Why wireless broadband can't go to 54Mb?

mr.interested

OK, I have 802.11 b/g wireless adapter, which I tested using two routers (Netgear WGR614 and Cisco EPC2425, both of which have wireless of 802.11 b/g) in UPC broadband 30Mb. The below pictures show the results when wireless and wired, respectively.





So why can I not go further than about 15Mb (that was maximum I could get) while wireless? 802.11 b/g means that I should be able to access the speed of up to 54Mb (at least according to this site, as well as to specification page of Netgear and Cisco).

Any ideas?

Saruman

Is this a serious question?




If so, 54 Mbps is the speed of your internal wireless network and has nothing whatsoever to do with the speed of your internet.
However, let's say you had a nice 100 meg bandwith line, you would only get 54Mbps if connecting to the internet via your wireless router, though you would get your 100 meg if plugging directly in with a cable assuming it includes a 10/100 switch.

There is also the fact that the 54 Mbps is megabits per second which is different from Megabytes. What does UPC actually tell you your line speed should be? 30 Megabits or Megabytes?

jor el

The most you can get is 30Mbps, not 54Mbps, as 30 is the speed of your broadband connection. You get close to this when using the wired connection, so everything is working fine. You are only getting 15Mbps on the wifi connection because home wifi networks are often very bad. Poor signal quality, poor router quality, distance from router, walls/floors, interference from other RF sources, etc will all make your wifi network speed slow down.

As broadband speeds increase, 20Mbps, 30Mbps and higher, the limitations of 802.11g networks are quickly being realised by the average user. Even when I had a 7Mbps broadband connection, I never got more than 4Mbps out of my Wifi connection, even though the Wifi adapter reported it was connected at 20Mbps or higher.

If you want the fill speed, you should probably use a wired connection all the time, or perhaps consider upgrading to an 802.11n wifi network.

watty

54Mbps is the raw maximum data rate of the 802.11g protocol

Since the same channel is used for RX & TX, you are then at < 27Mbps for a link. Protocol overhead and error correction reduces the data rate to about 12 to 16Mbps.

Additionally as you get poorer reception (distance, interference, walls etc), the raw speed drops, with major changes at 22Mbps, 11Mbps, 5Mbps, 2Mbps and 1Mbps (actual throughput about 1/3rd).

If two or more users using the WiFi, the speed drops more.

Many routers can't sustain the full speeds either.


The limit of about 12Mbps on WiFi, is to be expected. The Wired ethernet is effectively equal to your package speed.

If you have a good wifi signal (same room) and one user you can get a bit higher speed on the WiFi, though 30Mbps is unlikely on 54Mbps WiFi,

Upgrading to 802.11n could be a waste of money and needs all new adaptors on EVERY laptop/gadget not just Router
802.11n claims up to 250Mbps. Actual through put is unlikely to be better than about 80Mbps for a single user. In a different room, or any interference it can quickly fall to 11Mbps throughput. You need a compatible Router AND Wireless adaptor on laptop to get 802.11n. Just one 802.11g gadget in use will reduce speed.

Turbo G mode can use a "Raw" Speed of 108Mbps. In the next room there may be no difference between 54Mbps (802.11g) 108Mbps/125Mbps (variants of Turbo G) and 802.11n (up to 250Mbps).

Bottom line. You can't get 30Mbps Internet on 54Mbps WiFi. 12Mbps is typical maximum. Use the 100Mbps full duplex ethernet (equivalent to over 300Mbps of WiFi) cable.

mr.interested

Saruman wrote: »

Is this a serious question?

I've misspoken--what I meant by not being able to go beyond 15Mb was obviously not to access 54Mb, as my broadband is only 30Mb. My logic was that if both wireless adapter and router support 54Mb, I should be able to get close to 30Mb.

jor el wrote: »

The most you can get is 30Mbps, not 54Mbps, as 30 is the speed of your broadband connection. You get close to this when using the wired connection, so everything is working fine. You are only getting 15Mbps on the wifi connection because home wifi networks are often very bad. Poor signal quality, poor router quality, distance from router, walls/floors, interference from other RF sources, etc will all make your wifi network speed slow down.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant (see above). The distance between my laptop and the router is less than a meter--there's no walls, etc. Does that mean that either the router or wireless adapter is crap, or both?

mr.interested

watty wrote: »

... Bottom line. You can't get 30Mbps Internet on 54Mbps WiFi. ...

Many thanks for your detailed answer. I think that's explain the matter, and if I don't want to spend additional money to upgrade the hardware, I will just stick with the wired connection.

watty

mr.interested wrote: »

IThe distance between my laptop and the router is less than a meter--there's no walls, etc. Does that mean that either the router or wireless adapter is crap, or both?

Not at all, 12Mbps isn't too bad for 802.11g or indeed any WiFi.

But with only 1m, you would get close to, or entirely your full speed with Turbo 802.11g (108Mbps = 30Mbps throughput) or 802.11n on Router and on laptop (May need PCI card, MiniPCI, Express card, PCMCIA or USB 2.0. The USB 1.1 can only manage about 4Mbps on WiFi).

Then again with only 1m, an ethernet cable is a good reliable solution!

Note some routers and USB dongles are non-standard Turbo G and instead claim "up to 802.11n speed. These are NOT 802.11n routers. 125Mbps and 108Mbps "Turbo G" are only compatible at 802.11g 54Mbps mode.

On ANY wireless system both ends need to be 100% compatible. Ignore weasel phrases on packaging.

Some_Person

The max actual speed (throughput) you'll get on G is 23 or so megabits, the max on B is around 5 megabits. If you only had. 2 megabit connection 2 megabits is all your getting.

markios

The speed could be affected by interference. Try changing the wireless channel in your router's webconfig and see if it makes any difference

Cabaal

moving to wireless as this has nothing to do with broadband

BenEadir

Hi all,

I literally just got UPC 20mb BB installed this morning and I decided to put the (Netgear Wireless-G WGR614) router in a storage space at one end of the house near the living room where I use my laptop in the evenings.

At the other side of the house (kitchen) I'm just getting a "Fair" (2 out of 5 bar) signal and was a bit concerend as my son's X-Box live is in this room but when I ran a speed test I got the following results



Right now I'm the only one on the new UPC network but nevertheless I have to say I'm pretty happy with the initial speed results, especially as I only have a "Fair" signal.

I'm also happy that setting up the X-Box to play X-Box live was a cinch. When I did it with Eircom previously I had to figure out how to open ports etc.

Has anyone got any comments on the above? Can I rely on the test results? Is the Wireless-G router the right routher for my use? (3 laptops on the go most evenings + X-Box live)

Are there any settings on the router I need to configure for optimum performance or should I just leave well alone and be happy with what I've got??

Cheers,

BenEadir