Linksys Wap4400N Access point

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Linksys Wap4400N Access point

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#89183 27-Aug-2011 14:25

Hi everyone,
We just cabled out a small office that were using a couple of wap4400n access points for there computers. Lucky for us we got to take all the wireless and poe gear after the cabling job. Figured I might as well use it at home instead of my old g-wireless ap. Problem I am having is it is only connecting at speeds of 150mbps, not the 300mb as advertised. There arent that many settings in it too change. It was on b/g/n mixed mode so I changed it to n-only. Still no change (i didnt think it should have made a difference). Is there a setting on my wireless adapter that needs changing? Or is 150mb what these ap's do?
Is it worth flashing with dd-wrt or tomato or something? It isnt on dd-wrt's list but Im sure one of the others will work if i try hard enough lol.
Cheers in advance.

cyril7

9058 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#512879 27-Aug-2011 14:45

Hi, under advance wireless settings change it to 40MHz channels if you want 300Mb/s (sic) throughput, from what I can tell these are a bit of a dog.

Cyril

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#512888 27-Aug-2011 15:25

It also depends on the type of wireless card in your PC's and the performance. I'm not sure what speeds you are expecting but even with a good AP there are many PC's that still won't exceed 25Mbps in the real world (remembering 300Mbps is a theoretical UDP MIMO connection in perfect radio conditions).

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#512898 27-Aug-2011 16:19

I expected to see 300mbps. Im fairly happy with 150 as its still way faster than what the old ap did.
Changed the channel bandwidth to 40MHz and no change. I guess it will just stay as 150 and I will actually have to pay for a decent AP. Thanks for your help guys!

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#512902 27-Aug-2011 16:32

chevrolux: I expected to see 300mbps. Im fairly happy with 150 as its still way faster than what the old ap did.
Changed the channel bandwidth to 40MHz and no change. I guess it will just stay as 150 and I will actually have to pay for a decent AP. Thanks for your help guys!

300Mbps isn't a real world speed, it's a maximum theoretical speed with UDP only in perfect radio conditions. Because 40Mhz uses channel bonding you'll run into all sorts of issues in your typical noisy urban environment.

You haven't answered what type of wireless device you're using. If it doesn't support MIMO and 40MHz channels you'll never be able to even get a 300Mbps connection speed.

Even if you buy a new AP there are no guarantees you will get better performance, if you're getting ~30Mbps at present you're doing pretty well. Some laptops with good chipsets will give you 50Mbps real world performance.

cyril7

9058 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#512927 27-Aug-2011 18:06

As steve says you will only achieve the 300figure (and thats all it is a figure with no real relationship to throughput) if both the AP and the client (laptop etc) is at least a dual chain radio. The AP is, most laptops till recently were only single.

Cyril

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#512950 27-Aug-2011 20:17

I guess because on the g-wireless i got 54mb i figured i would get the 300. checked this speed on my lappy and the adaptor is an atheros b/g/n adapter. Just checked the mrs laptop and she is only getting 72mb. didnt check what adapter she had.

"Even if you buy a new AP there are no guarantees you will get better performance, if you're getting ~30Mbps at present you're doing pretty well. Some laptops with good chipsets will give you 50Mbps real world performance."

yea im standing up at 150 which im pretty happy with (like i say came from a g-wireless AP).

will see if we have an external aerials at work that i can try out and see if I get better speeds.

Its not a huge issue for me. I have gigabit ethernet thoughout the house so if i want to transfer big files I just plug it in. But everyone wants awesome wireless speeds.

What are people's thoughts on the dual band '450mbps' gear?

lapimate

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#512954 27-Aug-2011 20:41

chevrolux: ... wap4400n ...

A quick search suggests the WAP4400N has only 2.4GHz, ie no 5GHz?

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#512957 27-Aug-2011 20:50

chevrolux:What are people's thoughts on the dual band '450mbps' gear?

I'll put the question back to you. What do you want from your wireless setup?

Wireless will always deliver speeds that are slower than ethernet. There is also no point in building the latest and greatest dual band MIMO gear that'll do simultaneous 2.4GHz and 5GHz unless the devices you're using support it - and 99% don't.

A good wireless G setup will deliver ~18Mbps right now and a good N setup will deliver 40 - 50Mbps with good hardware, but realistically closer to 30Mbps in the real world where there is any noise.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#512958 27-Aug-2011 20:55

yea it does only have 2.4Ghz. I was just wondering people's thoughts on the dual band stuff. It is quite a bit more costly, just wondering if its worth it?

lapimate

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#512970 27-Aug-2011 21:39

chevrolux: yea it does only have 2.4Ghz. ...

So if your laptop client wireless card implements the 11n draft 2.0 "Good Neighbor" policy, it still may not achieve over 130-144Mbps because the "Good Neighbor" policy suppresses 40MHz bonding of 2.4GHz channels if there are other 2.4GHz users in range, even if the AP superficially appears to provide that option. Further, apparently some client devices (eg Intel 4965AGN) deal with this by not accepting 40MHz bonding at all in the 2.4GHz band.