Well this an amendment to my earlier post where I thought you were wanting to boost your router signal or get a N router for the signal boost.

Since that wasn't the case I agree with Desides (below) to make sure your router is wireless N capable first and then I would still move your router upstairs first because typically a router should be in the highest most centered part of the house.

If none of that works I'd look at ebay for a 360 N router.

 

Only get the adapter if your wireless router or modem supports the N standard in the first place. Unless it's a relatively new device, the odds are it doesn't, and you'll simply be wasting money.

 

I don't have the Wireless N adapter for the 360... But since i've switched to N in the house, i got an N USB adapter for on of the PCs, and it's beautiful. There's literally no difference between wired and N.

My Macbook stays a solid 30 feet from the router and through two concrete walls. I can download from newsgroups on the Macbook at the same speeds as the PC hard wired to the router. Also, I live on the 3rd floor. I can go all the way to the 1st floor and still be online with my Macbook.

The only reason I'm specifying the Macbook is because it's got a built-in N adapter and essentially was the reason I changed to N. This is the router I have:
http://www.shoplinksys.com/viewprod...&src2=addtocart&extid=linksys_addt&lid=BuyNow

 

Two words: Packet loss. There will always be a difference between wireless and wired for that very reason. Give me a choice between gaming over wired and wireless, I take the wired option every time.

But N is pretty good for LAN movie streaming, that sort of thing where split-second latency makes a difference.

phatphish, let us know how the adapter works out!

 

Nice lol...maybe I shouldn't have edited my reply. :lol:

 

of course wired will always be better, that's a given. But as far as speeds are concerned I was blown away by the difference between N and G.

 

N is definitely an upgrade, it just isn't good enough for online gaming, IMO.

One thing I don't like about N is the addition of the 5GHz spectrum to the standard. If you ever wanted to reduce signal strength and range in one fell swoop, going from 2.4GHz to 5GHz is your solution.

 

i'm not educated enough about the technology to accurately say what's right or wrong. I just know my download speeds moved up significantly since moving to N. The Ps3 has also had less issues... Granted it's still a G device.

 

Oh, yeah, LAN speeds get a kick in the butt with the transition to N. I just wouldn't put a gaming device on wireless even with N available and ready to go.

 

Explain the packet issue. I haven't experienced any packet loss issues with my wireless connection.

 

Yes, you have. Wifi is pretty good about resending lost packets, but they're still being lost in the first place. It's to be expected when you've got a bunch of radio waves (wifi access points) clustered together in the same neighborhood or apartment building, usually all on the same or similar channels (1, 6, or 11) and all on the same frequency.

 

Makes sense dues to nature of wireless and how it avoids collisions. I haven't seen any noticeable effects though. I max out my download speeds on hardwired and wired connections and have absolutely no issues with streaming across my network.

 

That's not the best way to measure packet loss, however, because the packets are being resent and you're not engaging in time-sensitive operations.

Load up an online game via wireless and play for a little while. Keep track of your ping and note how the game unfolds, whether or not everything seems smooth and exact as you would expect a low-latency gaming session to be. Then load up the same game on wired. Your ping should be about the same, perhaps a few ms smaller, but everything should be smoother thanks to the elimination of packet loss.

 

I will give that a shot now that I have a decent laptop that I can run games on. All my PC gaming has been hardwired up to this point.

 

I really cannot tell the difference. Maybe because there are not very many wireless routers around me. There is only one other wireless network showing up and it has a very weak signal.

 

Count yourself lucky. I'm surrounded by at least seven wireless APs. Makes it hell just finding a relatively clear channel.