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Appendix
Technical Evaluation Recommendations
1. Wi-Fi Speed and Range
The NETGEAR CENTRIA router’s high transmit power and sensitive antennas fine-tuned for each
frequency band provide superior range in comparison to competing routers. Please note WiFi speed and
range always depend on the WiFi adapters in use and the processing power of the network device. In
the case of CENTRIA, as the router is capable of multiple sessions, the computer can become the
bottleneck when testing with only one computer. Also note that it is best to run the Iperf or IxChariot
test programs using multiple sessions instead of single sessions.
Highest speed is reached with Intel 6300 WiFi cards integrated in notebooks (found in selected
Dell and HP notebooks).
USB adapter speed (with NETGEAR WNDA3100 v2) at close range is usually less than integrated
WiFi N in laptops as the interface is via USB instead of natively talking to the PC CPU bus. This is
not a limitation of the USB adapter, but reflects the speed at which the PC can interface and
process traffic while driving the USB adapter.
It is best to use mid channels in 2.4 GHz range (Channel 4 – 8) as they support the highest
power, per FCC/CE regulations, and hence provide extended range.
For the 5 GHz band, the higher the power, the better the range. NETGEAR recommends using
channel 153 for testing 5 GHz.
