new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

hey guys,

I ended up purchasing the D-Link DWA-547 RangeBooster N650 Wireless N card,

and it only max's out at 23-24mb, downloads max at 2500-3000

if i plug in the ethernet cable directly to the PC, my speeds run at 50mb with speeds running at 6300

its a big drop and i just dont understand whats going on, my ex Wireless G card was even giving me greater speeds than this new N card, my wireless G card gave me 28mb.

why is my card not working as it should?
should i send it back?


edit: for now, im gonna use the ethernet cable straight to the PC, because this new card just isnt working as it should!!!


Wired:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2009/10/2.png


Wireless N card:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2009/10/3.png

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

Make sure you're not using a crowded channel. If you router is able to do a site survey, get it to do so. You'll probably find all your neighbours and you using the same wifi channel. Ideally, only channels 1, 6 and 11 should be used (as I recall) to avoid interference. Try moving to another one, and see how things go. It's best to run a survey first to find where everybody else is hiding though.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

its running ch6, but i cant see on the dlink router page where i can change this.....


edit: i found it, and tried all the channels 1, 6 and 11 and nothing changed.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

OK, have you made sure you have the latest drivers for the card?

Do you actually have a good signal? I've seen full signal strength, but low quality before (weird, I know!).

My theory is it's one of two things - either the card is under performing, or the signal isn't good enough to do what you want.

I suppose another thing you could try (just to see what it does) is switch the router into B/G only mode, assuming it'll let you do that, i.e. turn off N. Wireless N uses a whole range of other frequencies, and it's possible it's crashing into interference all over the place.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

Actually, it's a bit more complex than that. Channels 1, 6 & 11 are never affected by neighbouring channels. The others are. It's still worth choosing another channel if it's not flanked over a crowded 1, 6 or 11.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

1, 6 and 11 are the most popular channels, use one inbetween such as 3 or 8. I use 4 personally as for my area it's the least crowded.

Also check the SPI firewall is OFF
What encryption are you using? A high security level of encryption can cause slow speeds too.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

Each channel actually takes up 5 channels, the channel number is the middle of the frequency range used by it. This is why 1 6 and 11 are the most popular, because they can be used in the same area with no interference from each other.

By using one in the middle you're getting interference from those using the channels either side, so if you're using channel 3 then channels 1 and 6 are interfering with it (as well as 2, 4, 5 and 7). You can actually get more interference by selecting a middle channel than using the same one as someone else.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

Yes I am aware of the overlapping frequencies, but in my case it actually helped, since the signal was stronger and the interference less strong on a middle channel. My biggest problem at the moment is my lousy netbooks ability to receive any wireless signal at all. It's got a very poor transmit/receive levels compared to my other laptop.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

Correct. 1, 6 and 11 are known as the clean channels. But I thought N had more channels, and therefore more 'clean' ones...

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!!
 

Why are you recommending him to turn off the firewall. He's already proven that the router is capable of sustaining 50Mbps via wire. Its the wireless that's the problem.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

Tell us about your router please.

Any other PCs/devices connected?

Reason I ask is to see if the Router has legs; whether there is 802.11G stealing cycles - sort of thing.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

What Operating System are you using?

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

could it be an incompatibility issue between the router and card? My ex had one of the Thompson Sky modem/routers and a BELKIN Wireless G Card, wired he would get about 13mb on their upto 16mb package. Wireless he was lucky to get 3mb. When he bought an Edamax Wireless card instead he never had a problem after that.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

the router is the supplied d-link one, 615 i think.

my wirelessN card is the D-Link DWA-547 RangeBooster N650,

signal is perfect - full strength - 300mbps - ive tried countless things and its seriously doing my head in.

im using Windows 7 Home Premium at the moment.

one other pc connected on the network, the speeds on there are fine, its just mine that is having problems.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

When your other PC is not connected wirelessly (in fact not on the network) do you have the same problem? i.e. [Is the router being dtressed by 802.11g at the same time as 802.11n?

Is there a mismatch between 802.11n settings on your 547 card and the DIR-615?

Also your 802.11g card wasn't doing so well either at 28Mbps.

So it looks like something to do with the router.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

just been chatting to a friend.

Hes reciently gone from Virgin to 02 and he is getting a similar issue. Wired he gets around 11-14mb...

Wireless hets getting around 3mb.

Turned out it was the channel his cordless phone was on interfearing.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

I have some software that tells you what wi-fi networks are in your area.

I will PM you a link, as it might not be allowed to publish here

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

google vistumbler

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

i was told wireless G cards would only go to around 22mb, so i thought i was doing great with my G card.

my N card is really struggling though.

none of the 2 pcs are using wirelessG, only N and the other PC has no problems getting the speeds, its definatly something to do with my new card that i bought, the dlink rangebooster pci card.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

Chris, does DLink have a support number most do now.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

It's so frustrating to find out on at this stage of the diagnosis that you've got the other PC on 802.11n as well!

So, let's be clear - the other PC is 802.11n connected. What standalone speed does it achieve (i.e. the problem PC disconnected)?

The problem PC - can you confirm that when it is standalone (other PC disconnected), you get the naff speed?

When you compare in Device Manager the Advanced properties for each wireless adapter, what are the differences between the two PCs?

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

yes, when it is stand-alone, it still gives me the naff speed when using wireless of 20-24mb.

wired is pretty much static at 46-50

ive unplugged my wireless phone at the socket and the speeds remain the same when using wireless.

---------- Post added at 13:37 ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 ----------

ok, ive fixed it but dont know how... :(

i was just messing with the settings on the router, changing the security to wpa2 and also i changed my key and i just got a 49mb score on bbmax speedtest.

and just tried a speedtest.net one and it was a little down but definatly in the acceptable range.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/11/64.png

definatly better than 20-24mb, and yes.. ive checked and its running on Wireless.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

Well done. That just about covers "something to do with your router" in post #15!

I wonder whether you'll get learned speculation as to what the problem was?

My instinct based on your report is that you had enctyption enabled in WEP but not in WPA2. How does that ring with you? Encryption adds an overhead.

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

no, i used to have wpa personal, even when i tried WEP the speed improved, but only to around 30mb.

i set the channel to automatic, put it on WPA2 and changed the network key.

I dont see how that could have changed the speed, but thats all ive done.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2009/11/63.png

its now running fine, but should it happen again.... i have not a clue how to fix it, just hope for the best with those settings should it happen again i suppose.


http://www.pingtest.net/result/2486153.png

Re: new network card giving me slow speeds!
 

Fair enough. Anyway, that was a load of b*llox I said about encryption because you've either got WEP/WPA2 turned on (then it's encrypted) or off and it's not.

From what you say about setting the channel to automatic - that's prolly the reason.