Wireless Bottleneck?

[newbie]

On the Broadband forum
(http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...3606646&page=3)
I have been trying to find out why my download speed is so slow (as I'm on 10Mb and it rarely goies above 4Mb). The latest suggestion is that my Wireless USB Adaptor (Belkin F5D6050) and/or PC (HP Pavillion) may be causing a bottleneck (router is also a Belkin 802.11b). So, I've switched forums to see if one of you networking guru's can help, please.

* Can you buy Wireless Ethernet Adaptors (as I've only ever seen USB)?
* If my current USB Adaptor is USB1.1 could this cause of the problem?
* Is there any way that I can check what is slowing down my connection?

Thanks in advance.

[Chris W]

In answer to your questions....

You have the option of a PCMCIA card (if you are using a laptop) or you could install a PCI card if you use a desktop.

USB 1.1 has a maximum transfer rate of 12Mbps, compared to 480Mbps provided by USB 2.0 However the limit with both is often system resources available and processing power.

The easiest way to check the connection is a process of elimination:
- connect the pc via ethernet to the router to see if the speeds improve.
- connect the pc directly to the cable modem via ethernet to see if the speeds improve.

By doing this you can eliminate the router as a possible cause of the problem, or highlight it as a cause.

[brundles]

If you're running an 802.11b router then you're doing well to get a throughput of 4Mb. For a 10MB connection you'll need at least 802.11g standard. (At this stage anything above that is going to mean locking yourself in to one brand of hardware.) Even then it'll depend on all the usual stuff - interference, obstructions, local WLAN density, etc.

There is always the unfortunate possibility that the area you're in suffers from congestion - but running speed tests at different times of day with a direct wired connection between the modem and the PC should identify that.

[newbie]

Chris - Thanks for the quick response.

It's a desktop and I don't have any slots left to change to a pci card

I'll check with an Ethernet cable direct to the router, then direct to the cable modem and see if that makes a difference.

Will post the results.

---------- Post added at 13:51 ---------- Previous post was at 13:45 ----------

Brundles - Thanks for the feedback.

I'll check with an ethernet cable to the router then modem and if that highlights a problem with the router/usb adaptor, then I guess I'm off to get 802.11g kit.

Is the Linksys WRT54 router (mentioned in other threads) one of the best?

Thanks.

[brundles]

I've been using the WRT54G for a couple of years now (although it's running third party firmware). They're generally well recommended, although I must admit my next router when necessary will be based on what DD-WRT runs on at the time.

If you go for an 802.11G adapter, as Chris mentions it'll need to be a USB2 adapter. (Depending on how old the PC is you might need to check that is USB2 compatible as well.)

[newbie]

brundles - The PC is just over a year old and has USB2.0 ports.

Thanks.