device directly to your modem/router with an Ethernet cable.
I need help!...
If you have any problems with the connection or setup of your Virgin Media wireless router and/or USB adaptor, we’ll be happy to help. Simply call us free on 151 from your Virgin Media landline, or 0845 454 1111 from any other line.
Note: Calls to 0845 numbers are charged at a national rate.
