how much bandwidth do i really need for 1 tv, 2 3d tvs, 2 pcs and 2 smartphones?

Z

zer0nix

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
81
our household is 3 people large. we have on occasion -but rarely- used 3 tvs (with at least one of these soon to be a 3d tv) and 2 pcs at once, with 2 of us also talking on phones independently (and these may soon be internet phones) .

at absolute theoretical max load: two people will be independently watching two separate 3d blue ray rips, one of us will be watching a blue ray rip, 2 computers will be downloading files and there will be texting and talking across 2 internet phones. altogether that's ...

20-40mbps* (plus 2 smartphones texting and receiving calls) / 300mbps on 2.4 ghz

20-60mbps** x2 + ( 333-x + x ) kbps*** / 300mbps on 5.2 ghz

plus overhead for 7 (?) simultaneous connections ... now, this is likely to be a very rare situation, but supposing this is the max, how much bandwidth do i really need?


...
a few weeks ago, i was about to purchase our first wireless router****, which at the time was to be an e4200 v1 true dual band n router.

the going price was $45 on ebay. emphasis on was. just when i was sure that i wanted that specific model, the price jumped up ... and it just kept going up and now the price for a used e4200 v1 is the same as the price for a factory refurbished e4200 v2, which is about $100 ...

so i was about to purchase an e4200 v2 when it suddenly occured to me that perhaps i'm buying more bandwidth than i need, hence this thread ...

advice please?


* a blue ray rip tends to have a bitrate of 20-40mbps
** a 3d blue ray rip tends to have a bitrate of 20-60mbps
*** i have the very cheapest cable internet ... according to speedtest.net it maxes out at 484kbps and actual transfer speeds tend to max out at around 310kbps ... unless broadband prices dramatically decrease, we have no intention of buying more internet bandwidth
**** up till now we've been swapping around portable hdds and messing with ethernet cables. yeah, i know, we're practically living in the stone age.
 
Do you live near a MicroCenter?

Also that is an abysmal speed on your internet, who is your provider, I am sure you should be able to get at least a 10 meg line which would be about twice as fast for the same price.
 
If you are able to get real world speed of 100mbps on a wireless-N you are doing very good. You will not see anywhere close to 300mbps in real world tests. Best I have every gotten is about 150-180mbps and that was only with very good signal. I.E. AP and device within 10 feet of each other.

So if you can stream one blu-ray on wireless great, i doubt you will have much luck with 2 streams.
 
hmm. apparently i'm 19 miles from a micro computers center: http://www.yellowpages.com/los-angeles-ca/mip/micro-computers-center-15242412?lid=217686781 i don't think this is what you're talking about but i'm perfectly fine with ordering through the internet if you've got a product to recommend.

i pay around 60 bucks per month for a 3 megabit line plus analog phone service at a 91007 address.


also, since the above situation is going to be quite rare, if it occurs at all, a far more likely usage scenario would be:

2 laptops browsing and dlling files , 1 tv playing a blue ray rip OR 1 laptop browsing and dlling files and 1 3dtv playing a 3d blue ray rip. internet phones may enter into the picture at some point but usage will be very low and we tend to pause our other activities when we're on the phone (other than file downloading, obviously).

that's ...

1 3d tv playing 3d blueray rips + smartphones on 2.4ghz
2 laptops browsing, dlling and listening to music stored on an nas on 5.2ghz

which seems a lot more modest.


EDIT: @ m1abram: you know what, i did think there was something wrong with my original question... i'd forgotten about real world throughput (which puts my max usage expectation somewhere in dreamland*). well darn. the question still stands though, since i probably don't need an n900 router for ordinary use.

*incidentally, i have yet to sleep since yesterday. i think this sleep loss is making me stupid.

EDIT: added listening to music to ordinary usage.
 
Last edited:
thedocta45 said:
Do you live near a MicroCenter?

Also that is an abysmal speed on your internet, who is your provider, I am sure you should be able to get at least a 10 meg line which would be about twice as fast for the same price.
Click to expand...

Geographically speaking, most of the USA has abysmal speed ratings. Hell, 7+ megabit down service wasn't available in my state capitol until this spring 2012. And I'm in the state capitol.
 
I was going to say I just picked up a new router for around 70 bucks from MicroCenter a TP-LINK TL-WDR4300 no longer in stock but its been rock solid, and has decent range.
Looks to be 90 bucks from various retailers.

its being used for 2 laptops a kindle and 2 smart phones,streams music just fine, and video from netflix is flawless.

As m1abram points out streaming hd over wireless is not the reliable so you might see some issues with that. Powerline adapters are the recommended way to stream hd video to remote devices.

Also that sucks that its that much for cable and phone in your area. Your prices are through the roof.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top