Boxee Box Can't See N Wireless Network

[GageGecko]

As a lot of others I am having a few issues with my new Boxee Box. My worry at the moment is that it doesn't see the N wireless network from my Cisco/Linksys dual band router. It does see the B/G wireless network, although it reports no bars (red arrow), and connects but does not see the faster N wireless.

http://img.skitch.com/20101112-thp2eundur3ifh3is9fdufp9bu.preview.jpg (https://skitch.com/gagegecko/ryn9m/2010-11-11-21-26-58)Click for large view (https://skitch.com/gagegecko/ryn9m/2010-11-11-21-26-58) - Uploaded with Skitch (http://skitch.com)

The Boxee Box sits less than 7 feet from the router with nothing between the two. Weirder still, it sees my next door neighbor's router with is at least 250 feet away and reports full bars (blue arrow) for that signal.

I have tried disabling the B/G broadcast but it still does not see the N network. I will post a screen shot of my router setup when I get home from work.

Anyone have any ideas on why it can't see the faster wireless network? I believe I am having streaming issues because it is using the slower wireless network.

Running a wired connection to the box would be a huge hassle and would like to just get it on the faster wireless network if possible.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
:)

[rpmiles]

as reported elsewhere here, try changing from 5 ghz to 2.4 ghz on your router, that seems to fix this

[GageGecko]

as reported elsewhere here, try changing from 5 ghz to 2.4 ghz on your router, that seems to fix this

Thank you for your reply but that most certainly does not solve my problem.

I am unwilling to downgrade my wireless network, as well as kill the range of my router, so that the Boxee Box sees the N network that every other device sees without fail and the Boxee Box is supposed to see being a N device.

For the record, I did drop it to 2.4 as I stated in my original post and this did not change the signal bar issue.

[AnotherCanuck]

The Boxee Box doesn't have a 5Ghz wireless card, only 2.4Ghz. It won't be able to see or connect to your 5Ghz network.

See my thread here: http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=21719&highlight=5Ghz

[newboxeeuser]

Why does Boxee Box advertise support for 802.11N when 5Ghz isn't supported, and there is no 5Ghz wireless chip, in the Boxee Box ? Its right on Amazon's site...The N specification indicates 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz support, only supporting 2.4 indicates its not N compliant.

[AnotherCanuck]

Why does Boxee Box advertise support for 802.11N when 5Ghz isn't supported, and there is no 5Ghz wireless chip, in the Boxee Box ? Its right on Amazon's site...The N specification indicates 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz support, only supporting 2.4 indicates its not N compliant.

Neither the IEEE 802.11n spec or Wi-Fi Alliance Certification spec require 5Ghz.

But like I said in the thread I linked to above, it would have been nice to have.

[Pyrophorics]

Get a dual band router, something like the WNDR 3700. That said, even at 2.4GHz, wireless N is still flawed/bugged. Whether it is a hardware issue or software it remains to be seen.

[AnotherCanuck]

Get a dual band router, something like the WNDR 3700. That said, even at 2.4GHz, wireless N is still flawed/bugged. Whether it is a hardware issue or software it remains to be seen.

"...it doesn't see the N wireless network from my Cisco/Linksys dual band router." ;)

[GageGecko]

The Boxee Box doesn't have a 5Ghz wireless card, only 2.4Ghz. It won't be able to see or connect to your 5Ghz network.

See my thread here: http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=21719&highlight=5Ghz

Thanks, this is my fault as I assumed that when it stated that the Boxee Box was 802.11N expected 5Ghz reception. Although, I am fairly sure I read some where that it was supposed to use the 5Ghz version as well I am sure you are right seeing how it doesn't see the network at all.

This is doesn't explain why it reports no bars for my 2.4Ghz B/G network.

[Pyrophorics]

"...it doesn't see the N wireless network from my Cisco/Linksys dual band router." ;)

2.4GHz? Wouldn't surprise me though, something is wrong with this device/software.

All these delays, you would figure a perfect box would arrive. This is almost as bad as it can get aside from DOA.

[marcel]

We are aware that N routers show only one bar but we have tested the connection and it is 100% it is just a UI issue which we will fix in the future

[newboxeeuser]

Thanks, this is my fault as I assumed that when it stated that the Boxee Box was 802.11N expected 5Ghz reception. Although, I am fairly sure I read some where that it was supposed to use the 5Ghz version as well I am sure you are right seeing how it doesn't see the network at all.

This is doesn't explain why it reports no bars for my 2.4Ghz B/G network.

You are correct, I would make the assumption that if you advertise N for your product it supports the N spec, which is 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz, the whole draw of N actually since 2.4 is kinda congested.

Have you shutdown your cell phones, bluetooth devices (unplug them) and your cordless phones ? Another 2.4 device could be on the same channel. Try another channel et etc?

[dialing_wand]

While not dishonest, advertising N is misleading. Almost all networks I've used/setup for "N" use 5GHz to (as the above poster noted) escape the 2.4GHz noise.

Boxee Box has made me very sad (not just because of this.) Poor 2.4GHz reception (we have a fall-back 2.4GHz g network we keep for clients/visitors) doesn't help when you can't use 5GHz.

"Downloading upgrade failed." 5x so far... can't get past 25%.

Our old Apple TV (and our new one) has proper (I'll say "complete") N reception.

[Veidit]

This was a huge step back not supporting 5Ghz.
2.4Ghz is so congested that I cant stream 720p over it, 5Ghz would be the solution but it seems that D-link chose to go with bad advertising and a cheap chip :(

[Vixx]

802.11n has nothing to do with the frequency of the radio. 11n is a modulation type and some other stuff (MIMO, SGI, etc) under the covers that allows for faster throughput. Seeing 11n capable devices does NOT guarantee a dual-band capable device

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#802.11n

Other things to keep in mind is when doing 11n, if you use encryption, you shouldn't be using TKIP-based PSKs, it should be AES-based PSKs. Technically (according to the spec) any TKIP-based encryption on an 11n radio must run at legacy rates. Depending on the wireless AP hardware you use will determine if they follow the spec or not. Making sure you run your 11n router with AES-based WPA2 and disable any TKIP-based or 'Compatibility' modes or whatever each vendor calls 'AES+TKIP' support will ensure proper throughput.

Also from my testing, it doesn't appear the Boxee uses any channel bonding (HT40), so there's no need to enable 40MHz channels on your system, just keep it single-channel HT20 and you should see approx 80-90Meg of throughput easy (I streamed three 720P movies from three different Boxee boxes from a single AP without any glitches, and I have approx 11 APs in my house so I have plenty of interference). So long as there is approx 10-12dB if separation between the Boxee and the AP it is on, from the other sources of interfering wireless devices, it should work fine.

Either there is a source of 2.4GHz noise, there are DOZENS of high powered wireless devices in the same area, or there is likely an improperly configured wireless router/buggy drivers/poor wireless router software that is causing poor throughput (or a bad Boxee, but I've bought and deployed over a Dozen and not had a single failure, which isn't bad for an inexpensive consumer product).

[miamiboxee]

After upgrading my home network to be 802.11n compliant throughout now I find that the boxee box is the weak link when trying to stream 1080p video wirelessly.

Wish the 802.11n advertised would have an (*) next to it so I wouldn't have spent a whole day trying to figure this out. :(

[darcilicious]

Maybe looking into a wireless bridge, something like what's mentioned here:
http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.php?p=214705&highlight=wireless+bridge#post214705

[miamiboxee]

Maybe looking into a wireless bridge, something like what's mentioned here:
http://forums.boxee.tv/showthread.php?p=214705&highlight=wireless+bridge#post214705

Thanks. Will look into it.