I went wireless networking yesterday and have been very dissapointed about the drop in download speed and was wondering if this is normal or not, and perhaps maybe there is something I could do to fix it. I could download at 400KB/sec while connected to the internet with cat5 cables (linksys 4-port router), but as soon as I switch to linksys wireless 801.11g wireless router with Airlink 2.0 usb wirelessG adapter and download from the same webpage my max download speed dropped by 50% to approximately 198KB/sec. Any kind of suggestions will be appreciated.
Went Wireless
- Thread starter Mystiksky
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Capricorn
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- Northern VA
Actually, that's pretty pathetic throughput. I have a Linksys WRT54GS 802.11G router that I normally use with a Linksys WPC54GS wireless Ethernet adapter (on a laptop). That uses Linksys' SpeedBooster proprietary transmission speed though. So, instead I tried a few tests using a Netgear WG511T wireless Ethernet adapter (on a laptop) in straight 54 Mbps (802.11G) mode.
I copied a 314 MB file and a 120 MB group of files from my internal LAN on one subnet through the WRT54GS to different subnet. (The router, therefore, really is acting like a router, not just a wireless bridge, but on an intranet rather than the Internet.) I have the laptop about 15 feet or so from the WAP. This should yield the fastest throughput possible since the actual Internet isn't part of the picture. Slowing it down is the fact I have 128-bit WEP encryption turned on.
I got 1.944 MB/sec (15.552 Mb/sec) with the 314 MB file and 1.334 MB/sec (10.669 Mb/sec) with the 120 MB set of files. I tried turning the encryption down to 64 bits, but it really only made the network marginally faster. Turning it off completely might help a lot, but I know I wouldn't feel comfortable operating in the open.
There's a ton of factors that can influence your throughput. Encryption level, as I already mentioned is one. Distance is another. The radio signals are fairly low power and attenuate (weaken) quickly. Your Linksys WAP will rachet down to as low as 1 Mbps to keep a connection as the signal degrades. The materials between you and next to the WAP can deflect/absorb the signals as well. That means, don't set your WAP inside a metal bookshelf (even one on the other side of the walll), near a metal filing cabinet, next to heating ducts, etc. Try repositioning your WAP to see if it helps. Also, some equipment from different manufacturers doesn't play as nicely as others. It's all supposed to be compatible, but ....
I copied a 314 MB file and a 120 MB group of files from my internal LAN on one subnet through the WRT54GS to different subnet. (The router, therefore, really is acting like a router, not just a wireless bridge, but on an intranet rather than the Internet.) I have the laptop about 15 feet or so from the WAP. This should yield the fastest throughput possible since the actual Internet isn't part of the picture. Slowing it down is the fact I have 128-bit WEP encryption turned on.
I got 1.944 MB/sec (15.552 Mb/sec) with the 314 MB file and 1.334 MB/sec (10.669 Mb/sec) with the 120 MB set of files. I tried turning the encryption down to 64 bits, but it really only made the network marginally faster. Turning it off completely might help a lot, but I know I wouldn't feel comfortable operating in the open.
There's a ton of factors that can influence your throughput. Encryption level, as I already mentioned is one. Distance is another. The radio signals are fairly low power and attenuate (weaken) quickly. Your Linksys WAP will rachet down to as low as 1 Mbps to keep a connection as the signal degrades. The materials between you and next to the WAP can deflect/absorb the signals as well. That means, don't set your WAP inside a metal bookshelf (even one on the other side of the walll), near a metal filing cabinet, next to heating ducts, etc. Try repositioning your WAP to see if it helps. Also, some equipment from different manufacturers doesn't play as nicely as others. It's all supposed to be compatible, but ....
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