I have an 802.11n network that has several Sonos speakers on it. They are only g compatible. I had someone tell me that having g limited devices on the network would limit the speed of other devices on the network to g speeds. That sounds like crap but I wanted the advice of the experts.
Not crap at all. Having less capable devices (when they are operating) will affect the overall bandwidth of your wireless network.
Thanks! So would you suggest setting up a second network for the slower devices?
Slower "g" wireless devices on the network will indeed slow down the capabilities of other "n" and "ac" devices on the network. The faster devices will not usually slow all the way down to "g" speeds, but they won't come close to their maximum potential either.
If practical, then yes. Remember 802.11n can operate on either the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands, whereas, 802.11g can only do so on the 2.4 GHz band ... but, the higher frequency band's signal has more difficulty penetrating through objects, like walls. That's why it basically only useable, performance-wise, if both the wireless access point and clients are in the same room.
Finally, 802.11ac only operates on the 5 GHz band ... so there are always tradeoffs.
... so, to try to best answer your question, it will really depend on your overall networking requirements. Let's look at a potential worst-case scenario where the following simultaneous events are happening over a wireless network
You can imagine with all the above going on, the network could come to "a halt." However, of all of these, the last one, would use the least bandwidth.
The best way to determine the current impact of streaming audio to your Sonos speakers is to measure your networks throughput before and after streaming. If you find a significant difference, it may warrant using a separate network for audio streaming.
If I have 802.11g devices connected to my n or ac network will they drag down the speed of the network?
