Wifi 'N'

[Dolby]

Do any of you get a faster link than what you would with ethernet?

I've had some wifi 'N' (or Draft N) devices that rarely go above 4MB/sec - and that's 6 metres with 2 walls inbetween.

Currently I have a Netgear 'n' dongle and a LInksys 'n' router - but it's still slow.

Should my real world be higher?

 

[stricken]

Sounds about right. Very rarely achieve full speed. (esp. with two walls in between)... but N devices also drop to a/b/g if other devices (e.g. phone) is transmitting in the area.

 

[Lounger]

Are both devices N?

 

[Viva]

With a computer right next to the router (both devices Wireless N), I see a maximum consistent transfer speed of 8 - 10MBps. The moment you have walls between the devices, the speed decreases drastically.

8 - 10 MBps = 64 - 80 Mbps. Drastically lower than the quoted 150 Mbps. I guess this is just the way it is.

 

[Roman4604]

8 - 10 MBps = 64 - 80 Mbps. Drastically lower than the quoted 150 Mbps. I guess this is just the way it is.

Sounds about right, but from my experience also depends on radios (interworking) and antennas used.

I have a TP-Link WA901ND AP in my roof and when copying to/from wired PCs from my Dell Laptop with integral Intel 5100AGN adapter I max out at 70-80Mbps.

I also have a 2nd WA901ND running in client mode (normally connected to my Samsung SmartTV) and if do the same copy via Ethernet on my laptop the throughput is retared by the 901's 100Mbps Ethernet ports, basically 95Mbps+ sustained at a Win file copy level.

Both copys from roughly the same position with some minor brick obstruction (firewall in the roof).

 

[koeksGHT]

Never got above 100Mbps and that's with no walls and a connection of "280Mbps or so"

 

[Lounger]

With a computer right next to the router (both devices Wireless N), I see a maximum consistent transfer speed of 8 - 10MBps. The moment you have walls between the devices, the speed decreases drastically.

8 - 10 MBps = 64 - 80 Mbps. Drastically lower than the quoted 150 Mbps. I guess this is just the way it is.

Optimum distance is NOT right next to the device.

 

[Dolby]

Both devices are 'N' Netgear WN111v2 and Linksys WN160Nv2 - recently replaced with this cheapy Tenda 150M which also says N. So I'm guessing nothing beats wired if possible?

By the way - are you guys saying that *if* they had been transmitting N, the minute I connect my old BB Bold - everything will drop to G?

 

[ShawnStar]

Yes, usually it will drop to G if you connect a device that's on G, but not all AP's work like that, some Cisco ones will keep you on N while other devices connect at G... but they cost around R4000 I think

And by the way, you the same Dolby that's on a car forum... you have a volvo right?

 

[Dolby]

I doubt I'll be buying a R4,000.00 router anytime soon

And yup - same one! Though I haven't posted anything there in ages, I think.

What's happening that my nick is coming up? :/

 

[Lounger]

Both devices are 'N' Netgear WN111v2 and Linksys WN160Nv2 - recently replaced with this cheapy Tenda 150M which also says N. So I'm guessing nothing beats wired if possible?

By the way - are you guys saying that *if* they had been transmitting N, the minute I connect my old BB Bold - everything will drop to G?

Ah, why didnt you say so. It is well known that different devices don't get on well.

For best compatibility, use Netgear --> Netgear etc..

 

[UnUnOctium]

Optimum distance is NOT right next to the device.

This man is correct. Optimum distance depends when the best channel gains can be achieved, this varies with time and location, but usually the least FSPL loss will happen at >= 2 wavelengths (far field region). Near-field and transition zones have some serious EM field reversals and become very screwed-up/complex.

Both devices are 'N' Netgear WN111v2 and Linksys WN160Nv2 - recently replaced with this cheapy Tenda 150M which also says N. So I'm guessing nothing beats wired if possible?

By the way - are you guys saying that *if* they had been transmitting N, the minute I connect my old BB Bold - everything will drop to G?

Not really. WiFi works on TDMA. A good AP will know the capabilities of each device and transmit at each device's maximum capabilities for their time slot. If however device A can only do 54 Mbps while device B can do 300 Mbps (profiles, not actual speeds) the bottleneck will be device A's speed between it and the AP.

 

[froot]

One thing you must also take into consideration.... 54Mbps and 108Mbps and the 280/300Mbps will never actually reach that.
802.11 has overhead. A lot of it actually. For that reason alone, taking 54Mbps for example, you'll never really exceed about 20-30Mbps. Same goes for 802.11n :/

And yes, connecting non-N devices on a N network does drop it to b/g. Same with having g and N networks in the same area. It's a limitation of the network.

 

[Dolby]

when the best channel gains can be achieved, this varies with time and location, but usually the least FSPL loss will happen at >= 2 wavelengths (far field region). Near-field and transition zones have some serious EM field reversals and become very screwed-up/complex

... I was just about to say the same thing

 

[bekdik]

Throughput speed and connection speed are different things. Connection speed is the speed at which a single packet is transmitted. Throughput speed is the speed at which many packets making up a file is transmitted.

Thus even with a high connection speed the connection would be 'slow' if there was something slowing down one of the devices, e.g. re-transmissions.

Sometimes a slower conection speed or smaller packet can attain a faster throughput.

 

[Dolby]

Throughput speed and connection speed are different things. Connection speed is the speed at which a single packet is transmitted. Throughput speed is the speed at which many packets making up a file is transmitted.

Thus even with a high connection speed the connection would be 'slow' if there was something slowing down one of the devices, e.g. re-transmissions.

Sometimes a slower conection speed or smaller packet can attain a faster throughput.

I'm getting 4mb/sec now ... So 32mbps.

Either slow N or fast G?

 

[bekdik]

Wifi connections can be quite complex things, affected by protocol application issues, terrain and other devices, to mention a few.

Try setting your PC to G and see what happens. Also try moving your router around and changing the angle of the antenna.