Broadband boosters...do they really boost?

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PFJ

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Hi fellow TSers,

I recently switched to wireless home broadband that is connected to a standard telephone line. My son will be using a hard connection but I'll be using the wireless 802.11g on notebook. I listen to a lot of streaming radio on my notebook and I don't want to infringe on my sons gaming experience.
I came across a device called a 'broadband booster' which claims "The Broadband Booster is a plug and play device that is placed between your internet modem and router that eliminates "internet lag" in your network. It manages and "boosts" your internet applications as they exit your network onto the internet for a more efficient usage of your network's bandwidth. The result is a "lag-free" experience from all internet applications!" Sounds good...but is it the really the panacea to multiple wireless users on the same router?

Regards
PFJ
 
This kind of device is usually just a packet scheduler, so it has to have a packet preference. It will catagorize packets by what program created the packet and then schedual its release based upon whatever it thinks should go first. It may or may not help you. Does your son experience "lag" now while he's playing?
 
thanks for replying Cinders;
I'm not sure if 'lagging' is the problem or the PC. We have a special games PC on order costing ~$3700 (€2650) but it's not going to be any better than the current PC if the broadband connection is sub-standard...I ponder. 99% of his game-play is on-line.

I see your point Cinders on the operational characteristics of a broadband booster (BB) but I'm cautious about one manufacturers claim "
-Boost the Speed of your Internet Applications by up to 400%" using their BB.

Regards
PFJ
 
never heard of this broadband booster before.. can you send a link to it for me?

If its gaming he's after, the router must be able to handle the stress of it (cheap routers may/may not..) and also your connection speed from your ISP. Thats not counting problems on the server side tho, which, if you connect to a slow server you still won't get much.

if you want to check out how much that program boost your performance, you can try and test your current connection speed via sites like speednet.com (or similar) and compare it after installing the software, and testing again.

i'd theorise that it just makes multiple connections or optimises the connection to the server and back (like download managers/accellerators do) or some similar method..
 
Ive tried lots of software based speed boosters. And they seem to make very little or no difference unfortunatly. dunno about hardware ones though :)
 
most of this stuff is crap. There are good free TCP/IP tweekers. Most will show insignificant improvements, but they're worth a shot.
 
i'd agree with the others on this one.. don't bother getting it. If its in a controled environment, then maybe you'll notice the changes, but as i've said before, there are lots of other variables..

best put your money into other things, if you want, a better featured router (that can probably do as well as this) and network gear, and/or a better internet plan from your ISP (faster connection etc)..

otherwise, if you do buy it in the end, tell us how it goes :)
 
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