Lower Than Expected Speed. Why?

[BoulderBum]

So I had a wireless G router that offered something like 4000-6000 kbps wired and about 1400 kbps wireless. I'd heard the speed issue was partially due to the device's unusually poor performance when using WPA security.

I didn't like this, so I went and bought one of those new-fangled MIMO routers (Netgear Rangemax 240) that boasted "wired speeds over wireless". Now, I know that to take full advantage of the technology I needed a more specialized card, but what I was a little disappointed over was the lack of improvement over my wireless download speed in the existing wireless G network.

I now benchmark my download speeds at about 1700 kbps after optimizing the router settings, which is better, but the wired conneciton still gets 4000-6000 kbps and I'm a bit confused why the 802.11G hardware wouldn't allow faster speeds, especially given the new range, signal strength and alleged speed of the new router.

Anyone know what gives?

 

[Frank4d]

I am not sure if Netgear is the same as DLink, but with my DLink DI-784 router they claim up to 108MBps but then the fine print says that speed is only with compatible DLink wireless adapters.

 

[dput]

Since MIMO is not a standard, I think you will be dependent on having the same card vendor as the AP vendor and they would both have to be MIMO ready. Otherwise, it will just use the 802-11G standard.

Dan

 

[BoulderBum]

It's the same deal with mine: only the specialized Netgear hardware can support the blazing-fast 240 Mbps transfer speed, but I can actually understand that I guess. If 802.11g was only built to handle 56 Mbps and that's all the 802.11g hardware supports, so be it.

Nevertheless, it seems like the 56 Mbps max can support more than 1700 kbps download speed? I don't know exactly how the translation works from 56 Mbps to actual download speed (I know it's slower), but I would think it could handle the 6000-7000 kbps my modem delivers, you know?

 

[MaxPipeline]

I haven't used the rangemax products yet, but as far as I know they use some proprietary technology on the router and NIC. Thus without the compatible hardware you will not see any improvement in wireless speeds. Also are you using 11b-g mixed mode at all? If so then that will also hamper your max speed capabilities as it ends up running at less than 11b speeds. Finally the bandwidth refers to maximum bandwidth at the physical level and under ideal conditions. Keep in mind that in reality the most you can ever hope is about half the rated speed since the 802.11 includes overhead and more if using WEP or WPA so you in fact can never utilize the entire bandwidth for data. Add to that the signal strength and if it is not 100% then expect slower speeds still.

Bottom line, don't expect anywhere near manufacturers claims. Even wired fast-ethernet is really not capable of full 100Mbps bandwidth.

 

[BoulderBum]

Right, but I get the same speed 2 feet away as I do 30. I know I only operate under the restrictions of wireless G (not MIMO enabled speeds), but shouldn't I still be getting over 1700 kbps?

Out of curiosity, how fast/slow are other people's connections here:

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

over wireless (vs. wired).

 

[BoulderBum]

Everyone download this now!

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

Good...
freaking...
gravy.

I just boosted my wireless download speed from 1700kbps to 6700kbps by using the utility for 10 seconds! Basically you tell it your NIC manufacturer and your connection speed and it sets a bunch of registry settings for you.

Slick!

 

[MaxPipeline]

which application? There are quite a few listed on this page.

Thanks

 

[BoulderBum]

The first one. It's called "TCP Optimizer". It worked wonders for my sister's family's wireless NICs, too!