Wireless Efficiency
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Plusnet Community
- :
- Forum
- :
- Other forums
- :
- Tech Help - Software/Hardware etc
- :
- Wireless Efficiency
Wireless Efficiency
27-01-2008 12:43 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
My wired desktop PC died so I have had to buy an Acer notebook. I have no experience of wireless networking so...
I have an Intel WiFi Link 4965AGN inbuilt and have just bought a Netgear DG834N router. Both are draft n WLAN standard so what efficiency can I expect?
Previously I had ~2Mbps download speed using Plusnet's/McAfee Speed Testers on my old Voyager 205 wired desktop, but with this new WiFi I reach a mere 0.5Mbps !!
The WiFi network connection speed according to Vista is set @ only 54Mbps, though the ndraft should give "up to 270Mbps" as I understand it. Not sure how to adjust to the full ndraft rate though?
If it helps my router stats are;
System Up Time 01:28:01
Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 3118 3765 0 482 1830 00:29:32
LAN 10M/100M 11616 9519 0 1262 335 01:27:55
WLAN 11M/54M/270M 11416 6539 0 1487 258 01:17:23
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 2464 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 44.0 db 22.0 db
Noise Margin 15.6 db 21.0 db
Why the drop? How can I improve to previous speeds? Anybody else use either of these components? The Netgear DG834N seemed very common and least problematic, and the Intel Wifi Link is commonplace too. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance,
DJY007.
Re: Wireless Efficiency
27-01-2008 12:46 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Thanks again.
Re: Wireless Efficiency
27-01-2008 6:59 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Re: Wireless Efficiency
27-01-2008 11:02 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
You low speed could be someone near you on the same channel get netstumbler fro free from
http://www.netstumbler.com/
this will show anyone near you and any noise.
If there is any noise the wireless has to resend packets so the speed drops. Anything can cause the noise like mocrowave, tv, games consul, dec phone.
Try right next to the router and see if it improves if it does slowly move it away
Re: Wireless Efficiency
27-01-2008 11:49 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
A few other things to try - switch off wireless on your laptop, and repeat your tests with a wired connection - i.e. eliminate anything in your laptop which may be slowing down internet traffic. Check (if you've not already done so) that your security is switched on - you may be sharing your broadband connection with a neighbour
In theory, even a 54 Mbps connection should outpace your ADSL connection - after all, it can't get above 8 Mbps. We use a lot of Netgear routers in work, and as you say, they are generally not problematic (which is more than I can say for a few other brands we tested).
As pierre_pierre says, signals don't like brick walls (or thick stacks of books as we discovered), but you still should get good signal at distances well in excess of 20 feet. The height issue is just because that the higher you raise things in a house, the less likely you are to have obstacles between router and PC.
Re: Wireless Efficiency
28-01-2008 8:46 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Slow speeds over wireless can also be caused by MTU issues, you could try Tweaking your MTU
Chilly
Re: Wireless Efficiency
10-02-2008 1:37 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Thanks for tips and sorry for the delay but I gave up and reset the whole lot back to factory default settings and started again!
Now, in no particular order;
- I think the netgear to Intel Wifi card is actually a decent connection throughout the house, as it's small, and I get 80-99% signal strength on average, though it is still only 'G' standard. Being 1 metre away, 1 room away, or 1 floor down doesn't affect the poor average speed tester ratings I get.
- I plugged in the ethernet cable to set up (-again!) the Netgear router, and remembered to check the speed at the same time, and had ratings from 1.0 to 2.25Mbps over the course of an hour or so!
- Although Plusnet has had 'green-light status' for its ADSL for 52 days, I guess they are the likely culprit? Nothing obvious has changed at my end over the last week and 'speed testers' give ratings between 0.5-2.5MBps still.
- I am wary of trying the 'Netstumbler' software as it doesn't mention Vista compatible? I'm finding a lot of my existing software and drivers that I tranferred over form my old trusty desktop will not work easily, so i'm trying not to mess and twiddle too much. Do you have experience of it definately working on Vista32 without interfering with anything else? Does it uninstall easily? I pick-up between 3-8 other networks at home so it would be interesting to see any conflicts.
- There is a Windows update for the Intel WiFi card, but the Intel website says to stick with the manufacturer's own drivers, which are older but at least today I am getting a 2.5MB connection. Given that I tried these drivers prior to last weeks factory default reset, and rolledback too thinking they might have caused the consistant 0.5MBps of last month, should I try them again now? Is the rollback option foolproof if it makes thing worse again? I don't have the time or patience to factory default again!?!?
- Should I be able to 'force' the Intel Wifi card to detect draft-n networks? Or perhaps I need to 'force' the router to broadcast on 'draft-n?' Any ideas how, as I can't see anything obvious in the settings for either?
- I guess for the moment I am stuck with a random connection between 0.5-2.5MBps, and assume that it is out of my control (BT or Plusnet?) and is not necessarily due to my new WiFi setup after all? Do you all have such wildly varying BT/Plusnet connection speeds for MaxDSL?
- To be honest I don't understand the MTU tweeking links Chilly let alone have the confidence to mess and potentially make this soddin' notebook any worse to use, and again the first few I looked at don't mention Vista even. Is it a REALLY good idea?
Thanks in advance, any and all further help appreciated,
DJY007.
Re: Wireless Efficiency
11-02-2008 10:22 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: DJY007 [snip]... I pick-up between 3-8 other networks at home so it would be interesting to see any conflicts.
...[snip]
It could be interference from the other wireless stations about the place causing your woes.
I'b tempted to try and change the channel on your router to see if you can find a quieter one to use.
Might help?
Re: Wireless Efficiency
16-02-2008 3:12 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Re: Wireless Efficiency
18-02-2008 3:16 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Perhaps somebody with a Netgear to hand will have a quick look and post up some step-by-step instructions for you.
If not, I'll try to remember to pull some together tonight.
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page