Slow Speeds with wireless and 50mb broadband

richardford1976 · 29-01-2011, 21:52

Ok here is the deal, I have a new Netgear WNR2000v2 which is a n type router and i have a mixture of devices using mainly G type wireless adaptors except my sony vaio laptop which has a N type adaptop. I do know that the machines using G type adaptors will only utilize about 20mb of the 50mbs i have availible. The problem is im struggling to get the 50mbs speeds. If i take my laptop upstairs i get 5 out of 5 bars but im lucking if i get 20mb speed wise, I have plugged my laptop directly into both the router and the cable modem and i get the expected 50mb speeds so i know its not a virgin problem and not a problem with the router when cabled in by ethernet. I have at least 10 wireless routers around me but i have moved the router to channel 11 to try and avoid interference. Ive been trying to find various ways to increase the speeds, The most recent was buying a pair of comtrend powerline adaptors(200mb) variety and even tho i get approx 50mb speeds downstairs i struggle to get 20mb upstairs. My house is not big, a terraced 3 bedroomed affair so its not a case of weak wireless signal but i really would like to get some decent speeds on at 2 of the computers where i need more then the usual 20mb bandwidth.

Devices attached wirelessly.
2 iphones
3 laptops
2 xboxes
1 desktop PC

Laying ethernet is not really viable as the main pc is upstairs and the router is in the downstairs dining room. Are there any suggestions, Its very annoying I never had all this fuss when i had 20mb. Hope someone can advise.

qasdfdsaq · 29-01-2011, 22:47

What does the Windows say the connection speed is when you're connected wirelessly on the N laptop?

richardford1976 · 30-01-2011, 08:16

Thats bizzare, Im conneting at 65mbps with my laptop even tho its a n type adaptor. However i am getting much improved speeds all over the house. The only difference is im the only one connected . Now obviously i am aware the more people connected the slower it will go, but i know my son was playing xbox live and my daughter was just on Facebook. Surely that wouldnt take over half the bandwidth. I just realised that my sons xbox has a N type adaptor as well, The two adaptors between my laptop and his xbox wouldnt interfere with each other would they?

qasdfdsaq · 30-01-2011, 14:08

65mbps *is* an 'N' speed, the lowest spec one but still N nonetheless. 'G' caps out at 54mbps.

A 65mbps could give you about ~45mbps acual web throughput with good equipment under ideal conditions so I'm not surprised you're getting less. It should ideally be connecting at 130/144mbps for best performance.

Wireless devices only transmit when they are actively sending data (i.e. loading a web page) so activities like Facebook certainly shouldn't take up half the bandwidth. But again if everything's only running at 65mbps, you probably only had ~30-40mbps of bandwidth in the first place, and there's a lot of overheads associated with older equipment on the network...

Spann3r · 09-02-2011, 23:59

Also on a mixed network everything runs at the speed of the slowest device. What u need is a duel band router like the Lynksys WRT610N. Set one wireless network up as G only and one as N only. Thats what I did as was getting the same as you.

qasdfdsaq · 10-02-2011, 01:48

This is not true. On a mixed network everything runs at each device's individual maximum speed. The only time it runs at the speed of the slowest device is if you set it that way, or have a really rubbish AP.

Spann3r · 10-02-2011, 04:02

Sorry but this is true. With the dd-wrt firmware on the WRT610N it reports the exact speed the wireless is operating at. So the 2.4ghz band which I have configured as a b/g/n mixed mode it only connects at 54mbps because of my wireless printer. But the 5ghz band which I have set as N-only reports at over 240mbps.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wirel...ding-to-80211n

qasdfdsaq · 10-02-2011, 12:00

Sorry but this is not true. dd-wrt firmware has never been able to accurately report wireless link speed on broadcom chipsets. This is a well documented driver limitation. Personally I couldn't care less what it reports, what it does that tells the true story.

With dd-wrt firmware on the WRT150N, WRT300N, DIR-615 and DIR-825 connecting G devices has no effect on the speed of N devices already connected. All of these (excepting the 825) have only one band. Configuring it to mixed and connecting a dozen G devices has no effect on the N devices, which still connect at 300mbps. Actual data transfer rate remains above 90mbps.

---------- Post added at 12:00 ---------- Previous post was at 11:59 ----------

The link you added clearly shows the N device remaining connected and transferring data at N speeds while the G device is connected and transferring data, completely disproving what you just said. In fact, they disprove your statement on three different routers.

richardford1976 · 10-02-2011, 21:11

I actually purchased a duel band router, Namely the Netgear WNDR3300 and it resolved the issue. I am now able to download at 50mb speeds which im happy about. However i have one problem. I used to have a linksys WRT54GS which had brilliant access controls to set up time windows for when my kids access the internet, You could configure them individually with IP's or mac addresses but you cant do that in the netgear, You can just set up one window for everyone. Does anyone know if you can set up multiple access lists within the newer Lynksys WRT610N as i did like my old linksys.

richardford1976 · 13-02-2011, 18:54

*bump*