Terminology? 1Mbit/s, wireless g/n, ADSL2+

[FlyOnTheWall]

Will new router be fast enough

Apologies for these very basic questions, but I just want to make sure my ducks are in a row.
I just want to make sure I shouldn't be dividing by 10 somewhere....!???
I'm going to buy a new router, I mention the brand or ISP names just as examples. Thanks
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Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The low end ADSL offerings in SA (from e.g. Axxess/ Webafrica) are all 1 Mbps or Mbit/s (not to be confused with byte = 8 x bits). So it's 1024Kbit/s or Kbps. (MBps is megabyte per second where Mbps is megabits per second.)

1. Modem routers like the Trendnet tew-658brm or D-Link 2750u have 10/100 base TX ports at the back (LAN ports i.e. fixed line). Does this therefore mean 10 or 100 mbit/s i.e. 10 or 100 times the low offering so it's more than ok?

2. Is wireless G (802.11g) therefore 54mbps i.e. 54 times the low offering, so it's more than ok if you're on the cheapest ADSL offering of the different companies?

3. The wireless N dongles and modem-routers offered are mostly have speeds of 150Mpbs or 300Mbps. Is this therefore 150 or 300 times the low offering, so it's more than ok?

(I don't really need to know about ADSL2+, but it seems it is 24Mbit/s whereas the older ADSL2 had 1.6Mbit/s or something. This is not an issue though since most modem routers sold seem to be ADSL2+ anyway.)

 

[FlyOnTheWall]

Well I can now answer my own question (IQ points now increased: 10 -> 20)...
G or N invariably faster than speeds used for internet, and are used for transferring data between PC's usually.

 

[Pada]

Bandwidth is specified in Mbps (megabits per second).

So your ADSL will run between 1Mbps - 10Mbps, depending on what offering you took. You'll typically get between 80-90% of your ADSL line speed in actual throughput. So if you have a 10Mbps ADSL line, your throughput will go up to say 9Mbps.
The ADSL2+ spec allow speeds up to 24Mbps, however, Telkom only supports up to 10Mbps and thereafter switches to VDSL, where they offer up to 40Mbps speeds.

Your wireless G is running at 54Mbps, but effectively you can only get about half of that in actual throughput: ~30Mbps.
The same goes for Wirless N, which runs at up to 300Mbps (when its bonding 2x 20MHz channels), in which case you'll also only get about half of that in actual throughput.

The modems/routers typically have 100Mbps LAN points, and some have 1000Mbps (aka 1Gbps) LAN points. Your throughput should be able to be almost 100% of the connection speed.

Just take note that your throughput will ALWAYS be as fast as the slowest connection in the path.
This means that if you're connected to a 1Gbps router that connects with a 1Mbps Telkom ADSL connection, you'll only get up to 1Mbps (or 80-90% of that) when downloading something from the Internet.

 

[ponder]

Bottom line wireless sucks and introduces more latency. Always use cabled ether when you can.

 

[HavocXphere]

Unless you're running truly ancient hardware, the "internet" side of things will always by many many times slower than the internal networks, so regardless of what tech you use on your internal network it won't limit internet speed. Isolated exceptions do exist but you really don't need to worry about those.

I'd also agree with ponder, though for slightly different reasons - random disconnects on wireless are a pain in the arse. Wired is generally a better idea unless you've got a specific need for mobility.

NB - the 2750 router is a decent choice (I've got one too) but you really need to fix the security on it. Takes about 4 minutes to fix. There is a thread about it here somewhere. If you don't come right send me a message. I'm sure pada & ponder would also be willing to help.

Also keep in mind that the numbers are rarely like that in reality. i.e. on a 1000mbps link you won't get anywhere close to 1000mbps actual transfer. Thankfully this shortfall applies +- to everything...so they are still comparable because actually throughput falls short of claimed number with all of them.

>Apologies for these very basic questions

Politely asked genuine questions rarely get shot down on mybb.

 

[Pada]

The D-Link issue that HavocXphere is referring to is just applicable to Telkom D-Link modems. Have a look here if you have a Telkom branded D-Link modem: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/adsl/84609-telkom-d-link-modem-internet-connection-problems.html

Wireless networks can introduce lots of issues, especially in terms of authentication & unstable/faulty firmware on the WiFi Access Points. Like the one that my dad has would often just stop forwarding packets until you reconnect to the stupid thing.
On a new, stable & fast 802.11n/ac WiFi AP, you won't notice the difference between that and 100Mbps LAN in terms of latency, packet loss and throughput.

 

[Rickster]

Our ADSL will never (in this decade or more) be faster than LAN speeds - if thats what you are asking, you didnt make much sense.

 

[FlyOnTheWall]

Hi, thanks so much for the patient help from all of you.

I indeed have a D-Link 2750u, but bought it from a shop not Telkom, so I guess it won't have the security issue … Will read the post anyway.

My goal was to find out whether G (instead of N) will matter for a basic user, but obviously not! And then I digressed a bit into the LAN too.

 

[FlyOnTheWall]

...Because my friend has a G router (the D-Link 2750u is obviously 300N)