Wireless Network Speed curiosity

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Ruth

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#19238 10-Feb-2008 23:35

You will, I am sure, be glad to know that I don't have a problem with my wireless networking as such!

However, I am curious to know "why is it so" that my Main PC (Desktop) connection wireless speed is shown as
11 mbps and my Dell Latitude laptop, literally three footsteps away at my other desk, indicates
108 mbps!!!!!!!!!!!!

On my desk which holds the main PC, the router brand is TP-Link, and the wireless PC adapter
is a D-Link AirPlus GDWL -G510. On the laptop the adapter is a TP-link one which goes into the
USB hub.

Everything works very well. Curious minds need to know and if anyone has any inkling as to why this is the case,
I would appreciate their comments.

Cheers, Ruth.

freitasm

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#109800 11-Feb-2008 09:24

There are many flavours o Wi-Fi - 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g.

The slowest one is 11 Mbps and the fastest ones go up to 108 Mbps. Perhaps your desktop is equipped with one of the older slower wireless LAN Card?

lapimate

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#109813 11-Feb-2008 10:31

Ruth: ... I am curious to know "why is it so" that my Main PC (Desktop) connection wireless speed is shown as
11 mbps and my Dell Latitude laptop, literally three footsteps away at my other desk, indicates
108 mbps!!!!!!!!!!!! ...

There may be a distinction between "capable of" & "working at" speeds. I have noticed that sometimes the Windows XP network icon (WZCS disabled) shows 108mbps when the laptop has access to a G+ access point, but the 3Com monitor shows the actual speed as 54mbps (or less). In other words the software is confused or not explicit about what aspect it is reporting.

freitasm

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#109815 11-Feb-2008 10:33

Of course. And being wireless it is prone to all sorts of interference. For example you may have a 54 Mbps access point, but if you are in another room, there's a micowave oven on, or some types of cordless phones around then all contribute for "noise" in the airwaves and lower speed for reliability.

gehenna

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#109816 11-Feb-2008 10:34

Is your router one of the 108+ ones? Allowing up to 108Mbps over standard G wireless? If so, your Dell wifi adapter may be able to communicate with this router at full speed, while your other machine can only communicate at standard G speeds and below. You need special adaptors to communicate at full speed with the high speed G routers. Standard adaptors won't go beyond 54Mbps. Considering yours is at 11Mbps I'm thinking there may be other issues with your machine? Perhaps try a different channel on the router, and see if your driver is up to date on the adaptor?

edit: the usual things also apply - router location in the room and proximity to potential interference. Keep it away from windows as well. Turn on interference robustness if you have a mac or anything similar you can find on your windows machine. turn off the 108mbps machine and see if your other machine speeds up. There's all sorts of network monitors you can get that will tell you exactly what is going on with your adaptor and network as well.

cyril7

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#109819 11-Feb-2008 11:07

Using channel bonded modes that allow 108Mb/s throughput can confuse some interfaces that dont understand it. I recommend that you turn the Turbo mode (or whatever TPlink call it) off so that the AP only operates in standard 802.11b/g with gmode only supporting standard 54Mb/s signalling. You may well find once this 108mode is off the main PC may step up its speed.

That all said if the router and main PC are at the same desk why not just use a wired connection between the PC and router and enjoy full speed 100Mb/s with not messy RF link between. There will be less traffic to slow the WiFi link to your Laptop down to boot. A 2meter ethernet cable is around $2-5, a WiFi interface card is 20x that! and less reliable to boot.

Cyril

freitasm

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#109820 11-Feb-2008 11:12

cyril7: You may well find once this 108mode is off the main PC may step up its speed.

That is, if the main PC is fitted with a 802.11g card - 802.11b cards are limited to 11 Mbps anyway.

cyril7

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#109830 11-Feb-2008 12:08

The Dlink DWL-G510 is infact a 802.11b/g card. And one presumes the PC's ethernet interface is at least a 10/100BaseT one. As they are on the same desk a $2 cable is a no brainer.

Cyril

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Ruth

11 posts

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#110277 12-Feb-2008 23:28

freitasm: There are many flavours o Wi-Fi - 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g.

The slowest one is 11 Mbps and the fastest ones go up to 108 Mbps. Perhaps your desktop is equipped with one of the older slower wireless LAN Card?

Yes, I think that's a real possibility.

heretohelp

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#112387 22-Feb-2008 22:36

Ruth:
freitasm: There are many flavours o Wi-Fi - 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g.

The slowest one is 11 Mbps and the fastest ones go up to 108 Mbps. Perhaps your desktop is equipped with one of the older slower wireless LAN Card?

Yes, I think that's a real possibility.

agreed, the other option is some wireless network cards do not use windows drivers, mine for example belkin, it has the option of choosing a, b or g network within the belkin drivers maby its as simple as changing the software settings on the computer to access the g frequency instead of the b frequency.

maby a stab in the dark

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.

heretohelp

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#112388 22-Feb-2008 22:38

not realy a problem unless you are transfering a lot of data between computers, or have adsl2, regular adsl in theory only goes up to around 8mbs any ways at the moment thats what the bulk of NZ is running on (soon to change)

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.